What a year to be queer! Last year laid down the gauntlet for LGBTQ+ moments on screen, but 2023 managed to take things to the next level. A remarkable breadth of different queer experiences were on display this year: Monica gave us a dynamite trans lead in Trace Lysette; Scott Pilgrim Takes Off explored the complexities and beauty of bisexuality; we got our latest big-time gay rom-com in Red, White, and Royal Blue; and a lesbian Rachel Weisz tantalized us in Dead Ringers.
Every year, this list gets more difficult to put together—a collection of every great queer moment would take hours to read. But as time goes on, this feels like an increasingly necessary celebration, with bills coming in left and right to try and negatively impact the lives of queer people. They will continue to try and bring in legislation to take our rights away, but queer art isn’t going anywhere—it’s only getting fiercer. Below, find our picks for the best queer TV and movie moments of 2023.
Being Gay, Doing Crime in Bottoms
Emma Seligman’s Bottoms is one of the zaniest queer teen comedies: PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) start an all-girls fight club at their high school, in an effort to hook up with the cheerleaders of their dreams. In one pitch-perfect scene, the group gets revenge against school quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), who’s in his family’s mansion grooving to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” It’s all pretty harmless house-egging and toilet paper-throwing until they inadvertently blow up his car. The scene puts a wonderful twist on the mantra “be gay, do crime.”
“All Love is Love” in Dicks: The Musical
A musical that wears inanity with a gaudy badge of honor, few movies provided more laughs this year than Dicks: The Musical. A middle finger to everything heteronormative and a bold-faced celebration of queer tomfoolery, the film ends with identical twins (who look nothing alike and are not related in real life) getting married. That gives us the suitably outrageous song “All Love is Love.” “We’ll fuck each other’s assholes til we can’t tell yours from mine,” the newlywed brothers/husbands croon to each other. You’ll probably be laughing too hard to hear its triumphant final line, “God is a faggot, and all love is love.” Hallelujah.
All the sex in Fellow Travelers
Showtime’s period drama Fellow Travelers treads familiar territory, exploring a romance between two gay men when being queer was largely forbidden. But what isn’t familiar is how incredibly hot the sex scenes are. They’re more than just sexy, though; they’re also emotionally vital to expressing how deeply Tim (Jonathan Bailey) and Hawk (Matt Bomer) care for each other. This was a great year for queer intimacy on-screen—Passages, also on this list, features what is easily the best sex scene in film this year—but Fellow Travelers knocks it out of the park with some of the horniest sex you’ll see on screen. Fellow Travelers was unafraid to dive into kinky elements of sex and hone in on the power dynamics in play, in ways that few other shows are.
Frog and Toad’s endless love
Perhaps the single most charming show on TV this year was Frog and Toad on AppleTV+. The cartoon adapts the beloved children's books about two best friends who adore each other. Frog and Toad do everything both for and with each other; whether it's baking cookies or going out of their way to make sure their bestie gets letters in the mailbox, the show exudes love in every frame. Whether or not they’re gay—but, let’s be real, these two give Bert and Ernie a run for their money—Frog and Toad reminds queer viewers of the magic of same-sex relationships.
A crushing realization in Knock at the Cabin
If you haven’t seen M. Night Shyamalan’s terrific thriller Knock at the Cabin, do that before reading this section. The film begins with a gay couple and their daughter confronted on their holiday by a group of people that if they sacrifice one of their own, the world will come to an end. The big question throughout the film is whether or not this group is lying, and this devastating scene answers it: if this wonderful queer family doesn’t kill one of their own, the world will, in fact, end. The scene is a wallop to the heart; we see how tenderly this family loves each other, which makes knowing their lives will have to be destroyed to save the world all the more shattering.
The triumphant ending of Kokomo City
This has been a fantastic year for trans representation on screen. The best documentary of the year, Kokomo City, radically reframes the conversation about trans identity, exploring the joyful, natural, humanized existence of four Black transgender sex workers. It’s a funny, thoughtful, and powerful movie. But it’s the film’s fantastic final shot, of a trans woman standing proudly and triumphantly in the nude, that strikingly embodies the humanity of transgender people. It’s a message we need more than ever—especially since one of the film’s subjects, Koko Da Doll, was murdered earlier this year, just a few months after Kokomo City’s Sundance premiere.
