TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship
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Even from the earliest days of black-and-white transmissions, TV has always had family at its heart. And while classic sitcoms and dramas forged the idea of the nuclear family (two parents and their children living together), over time, television storytellers began embracing other types of family, including the idea of a ‘chosen family’. The term is exactly what it sounds like: people in your life who are more of a family than the one you might have been born into. However the concept of a chosen family holds extra significance for the LGBTQ+ community. Queer chosen families help guide young people through the uncertainties of identity, offering a refuge and a support base of others who have walked the same path. Here, we look at how the LGBTQ+ chosen family is reflected on TV through some of the biggest shows of recent times.

By Victoria Luxford

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Modern Family (2009-2020) – As the title suggests, Modern Family explores the reality of home life today. Next to the nuclear and blended families the series portrays, we see the same-sex couple Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet). There had, of course, been depictions of gay relationships on TV before, but few were as happy and normalised as this committed couple, who endure the same ups and downs as their straight counterparts in a way rarely seen on prime-time television. Adopting a daughter in season one, the show committed to a series-long positive depiction of LGBTQ+ parenthood, which was particularly bold at a time when same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in the US. The show may have ended, but the couple’s popularity endures; rumours of a Cameron and Mitchell spin-off still circulate.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Pose (2018-2021) – Set in the New York queer ball scene, the Emmy-winning series delves into the world of Houses – ‘found family’ units made up of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers who have come together, usually after being rejected from their biological families, and are embraced by a maternal figure referred to as ‘Mother’. Chief among them was House of Evangelista, a collection of dancers and artists who had found each other during the terror and uncertainty of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and ‘90s. When the world seemed to push them away, these families provided a space for people to be included, supported and seen.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Sense8 (2015-2018) – What happens when you are literally linked to a group of people? That’s the premise behind sci-fi drama Sense8, created by pioneering transgender filmmakers the Wachowskis. The show follows eight people who are ‘Sensates’, humans who are emotionally and telepathically connected to one another, despite coming from different backgrounds and far-flung parts of the world. With queer representation in key roles, the literal connection of the story echoes the bonds we all form in everyday life with people who have an impact on our minds and hearts.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Queer as Folk (2022) – In the 1990s and 2000s, the UK and then US versions of the series Queer as Folk exploded onto our screens, introducing the mainstream to gay culture in a format that the creators themselves admit relied as much on fantasy as reality. In 2022, a reimagining of that show came to American screens, this time with the emphasis on community and survival among many types of people to whom the term “queer” would apply (not just gay men). Embracing diverse gender identities and depicting current political issues, like homophobic shootings, the story of a group of friends clinging to each other in New Orleans showed how far LGBTQ+ representation had come.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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The L Word (2004-2009) – While LGBTQ+ representation in the media has come far over the last decade, it’s important to recognise the pioneering shows that inspired queer youth of previous generations, such as the original UK version of Queer as Folk – and The L Word. The latter became a massive hit in the early 2000s and is still credited online as being many gay and bisexual women’s first experience of gay community. The opportunity to see a group of gay and bi women acting as their own heroes – rather than token characters in a predominantly straight cast – made this a landmark TV show that inspired a 2019 continuation.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Tales of the City (1993, 2019) – This adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s books finds itself able to reflect two generations of queer life. Both the original ‘90s series and its 2019 continuation centred on 28 Barbary Lane, an apartment complex populated by LGBTQ+ residents of San Francisco who all navigate their lives and identities differently, but who come together to support their neighbours in a family led by their landlord/mother, Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis). Set 23 years later, the revival sees a different landscape, with gender and sexual identity more fluid than ever, yet the need for community is just as strong. It’s a classic example of how neighbourhoods can become families through shared experience.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Looking (2014-2016) – Studying a more up-to-date portrait of San Francisco, Looking throws the rise of technology, gentrification and domestic strife into this story of three gay men navigating their professional and love lives. All three endure difficult family backgrounds, meaning this friendship circle becomes as much about reinventing the family unit as it is about the traditional values of friendship.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Doom Patrol (2019-2023) – Much like the Marvel movie equivalents Guardians of the Galaxy, DC show Doom Patrol is about a troop of heroes who aren’t, well, heroic. Foul-mouthed and resentful, they are nonetheless a family unit that sticks together, having been assembled by a sinister scientist (Timothy Dalton) and tasked with begrudgingly saving the world. LGBTQ themes are woven firmly into the show’s storytelling, with former pilot Larry (Matt Bomer) and volatile personality shifter Jane (Diane Guerrero) both being gay, while former racer Cliff (Brendan Fraser) attempts to reconnect with his daughter, who is in a same-sex marriage. These experiences help the team bond and become the heroes they are destined to be.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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The Wire (2002-2008) – Communities can form even in the grittiest of backdrops. Arguably the most popular character in HBO classic The Wire, Omar (Michael Kenneth Williams) was a Robin Hood-like figure whose code of honour prohibited him from robbing anyone other criminals. He was also openly, proudly gay, a rare and surprising quality in the hyper-macho environment of the show. He would briefly create a tight-knit crew with same-sex couple Tosha and Kimmy (Edwina Findley and Kelli R. Brown), creating a bond that is inclusive even if not entirely wholesome!

