13 Netflix Shows To Binge This Pride
Happy Pride month! We celebrate Pride this month to commemorate the Stonewall Riots that happened in June of 1969. This was in response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The uprising marked a turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Now we celebrate all the progress the queer community has made in the world. Here are 13 Netflix shows to watch while you celebrate Pride.
1. Heartstopper
This Netflix show follows the growing relationship between Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring. In the series, Nick struggles to come out as bisexual and understand what it means. There’s even a scene where he took the ‘Am I Gay’ quiz, which anyone whose ever questioned their sexuality has definitely taken. Another one of the main character couples is between Tara Jones and Darcy Olsen, who have to deal with the backlash of coming out as a lesbian couple. The people who were thought to be friends start treating them differently and they get hate comments online from their peers. The last main character couple is between Tao Xu and Elle Argent, who is transgender. They are not officially a couple, but their friends try to set them up after watching them pine over each other the entire season. They are the clueless couple who have a crush on each other but don’t think the other will like them back. This show is great and has lots of drama and comedy, so you should definitely watch it.
2. She-ra And The Princess Of Power
This Netflix show is queer representation at its finest. She-ra and the Princess of Power is a reboot of the 1980s original where a magic sword transforms an orphan girl into the warrior She-ra and uses her powers to lead a rebellion against evil.
When I was a kid there were no kid shows that had girls kissing girls. But in this series, the main character She-ra, also known as Adora, gets a girlfriend. I don’t think people understand just how important it is for young girls to be able to see a strong, brave, warrior princess have a girlfriend. When the only thing kids a shown are heterosexual relationships, the ones who are not straight will grow up thinking something is wrong with them. But when they have role models like She-ra, it lets them know that nothing is wrong with them. I feel like this show helped a lot of young girls not feel like they’re defective or something. The show even has a non-binary character named Double Trouble. And Bow, one of the main characters has two dads. The great thing about this show is that it exists in a world without homophobia, so everyone can just be themselves.
3. Schitt’s Creek
This Netflix show is my favorite series on Netflix. I quote this show way too much on a daily basis. The series has six wonderful seasons and ended in the perfect way by wrapping up everyone’s storyline. The story follows the wealthy Rose family who suddenly go broke and have to live in a small town called Schitt’s Creek that they bought as a joke years ago. While they’re there, the Rose family form a strong bond with the townspeople and they become like family to them.
One of my favorite quotes comes from David Rose when he tries to explain his sexuality to his friend Stevie, and it’s perfect. He said: “ I do drink red wine. But I also drink white wine. And a couple of summers back I tried a Merlot that used to be a Chardonnay. I like the wine and not the label”. Stevie had asked David about this after discovering he had ex-girlfriends, because she had assumed he was gay since he had feelings for a guy they knew.
David later ends up dating a guy named Patrick, and we get to see their relationship evolve all the way to marriage. They have so many sweet moments, and David even helped Patrick come out to his parents. This show is amazing and is filled with so much comedy. I recommend it to everyone.
4. Never Have I Ever
In the second season of this show, Fabiola, the characters best friend, comes out as lesbian to her friends, but struggles to tell her mother. During this time Fabiola gets a girlfriend named Eve, who to her, seems like the perfect lesbian with perfect lesbian friends. Since this is all new to Fabiola, it makes her feel like she doesn’t know enough to be a good girlfriend to Eve. Eve clears up this misunderstanding and lets Fabiola know that the only thing that matters is that they want to be together. Eve also helps Fabiola come out to her mother, who is very accepting of her daughter. Lucky for us, this show is still running, so we’ll get to see where the relationship takes them.
5. I Am Not Okay With This
This Netflix show deserved another season. I cannot stress enough how much I loved this show and how much potential it had. The story follows teenager, Sydney Novak, as she navigates the complexities of high school, family, and sexuality, while dealing with new superpowers. In the show, Sydney discovers she has the power to control things with her mind. Sydney and her neighbor Stanley work together to help her gain more control of it, but on the night of the school dance something goes wrong, and it ends in a very Carrie-like fashion. Hopefully they bring this series back because it could’ve been one of the best shows on Netflix.
6. Everything Sucks
This Netflix show is set in 1990s Boring, Oregon. The story follows a high school’s AV and drama club kids on their mission to get noticed by the rest of the school. They decide to band together and make a movie that will blow everyone away. Throughout the season, Kate from the AV club starts to question her sexuality and develops a crush on Emaline from the drama club. The show only got one season, so we never got a chance to see the characters grow, but the show is still good because the show realistically depicts what it’s like to try and figure yourself out when you’re just a kid.
