That’s what happens when Black queer love is shown on TV — viewers are able to see possibilities for themselves that they never knew were there. And we want more.
We’re taking a look back into TV history to find some of our favorite Black lesbian and queer women couples. These are the queer characters who have been pushing forward representation and diversifying queer storytelling. These are characters who have left their mark on TV history.
For this list, only couples where both members are Black are included, and we’re including couples who dated, but didn’t last. The couples in this list are also not ranked and are listed in no particular order. Unfortunately, there haven’t been a ton of examples of that on TV, and most of them have come from shows in the last few years. Still, we want to recognize these couples and the powerful representation they’ve provided over the years. Hopefully, they’ll lead to a lot more couples like them being on TV!
While the two started out as enemies on the Shonda Rhimes show, Annalise (the legendary Viola Davis) and Tegan (Amirah Vann) soon became closer and closer, eventually starting a romantic relationship.
When Bette was running for Mayor of Los Angeles in season one of Generation Q, a scandal erupted when it was revealed she had had an affair with Felicity Adams, who was married to a man at the time.
Bette has been having a torrid affair with the artist Pippa Pascal (Vanessa Estelle Williams) that included one of the hottest hookups in the show’s history.
When Aziz Ansari handed season three of Master of None over to his friend Lena Waithe, she made it all about the relationship between her lesbian character Denise, and her wife Alicia, played by Naomi Ackie.
In this show loosely based on creator Lena Waithe’s life, the screenwriter Hattie, played by Jonica T. Gibbs, has had a torrid relationship with her former boss, famous filmmaker Ida B (Sophina Brown).
Jill, played by Naturi Naughton, is a founding member of the girl group the Nasty Bitches, where she went by Da Thrill and was known for her rapping. Now, in her 40s, she became a Catholic and married a man while having a secret girlfriend, Tina, played by Felisha Terrell.
While these two only lasted a little while, they were a couple on season 3 of the show when Kat (Aisha Dee) decided to run for city council, and she hired Tia (Alexis Floyd) as her campaign manager. The two soon started dating, but are no longer together.
Police detective Kima Greggs and her wife Cheryl were a part of The Wire for five seasons of ups and downs in their relationship. Greggs was played by Sonja Sohn, and Cheryl was played by Canadian actress Melanie Nicholls-King.
Lauren (Rhyon Nicole Brown) is the daughter of a wealthy family who has been in the closet most of her life in this soapy Fox show. She finally came out after her girlfriend Taylor (Nicole Chanel Williams) fell off a boat during a party (don’t worry, she’s not dead).
Leota (Danielle Brooks) is Amanda Waller’s secret daughter and a member of the secret task force working with Peacemaker in this DCEU HBO Max show. Played by Elizabeth Ludlow, Leota has a wife in the series named Keeya.
Nina Williams (Tyla Abercrumbie) is the mother of the show’s main characters, Kevin and Kiesha, and a proud lesbian. At first, we see her with her girlfriend Karen (played by Malkia Stampley), but in later seasons, she’s married to Dre (Miriam A. Hyman), who acts as a stepmother to her kids.
After it was revealed that Nova (Rutina Wesley) is bisexual, she met Black Lives Matter activist Chantal (Reagan Gomez-Preston) and the two had a short-lived romance before breaking up.
After Kate Kane disappeared and Ryan Wilder (played by Javicia Leslie) became Batwoman, she started a flirtation with Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy), one of the leaders of the Crows, a private police force. In a recent episode, the two shared their first kiss.