M3GAN, the a cappella icon
The moment the M3GAN trailer dropped last year, we knew we had a queer icon on our hands. Everyone’s favorite twerking, murderous robot doll proved she was the world’s greatest ally™ when she serenaded her “owner” and best friend Cady (Violet McGraw) with Sia’s “Titanium,” remade as a creepy lullaby. And she does it a cappella! In this moment, M3GAN revealed herself as the ultimate karaoke queen, who will sing pop bangers on a whim. And she doesn’t even need the track to do so!
Nimona just wants to be seen
Queer characters in American animation are exceptionally rare. That’s a big part of what makes Netflix’s Nimona so special—though Nimona (Chlöe Grace Moretz) isn’t explicitly queer, her story is extremely familiar to those in the queer community, particularly trans people. Tired of being ostracized for things beyond her control, shapeshifting Nimona is exhausted of being viewed as a villain; the society she lives in stokes fear of the unknown, and her mere presence is deemed as a threat. In the film’s most touching moment, Nimona reveals her deepest desire: “I just want to be seen.”
Franz Rogowski’s outfits in Passages
There’s so much to love in Ira Sachs’s horny, thorny, funny Passages. The film explores the breakdown of the relationship between two married men, Martin (Ben Whishaw) and Tomas (Franz Rogowski). Despite those amazing scenes, I can’t stop thinking about the incredibly sexy fashions worn by Rogowski’s character. In one scene, he wears a divine sheer crop top with low-hanging leopard print trousers, wielding his sexuality like a weapon. In another, he’s got on a chunky green sweater filled with holes, sensually revealing his skin. His clothes are fabulous and extremely gay, but they also perfectly reflect his unpredictable nature.
“Gloria” takes center stage in Somebody Somewhere
One of TV’s most authentic friendships is the one between Sam (Bridgett Everett) and her gay bestie Joel (Jeff Hiller) on Somebody Somewhere. With their friendship on the rocks, Sam makes the ultimate gesture by performing Joel’s favorite song, Laura Branigan’s “Gloria,” at their friend's wedding. The real magic is in Joel’s reaction: He flies out of his seat, jumping up and down wildly as if he won a billion dollars. (As a gay man who named my cat Gloria after this song, I could relate deeply to Joel’s reaction.) This could have made for a stunning series finale, but, thankfully, it doesn’t have to—HBO gracefully renewed Somebody Somewhere for a third season.
Globby (doesn’t) slay in The Other Two
One of TV’s most spot-on (and hilarious) satires, The Other Two lampooned queerbaiting when all-time great gay character Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver) gets a role in an animated Disney film called Haunted Buddies 4. He’s going to play Globby (a literal glob), the first out gay character in the franchise! The news whips up a media frenzy, and Cary becomes an enormous star and trailblazer for the queer community—all before the movie is even out. When its hotly anticipated premiere arrives, there’s not a single remotely gay moment within the story. It’s Cary’s desperation that makes this reveal so hysterical, trying to justify why the first gay Disney character is anything but: “He sucked the other glob’s dick!” he pleads with the audience. But, sadly (for Cary), that scene is nowhere to be found.
A family breakdown in Our Son
Gabriel (Billy Porter) and Nicky (Luke Evans) have what seems like the perfect life: a great house, a strong relationship, and a beautiful son. But when Gabriel stuns Nicky with news that he wants a divorce, it shatters their lives. Their fights are tough to watch, as pettiness and resentment cloud their vision and what’s best for their son. So many queer films are about finding that once-in-a-lifetime love, but Our Son bravely, deftly explores a relationship that doesn’t fit that ideal. Hardly any films exist about gay parents, and between this and Knock at the Cabin, 2023 put gay dads through the wringer—but they also explore how wonderful and loving queer parents can be, despite the hardships.
Sasha Colby wins RuPaul’s Drag Race
Sometimes forgone conclusions can be frustrating. When Sasha Colby walked into the Werk Room on Season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, we all knew there was no stopping her. And there wasn’t: Legendary trans queen Sasha Colby won four challenges, delivered amazing runways, and cemented herself as one of the franchise’s most gifted lip-syncers. It was her crowning moment that solidified her brilliance. Wearing a gorgeous, sexy bikini, Colby’s final words on the show were, “This goes to every trans person past, present, and future because we are not going anywhere.” Can I get an amen?
The surprising sincerity of The Ultimatum: Queer Love
A show designed for chaos and drama, Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Queer Love brought together five lesbian couples on the brink. But beyond all of Queer Love’s overproduced madness were the compelling conversations that are rarely given space on TV: discussions of IVF treatment; embracing self-love; and the struggles of dating while queer. We don’t get to see moments like this often—if ever—in reality television, especially on a dating show, so it felt special to have them here.
