Here at Round the World Magazine, we are thrilled to see the increase of LGBTQIA+ Media from independent lesbian web series to blockbuster lesbian movies, lesbian characters are popping up in Marvel movies and big-budget TV series.
There are many lesbian series on Netflix that embrace lesbian and queer characters positively covering a wide variety of ups and downs and we just had to share them with our readers.
For those who enjoy a good film, check out our list of lesbian movies on Netflix.
From a hotshot New York lawyer having an affair with her younger to feisty prison inmates, enjoy the LGBTQIA+ characters in the list of 17 lesbian series on Netflix below.
Black Mirror (2016)
One of our favorite lesbian series on Netflix, Season 3 of the futuristic British anthology series, Black Mirror features ‘San Junipero’ which is the fourth, and one of the most epic episodes of the entire series and it has a gorgeous lesbian love story.
The episode is set in a beach resort town named San Junipero, where the introverted Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) meets the more outgoing Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). The town is part of a simulated reality the elderly can inhabit, even after death.
Watch the Trailer for San Junipero on Vimeo
Watch the San Junipero episode on Netflix
The Fosters (2015 – 2018)
The Fosters follows the lives of the members of the Foster family led by lesbian couple Stef and Lena, a cop and school vice-principal respectively, who raise one biological and four adopted children in San Diego, California.
The first season of The Fosters received generally favorable reviews from critics and also garnered particular acclaim for its portrayal of LGBT themes. The show ran its fifth and final season in 2018.
Watch the Trailer for The Fosters on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of The Fosters on Netflix
Zona Rosa (2019)
Zona Rosa (translation to English is ‘Red Zone’) is an original Netflix comedy stand-up series starring various LGBTQ+ comedians.
Series 1 has a total of four episodes. It was released on November 26, 2019, and the episodes are between 12 minutes and 15 minutes long. The language of Zona Rosa series is in Spanish and subtitles are available.
Watch the Trailer for Zona Rosa on Netflix
Watch Zona Rosa on Netflix
Alias Grace (2017)
Based on the 1996 Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, “Alias Grace” tells the story of young Grace Marks, a poor Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who is accused and convicted of the 1843 murder of her employer and his housekeeper.
Stablehand James McDermott is also convicted of the crime. McDermott is hanged, but Grace is sentenced to life in prison, leading her to become one of the most notorious women of the period in Canada. The story is based on actual 19th-century events. Grace Marks is the main character in the series and her sexuality is mysterious with a former lesbian love affair back story teasing the viewers.
Watch the Trailer for Alias Grace on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Alias Grace on Netflix
Jessica Jones (2015 – 2019)
This Netflix original chronicles the life of one of the darker Marvel characters, the mysterious Jessica Jones. When a tragedy puts an end to her short-lived career as a superhero, Jessica settles in New York City and opens her own detective agency, called Alias Investigations, which seems to be called into cases involving people who have special abilities.
Suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Jessica wants to do good, but her primary interest isn’t in saving the world, it’s saving her apartment and getting through each day. Based on a graphic novel intended for adults, this is not a superhero story for the kids.
Keep an eye out for Jeri Hogarth (played by Carrie-Anne Moss) who plays a hotshot lesbian lawyer who works closely with Jessica.
Watch the Trailer for Jessica Jones on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Jessica Jones on Netflix
E L I T Ǝ (2018 – 2020)
Elite is a Spanish language teen-thriller series that explores concepts and themes associated with teen dramas but also features more progressive issues and other sides to its clichés. These include many diverse sexual themes. Structurally, the series employs a flash-forward plot that involves a mystery element, with each season taking place in two timelines.
The first season, consisting of eight episodes, was released on Netflix on 8 October 2018. It received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many hailing the series as a “guilty pleasure”, and praising its writing, acting, and portrayal of mature themes. In October 2018, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on 6 September 2019. A third season was ordered in August 2019 and was released on 13 March 2020. In January 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a fourth and fifth season.
The show features lots of queerness, LGBTQIA+ subjects and lesbian moms!
Watch the Trailer for Elite on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Elite on Netflix
Wynonna Earp (2016 – 2019)
Wynonna Earp is a supernatural Western horror television series. Developed by Emily Andras, the Canadian-American production is based on the comic book series by Beau Smith.
Melanie Scrofano plays the series’ titular character, the great-great-granddaughter of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp. In the series, Earp returns to her hometown of Purgatory, near the Canadian Rockies, where she battles revenants, the reincarnated outlaws that the elder Wyatt killed.
Nicole Haught is the deputy sheriff in Purgatory, the town in which the series is set. She romances Waverly Earp, Wynonna’s younger sister and the pair lead the LGBTQIA+ roles in the series.
Watch the Trailer for Wynonna Earp on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Wynnona Earp on Netflix
Wentworth (2013 – 2020)
An Australia lesbian series on Netflix. Wentworth is set in modern-day Melbourne. The series explores the life of Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) when she first enters prison after being charged with the attempted murder of her husband.
Bea is separated from her daughter and sent to Wentworth on remand, where she lives in “an uncertain limbo” until she is sentenced. Starting at the bottom of Wentworth’s hierarchy, Bea is forced to learn how to survive in prison.
LGBTQIA+ characters flip in and out of the episodes. Watch out for Bea and Ally, Frankie and Bridget, Ruby, and Juice.