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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It’s a Sin (2021) – Russell T Davies’ depiction of gay life in 1980s Britain will be familiar to queer youth of many generations. Set in 1981, the show follows five 18-year-olds who have moved from homes that rejected them, but who become each other’s home when they share a flat in London, nicknamed The Pink Palace. While their journey sees them try to survive the harrowing issues facing LGBTQ+ people at the time, the love and friendship created through discovery is something that cannot be broken.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Our Flag Means Death (2022-Present) – Many family units include LGBTQ+ characters, but it’s a rarity to find a show where more or less the entire cast falls under that umbrella. A smash hit for creator/star Taika Waititi, this hilarious comedy follows a lonely, sophisticated pirate (Rhys Darby) who falls for the legendary Blackbeard (Waititi). With the crew made up of gay, bisexual and transgender characters, it’s a diverse story where these cutthroats all come together and form a ship that becomes a family.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Dead End: Paranormal Park (2022) – Taking the Scooby-Doo formula and updating it to reflect modern life, this animated comedy follows two theme park employees who investigate the strange goings on in their workplace. The lead characters are a gay transgender teenage boy named Barney (Zach Barack) and a bisexual teenage girl named Norma (Kody Kavitha). Their identities are linked to their adventures, with the friends learning more about themselves and the friends who enter their group along the way. It’s a gentle and amusing way of exploring the found family dynamic, in a genre where not everyone sees themselves on screen.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Angels in America (2003) – This two-part limited TV series was a landmark for US TV, turning Tony Kushner’s award-winning play into a show that featured stars everywhere you looked. Chosen family isn’t quite the centre of the story, but it does end with a scene that celebrates the solidarity of those who have found each other. Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), one of the key characters who is facing the uncertainty of an AIDS diagnosis in 1980s New York, gives a beautiful speech that breaks the fourth wall. Joining him are his ex-partner Louis (Ben Shenkman), friend Belize (Jeffrey Wright) and Hannah (Meryl Streep), the mother of another character in the story. Their paths have led them to each other, and by the end, their friendship is bringing them hope in an uncertain future.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship.
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Q-Force (2021) – “Yeah: Pride, Chosen Family. We get it!” Taking a slightly less formal approach to the concept is Q-Force, an adult animated show featuring a task force of undervalued LGBTQ+ spies who go rogue and form their own team, saving the world in style. Both skewering and celebrating certain aspects of queer culture, Q-Force is a warm and very funny satire about how your identity can be held against you – until you find others like yourself and, together, show what you can really do. Taking a slightly sassier approach to the chosen family dynamic, this is one for those who like their representation a little bit lighter.

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TV’s Chosen Families: 14 Shows That Embrace LGBTQ+ Kinship

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