The entertainment business and heterosexual actors winning praise for LGBTQ+ roles have generated a lot of discussion over the past few years. These performers did a terrific job portraying queer characters with such charm, respect, and honesty despite their true sexual orientation such as Timothée Chalamet’s performance in Call Me By Your Name or Cate Blanchett in Carol.

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However, when a queer actor is chosen to portray a queer role, there is still a certain type of elation and appreciation. Not only can they share their perspectives with the character they play, but they can also effectively use them as a platform to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. In light of this, a variety of iconic LGBT characters have emerged in the TV genre.

Callie Torres - ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

A doctor in the bathroom

Grey’s Anatomy is an ABC show that centers on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they advance to more experienced practitioners while juggling their personal and professional lives. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) is the former head of orthopedic surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital who discovers herself as bisexual in season 4 of the show.

Actress Ramirez is also bisexual and recently comes out as a non-binary person. She did a fantastic job of capturing Callie going through the process of coming to terms with her sexuality and marrying the woman she loves against her parents' wishes. Thanks to Ramirez, Grey’s Anatomy fans feel so much closer and more relatable to Callie.

Casey Gardner - ‘Atypical’

A girl sitting on bed

Atypical is a Netflix comedy-drama that centers on the life of autistic 18-year-old Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist). Sam's younger sister Casey Gardner, who is likewise very protective of him, is portrayed by Brigette Lundy-Paine. Moreover, Casey is a bisexual who comes out during season 4 of the show, and her romance with Lizzie (Fivel Stewart) is a fan favorite.

Lundy-Paine is also a part of the LGBTQ+ community in real life who identifies themselves as non-binary. Moreover, being from a queer household helps Lundy-Paine represent Casey's struggle with coming to terms with her sexuality and coming out to her family more accurately.

David Rose - ‘Schitt's Creek’

A man with a rake sitting in the field

Schitt’s Creek centers on the struggles of the once-wealthy Rose family, who must move to the titular location, a little hamlet they originally bought as a joke after losing their fortune. David Rose, played by show creator, Dan Levy, identifies himself as pansexual, a term that describes one’s sexual preference that is not constrained by biological sex, gender, or gender identity.

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Due to the dearth of openly pansexual characters on television, the show received high praise for its six-season run for its total lack of homophobia in the plot and brilliant depiction of David Rose and his sexuality.

Jack McFarland - ‘Will & Grace’

A man in pink robe sitting girly on the couch

Will & Grace is about the friendship between Grace Adler (Debra Messing), a heterosexual interior designer, and her best friend Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer. Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) is Will's gay best friend since college who is flamboyant, self-assured, and free-spirited.

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Because of his flamboyance, Will & Grace's Jack has drawn criticism for being a "stereotypical" gay over the years, but it's undeniable the vital impact of the character in the LGBTQ+ community as one of the first long-running openly gay characters on television. Hayes, who is openly gay and married in real life, doesn’t shy from bringing the best out of his character’s sexuality.

Jules Vaughan - ‘Euphoria’

A girl being hostile toward a man

Euphoria is an HBO teen drama that centers on teenagers in the fictitious community of East Highland seeking optimism while juggling the pressures of love, loss, and addiction. Jules, played by Hunter Schafer, is a teenager who is openly transsexual and becomes romantically involved with Zendaya’s leading character, Rue, a troublesome drug addict.

Schafer is a transgender woman in real life, just like her character in Euphoria. Because of this, her representation is more accurate and true, especially when she tries to explore a gay relationship rather than a heterosexual one, breaking the mold and giving LGBT audiences a sense of inclusion.

Kurt Hummel - ‘Glee’

Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel rolling his eyes in Glee.

Glee is a musical comedy-drama TV show that focuses on the fictional William McKinley High School's New Directions glee club and explores its diverse members’ societal concerns including sexuality, racism, family, relationship, and teamwork. Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) a Glee Club member, was the first openly gay character to appear in the show.

The same year Chris Colfer became a household name for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel, the actor came out as gay, making him one of the few out gay teenagers in Hollywood at the time. Colfer truly and successfully portrays a gay youngster at school with a lot of prejudice and struggle while also making queer viewers feel seen.

Mitchell Pritchett - ‘Modern Family’

A man in spiderman suit

Modern Family is a family sitcom that focuses on the lives of three different families in suburban Los Angeles, all of which are connected by their patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill). Mitchell, portrayed by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, is Jay's second child, a gay lawyer who married Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) and is the father of Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) and later Rexford.

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Modern Family, like Will & Grace, has been recognized for influencing how Americans and popular culture view LGBT characters. Mitchell and Cameron were praised by the critics for being a crucial milestone in the battle for marriage equality on television. Unlike his screen partner, Stonestreet, who is heterosexual in real life, Ferguson is openly gay and has been married since 2013.

Poussey Washington - ‘Orange is the New Black’

An inmate smiles as she lays in her cell

Through the eyes of the protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), Orange is the New Black explores the stories of female convicts at Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum-security women's federal prison in Upstate New York. Poussey Washington (Samira Wiley) was one of the few prisoners who was well-liked by many. She was clever, opinionated, and loving, and she stood by her convictions.

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Wiley won acclaim for her portrayal of LGBT prisoner Poussey, whose passing in season four incited fury among the fandom but also inspired many. Despite sharing screen time with other characters, she has a pleasant and captivating presence that makes her one of the most iconic characters on the program. Wiley is openly gay and now married to one of the show writers, Lauren Morelli.

Vanya Hargreeves - ‘The Umbrella Academy’

A girl standing in the a quite dark room

The Umbrella Academy is a Netflix superhero TV show that centers on a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings who come together to solve their father's mysterious death and the threat of an impending apocalypse. Vanya Hargreeves (Elliot Page) is the only sibling who is told by their father that she is ordinary and without any superpower, which causes her to grow apart from the other siblings.

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Born as Ellen Page, he is an award-winning actress who came out as gay in 2014 and recently, announces himself as a transgender man and changes his name to Elliot. As a result, much like the actor, Vanya likewise experienced a groundbreaking and inspiring gender journey on screen as a gay female superhero before coming out as transgender and changing his name from Vanya to Viktor.

Rosa Diaz - ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’

A woman with her feet on the table

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a police procedural comedy TV show that follows the film that follows Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his diverse, endearing colleagues as they patrol the 99th Precinct of the NYPD. Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) is a fierce, commanding detective who takes pride in being extremely private. Her coworkers know very little about her, and in season 5, she comes out as bisexual.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has won plaudits for how it portrays the LGBTQ+ population, especially Rosa Diaz, the show’s tough-as-nails detective. Like her character, Beatriz is an openly bisexual person, who revealed her sexual orientation on Twitter in 2016.

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