Watch the Trailer for Wentworth on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Wentworth on Netflix
Dare Me (2019)
“Dare Me” is an unflinching exploration of volatile female friendships, jealousy, loyalty, and the dynamics of power in a small Midwestern town. Peering behind the all-American facade, the series dives into the cutthroat world of competitive high school cheerleading, following the fraught relationship between two best friends after a new coach arrives to bring their team to prominence.
Part coming-of-age story, part small-town drama, part murder mystery, “Dare Me” exposes the physical and psychological extremes that some young women are willing to endure to get ahead.
Watch the Trailer for Dare Me on YouTube
Watch Dare Me on Netflix
Sense8 (2015 – 2017)
Eight strangers around the globe find themselves connected — first by a violent vision, then by their shared ability to connect with one another’s thoughts and actions, and finally by the urgent need to find out what happened and why. Their need to know goes beyond simple curiosity — as they pursue answers, a mysterious organization hunts them down, intent on destroying them. The intense thriller is the first foray into television (or, more accurately, Netflix) for renowned filmmakers Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski (“The Matrix Reloaded”), who created the series with J. Michael Straczynski (“Thor”).
The international cast includes veteran actors known to U.S. audiences, like Daryl Hannah (“Kill Bill”) and Naveen Andrews (“Lost”), and others well-known in their home countries, like German actor Max Riemelt and Doona Bae of South Korea. In keeping with the global premise of the series, shooting takes place all over the world, including London, Reykjavik, Nairobi, and Mumbai.
Look out for Nomi and Amanita, two wonderful lesbian characters of the LGBTQIA+ inclusive series!
Watch the Trailer for Sense8 on YouTube
Watch Sense8 on Netflix
Orange Is The New Black (2013 – 2019)
Ten years after transporting drug money to Alex, Piper is imprisoned for the crime. The toughness of prison changes her drastically as an individual, compelling her to do the unthinkable.
Piper and Alex are the series main characters and they have an on/off relationship alongside many other lesbian and queer characters! Ruby Rose makes an appearance in Season 3 as a lesbian inmate, Stella. Other lesbian characters include Butch (aka Boo) played by Lea Delaria and Poussey Washington played by Samira Wiley.
Watch the Trailer for Orange Is The New Black on YouTube
Watch Orange Is The New Black on Netflix
Trinkets (2019)
Trinkets is a teen comedy-drama series that centers on three high school girls who are addicted to shopping. The three girls click at shoplifters anonymous meetings.
Elodie is a lesbian character who is hopeless when it comes to love. Her storyline sees her meet a singer named Sabine. The cast of Trinkets is made up of many LGBTQIA+ actors (in real life) which excites us as it’s relatively rare!
Watch the Trailer for Trinkets on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Trinkets on Netflix
Gypsy (2017)
Gypsy is an American psychological thriller web television series created by Lisa Rubin for Netflix.
Naomi Watts stars as Jean Holloway, a psychologist who secretly infiltrates the private lives of her patients, including women.
Watch the Trailer for Gypsy on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Gypsy on Netflix
Cable Girls (2017 – 2020)
In 1928, a modern telecommunications company begins to operate in Madrid. The series tells of how the lives of four young women change after they start working for this company, which offers them decent pay and some independence. Each of the four is attached in different ways to their families, partners, or memories, but they develop close friendships among the group.
The show reveals the hardships that working women faced in 1920s Spain, and especially the severe restrictions on the rights of Spanish women in a male-dominated society.
Keep an eye out for Sara and her relationship with ‘Oscar’.
Watch the Trailer for Cable Girls on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Cable Girls on Netflix
Feel Good (2020)
The show follows the development of George and Mae’s romance in contemporary London. Mae, a Canadian comedian (a version of Mae Martin’s own persona) meets George, a repressed middle-class English woman, at the comedy club where she performs. The pair begin dating, and George learns that Mae is a former drug addict.
George encourages Mae to attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, where she meets fellow recovering addicts like Maggie, a quirky middle-aged woman who takes Mae under her wing. As the series progresses, George struggles to tell friends and family about her relationship with Mae, to Mae’s frustration.
Watch the Trailer for Feel Good on YouTube
Watch Season 1 of Feel Good on Netflix
Everything Sucks (2018)
DescriptionIt’s the 1990s in Boring, Ore., and groups of outcasts in Boring High School’s AV and drama clubs are trying to brave the ups and downs of teenage life in a simpler world without smartphones and other 21st-century technology.
The two crews of nerdy students are frustrated that no one is taking them seriously so they decide the best way to make it through high school is to join forces and make a movie — that’ll help them get noticed. And there’s also the usual teenage romance issues to deal with. Luke, the de facto ringleader of the AV club, falls for Kate, the principal’s daughter, but she doesn’t necessarily reciprocate the romantic feelings Luke has for her and is dealing with her own issues.
The show has been credited for positively representation young lesbians. Keep an eye out for Kate and Emaline!
Watch the Trailer for Everything Sucks on YouTube
Watch Everything Sucks on Netflix
Locked Up (2016)
Set up by her lover to take the blame for corporate fraud, Macarena Ferreiro, a naive young woman, finds herself locked up in a high-security women’s prison surrounded by tough, ruthless criminals.
The series contains an array of LGBTQIA+ characters and is in Spanish.
Watch the Trailer for Locked Up on YouTube
Watch Series 1 of Locked Up on Netflix
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