7. One Day At A Time
This Netflix show is a comedy-drama sitcom you can watch with your family. The show follows the life of Penelope, a newly single Army veteran, and her Cuban-American family. They navigate the ups and downs of life together as Penelope tries to raise her two kids on her own. In one of the episodes, we see Elena, Penelope’s daughter, give partner, Syd, a super sweet and nerdy gift. In the episode, Elena gives Syd a Valentine’s Day card that had a group of zeros and ones except for the heart which was made out of all the other numbers, making it a non-binary heart. Since Syd is non-binary, the gift meant a lot to them. Throughout the series we get to see where their relationship takes them, and that’s really great.
8. Sex Education
This Netflix show has representation for almost everyone in the queer community. The story follows the life of a boy whose mother is a sex therapist. He uses what he learned from his mother to become his high school’s sex guru. Next thing you know he’s running a sex clinic with his crush. Throughout the series, the teenagers explore their sexuality and learn new things about themselves. Despite the drama and comedy, this show is actually educational. You learn about safe lesbian and gay sex, what non-binary means, and the difference between asexual and aromantic. While you should always go to a professional for answers to these type of questions, this show demonstrates how little high school sex education classes teach us. We only learn learn about straight sex and STD’s, which are important, but there is more to be taught.
9. Young Royals
This Netflix show follows the growing romance between a regular boy and a prince at a boarding school. Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Simon Eriksson develope a very complicated relationship. They want to be together but they can’t because Prince Wilhelm’s parents don’t want him dating Simon. They keep their relationship a secret but when a video of them together goes viral Prince Wilhelm has to publicly deny being in the video. Simon doesn’t want to be anyone’s secret anymore, and ends it with Prince Wilhelm. There is only one season, so we’ll have to wait to see how it ends.
10. Pose
And the category is…Pride! If you didn’t read this in Pray Tell’s voice then you’re missing out on one of the best shows on Netflix. When I was a kid, my sisters and I played a game called Runway where we would sashay down our hallway and vogue, so the fact that there is a show based on voguing is amazing. The show is based in 1980s New York, so it depicts the challenges the queer community faced at that time.
I’ll try not to give too many spoilers, because this show is so good. The story follows Blanca Rodriguez as she leaves her former house and starts her own so she can make her mark on the world. In the show a ‘house’ is a self-selected family that supports LGBTQ+ youth who have been abandoned by their birth families. Since Blanca started her own house, she serves as a mother figure to the youth. This show dives into sexuality, gender identity, and the stigma against HIV. When they’re not doing that, Blanca’s house and other houses compete in weekly vogue competitions and each one has a different category. While we still have a long way to go in making things better for the queer community, you can see how far we’ve come from the 80s to now.
11. Queer Eye
This Netflix show is one of my favorites. I watch it with my mom and sisters, and we love it. The show follows five gay guys called the Fab 5, who each have a specialty in either food and wine, grooming, fashion, culture, and interior design. They travel the country to help those whose family or friends wrote in requesting a makeover for a loved one. I like this makeover show because it’s more than just a makeover. The Fab 5 don’t try to change the person’s entire look, they help them become the person they want to be. The Fab 5 gives them tips and tricks that actually fit their lifestyle and can continue after the Fab 5 leave. The show also gets a little emotional when the person discusses why they’ve been feeling stuck for so long. This is a great show you can watch with your family, so I highly recommend it.
12. Glee
This Netflix show is filled with drama, comedy, and an amazing soundtrack. Don’t lie, this show put you on artists you never would have listened to without Glee. When they’re not singing in a competition, the show follows the hectic relationships of high school students. But two relationships stand out against the rest. One of them being Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez, played by Heather Morris and the late Naya Rivera were endgame. The Cheerios couple go through ups and downs in their relationship, and we even see Santana come out to her grandmother who she is very close with. Santana’s coming out initially doesn’t go well, but it all works out in the end. What I love about their relationship is that we get to see them grow from friends to lovers and see them work out normal relationship problems.
The other endgame couple is Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson, played by Chris Colfer and Darren Criss. My favorite thing about this relationship is that we get to see Kurt blossom as a person. The show starts with him being endlessly bullied for being gay, but then he later comes out to his and starts to love himself. You can see through the way he carries himself throughout the series that he is done hiding. I think the support he got from his dad and friends let him feel secure enough to have a healthy relationship with Blaine. Both of these endgame couples got married at the end of the series, so not only did our ships sail, they made it to shore!
13. Elite
This Netflix show is a combination of Euphoria and How To Get Away With Murder. I won’t give any major spoilers, but the season starts with an unknown murder victim and throughout the season you learn who it is, who killed them, and why. Along with the murder mystery, the story follows the lives of high school students as the navigate love, sex, secrets, and betrayal.
The story also follows the growing romance between two boys, one who’s family accepts his sexuality and the other who could potentially lose his family if they ever found out. These two are basically the Ross and Rachel of this show, so the drama will have you hooked. This show has representation for teenagers exploring gay, lesbian, and polyamorous relationships for the first time. This is one of my favorite shows, so hopefully I didn’t give away too many spoilers. It currently has five seasons on Netflix, so the story won’t end too quickly.
