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20 Times Hollywood Got It Right By Casting LGBTQ+ Actors In Leading Queer Roles
Representation is important, and these casting choices are a reminder of it.

20 Times Hollywood Got It Right By Casting LGBTQ+ Actors In Leading Queer Roles

Casting LGBTQ+ actors in queer roles is an important step for LGBTQ+ equality in the entertainment industry. Sadly, a lot of our past favorite gay characters were played by straight actors. While we are happy about the representation, it is just not enough.

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Stephanie and her character in the show, Rosa, are both proud bisexual women.

2. Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett in Modern Family

HULU / Via giphy.com

Jesse and his character in the show, Mitchell, are both gay, married men.

3. Indya Moore as Angel Evangelista in Pose

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Angel Evangelista, a trans gender sex worker was played by actor Indya Moore, who is non-binary and goes by they/them pronouns.

4. Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres in Grey’s Anatomy

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Sara Ramirez played the longest-running LGBTQ+ character in TV history, Callie Torres from Grey’s Anatomy. Both Sara and Callie identify as bisexual. They identify as non-binary and use they/them pronouns exclusively.

5. Dan Levy as David Rose in Schitt’s Creek

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Dan Levy, a gay man, played the role of pansexual icon, David Rose in Schitt’s Creek. Levy has revealed that the lack of pansexual representation in mainstream media led him to create the character.

6. Brigette Lundy-Paine as Casey Gardner in Atypical

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Brigette played a queer character, Casey, in the Netflix original show. They came out as non-binary in 2019 while working on the show that aired from 2017 to 2021. 

7. Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland in Will & Grace

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While Sean Hayes had received mixed reviews for his portrayal of the flamboyant gay acting coach, Jack McFarland is one of the first longest-running queer characters in TV history. 

8. Kristen Stewart as Abby in Happiest Season

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Happiest Season, released in 2020, made history as the first LGBTQ+-themed Christmas movie by a major studio. Kristen Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, plays a lesbian character in the movie.

9. Keiynan Lonsdale as Abraham Greenfeld in Love, Victor and Love, Simon

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Keiynan Lonsdale identifies as queer and plays a gay teenager, Bram Greenfeld, in the movie. Lonsdale is a vocal activist of the LGBTQ+ rights movements and uses his platforms to advocate for them. 

10. Lena Waithe as Denise in Master of None

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Lena Waithe identifies as a lesbian and plays the role of a lesbian woman in the show.

11. Megan Fox as Jennifer Check in Jennifer’s Body

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Megan Fox who identifies as bisexual plays a character who “goes both ways” in the movie.

12. Hunter Schafer as Jules Vaughn in Euphoria

HBO / Via giphy.com

Hunter, a trans woman, plays the role of a trans teen in the show. In 2019, Schafer said that she was “closer to what you might call a lesbian.” In December 2021, she stated on Twitter that her sexuality is “bi or pan or something.”

13. Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel in Glee

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The Emmy-nominated actor identifies as a gay man and plays the role of a gay teenager who is conflicted about his sexuality and is bullied in school.

14. Laverne Cox as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black

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In Orange Is the New Black, Laverne Cox, a trans woman, plays the role of an incarcerated trans woman and showed some of the struggles trans people face while prison.

15. Sarah Paulson as Lana Winters in American Horror Story

HULU / Via media.giphy.com

Sarah Paulson is a lesbian icon and has played many LGBTQ+ roles in her career. In American Horror Story, she plays a strong-willed lesbian journalist.

16. Reneé Rapp as Leighton Murray in The Sex Lives of College Girls

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In the HBO Max show, Reneé Rapp’s character, Leighton Murray, is an affluent witty closeted lesbian. Rapp identifies as queer. 

17. Omar Ayuso as Omar Shanaa in Elite

Netflix / Via giphy.com

Omar Ayuso plays the role of a gay teenager with homophobic parents in the Spanish high school drama Elite. The actor identifies as a part of the queer community.

18. Olly Alexander as Ritchie Tozer in It’s A Sin

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In the drama that tells the story of HIV/AIDS in London in the ’80s, Alexander’s character Ritchie, like himself, is a gay man.

19. Lachlan Watson as Theo Putnam in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

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Lachlan Watson, who identifies as non-binary, plays the role of a trans male teenager in the fantasy drama. The actor who identifies as pansexual is also one of the youngest non-binary actors in Hollywood.

20. Tituss Burgess as Titus Andromedon in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Netflix / Via giphy.com

Although Tituss’ character in the show is a flamboyantly gay character, the actor considers himself “probably the most boring of the rainbow gay men.”