What’s New in Queer TV #17: I Love LA, All's Fair, Just Alice, Pluribus
Lesbian flirting on I Love LA, Trans character on All's Fair, Gay romance in Just Alice and the grumpiest lesbian on Earth in Pluribus
Welcome to the weekly post where I discuss new additions to my 2025 queer streaming guide.
Aurelie Chazal
Disclaimer: All the shows listed below came out about one month ago because I've noticed that's how long it usually takes me to be able to confidently verify whether a show has queer representation. I'm not able to watch everything, but I'll only include shows that have proven queer characters as verified online through reputable sources.
I Love LA • Season 1
HBO Max • Friend Group Comedy • 🇺🇸 United States • Renewed
Queer-o-meter: 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Type of queer representation: Gay, Queer women (including a WLW romance)
Friends' comedy is often compared to Girls. The series includes significant queer representation, centered on the openly gay celebrity stylist Charlie Cohen, who is a main supporting character. A central romantic subplot features one of the protagonists, Tallulah Stiel, in a developing relationship with her love interest, Tessa, who is depicted as a hot queer chef.
Read more about the show:
Emma Brockes
All's Fair • Season 1
Hulu • Legal Drama • 🇺🇸 United States • Renewed
Queer-o-meter: 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Type of queer representation: Trans woman
This isn't a good show. Actually, if you believe every single review out there, it's a terrible show. That being said, it does have some queer representation. Maria Coulatis (played by trans actress Hari Nef) is a recurring transgender character. She is central to an early-season plot where she is revealed as one of football star Chase Monroe’s affairs, creating a messy triangle with his wife Allura Grant and tying Maria’s trans history and past as a sex worker into the legal and emotional stakes of the divorce. This storyline unfolds across multiple episodes as part of Allura’s ongoing case. The show also featured lesbian legends Sarah Paulson and Niecy Nash-Betts, but it doesn't seem like their characters are queer so far.
Read more about the show:
Shannon Connellan
Just Alice • Season 1
Netflix • Rom Com • 🇨🇴 Colombia • Fate Unknown
Queer-o-meter: 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Type of queer representation: Gay (including a romance storyline)
The show features a significant and developed queer storyline centered on the gay romance between the characters Samuel and Benjamín. Their relationship arc is prominent throughout the season, dealing with common struggles such as social acceptance and family conflict when their relationship is discovered by Samuel's family, including his father who threatens to disown him. The relationship is a key subplot of the series.
See more about the show:
Pluribus • Season 1
Apple TV • Scifi Drama • 🇺🇸 United States • Renewed,
Queer-o-meter: 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Type of queer representation: Lesbian (including long-term romance that's unfortunately cut short by tragic death - but it's still worth it, I promise)
I'll just start by saying I love this show so much. It's by far my favorite show of the year, and you should watch it for the sci-fi plot alone.
Now, it doesn't hurt that the main character, Carol, is a lesbian writing straight romance books. She is in a relationship with her publicist Helen. Unfortunately, Helen dies at the beginning of the show when the invasion starts. In episode 4, Carol says that she spent time in conversion therapy, and the show makes a subtle parallel with people trying to change her then and the joint consciousness trying to absorb her now.
Read more about the show:
Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
