Queer Character, Queer Actor

The gay Larry Trainor (top left) is played by gay actor Matt Bomer (bottom left).

"I play a lesbian dentist — which is a big stretch because I am a lesbian, but I'm not a dentist."

— Paula Pell on her role in Girls 5 Eva

When the actor cast to play a queer role identifies in the same way as their character, such as a gay man played by a gay male actor, a trans woman by a trans actress, and so on.

With the prominence of LGBT visibility since the 2000s and especially after the 2010s, this trope has become increasingly desirable, especially to make up for the decades-old Double Standard in Hollywood where straight actors would play queer characters and win awards left and right (such as Hilary Swank winning an Oscar for Boys Don't Cry), while actually-queer actors had to either spend their lives in the closet or come out and watch their careers sink. In fact, many once-acclaimed performances are now looked at more critically because the character would constantly talk about being queer without ever acting on it, or their romantic scenes were tepid at best, all because the actor wasn't comfortable shooting love scenes with a same-gender co-star. Casting a queer actor for such a role helps ensure that they won't be squeamish about a Big Damn Kiss and/or sex scene.

The casting directors may not have been actually looking for someone queer to play such roles, but the actors were deemed best for the roles which may be because of the genuine portrayal. Note that though the actor and character may both be queer, they may not identify the same way. In this way, the trope may be downplayed or sometimes invoked because of the casting directors wanting an openly queer actor in the role and settling for whatever they can find.

However, it is actually illegal in some jurisdictions (including California and New York State) for casting directors to seek out actors of a certain sexual orientation or to even ask about it. This is due to employment laws meant to protect LGBT actors from blacklisting. When this trope is in effect, it's usually because queer actors seek out these roles and can apply their personal experience to the part.

Of course, this also works in the reverse: openly queer actors playing straight/cisgender characters, though this is rarer than its inverse, which leads to some questioning of Hollywood standards (queer people can only play queer, but straight people can play anyone).

Transgender actors run into a unique set of problems: when a role calls for a trans character, casting directors often cast cisgender actors and paint them up like drag queens, implying that trans people are just crossdressing. Cis women playing trans women and cis men playing trans men tend to be better received but may still be criticized for taking the role from the pool of trans actors. In fact, transgender actors are very rarely cast for non-trans roles, and if they're able to pass as their target gender, they might even be turned down for trans roles for not looking stereotypically "trans enough."

Interesting instances arise when an actor comes out once already an established character within a universe, and then their character's storyline follows suit. Similarly, it's not uncommon for an actor to realize they're queer after playing a queer character.

Subtrope of Actor-Shared Background, and Sister Trope of Disabled Character, Disabled Actor. Contrast to Trans Character, Cis Actor. Not to be confused with Cast Full of Gay, although there can be overlap if the actors playing said cast members are also LGBT+.

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Examples:

Anime

Due to very few numbers of Japanese voice actors who have been identified as a part of the LGBT+ spectrum, most of these examples are in the dubbed versions.

Multiple Examples (by actor):

• Gay voice actor, J. Michael Tatum has voiced the Camp Gay chef Jean Armstrong Ace Attorney (2016) anime, the openly gay Otokosuki in the final episodes of Dragon Ball Z Kai and Murata (who formerly had a relationship with one of the main male characters) from given. Tatum also voiced Raikou of Nabari no Ou and Ryugazaki of Free!, both of whom are implied to be gay.
• Gay voice actor, Chris Patton has voiced the trans non-binary Nagi/Alice in Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Ambiguously Bi Graham in Baccano!, Ambiguously Gay Ichiro in Nerima Daikon Brothers, and Kagiura (who's the love interest of a male character) in Sasaki and Miyano.
• Jessie James Grelle, who is transfeminine & non-binary, has voiced Shun from Stranger By The Shore and Ritsuka from given, both of whom are gay. They also voice Yuri Katsuki from Yuri!!! on Ice who's engaged to his male coach and spends a significant part of the series getting in touch with his feminine side.
• The non-binary (identifying with both female and gender-neutral pronouns) Michelle Rojas voiced the transmasculine Yamato from One Piece and the female forms of the Lord Tensen members (who had an ability to change genders at will) from Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku.
• Izumi Sena of Love Stage!! is bisexual and is voiced in English by Greg Ayres, who is gay. Ayres also voiced Gau Meguro of Nabari no Ou and Nagisa Hazuki of Free!, both of whom are implied to have feelings for the aforementioned Tatum characters as well as Ambiguously Bi Hideki from Nerima Daikon Brothers.
• In Viz Media's dub of Sailor Moon, the lesbian Haruka Tenoh is voiced by Erica Mendez, who came out as asexual in 2020. Mendez also voiced Uraume from Jujutsu Kaisen, who has a case of Ambiguous Gender.

Multiple Examples (by series):

• In the GKIDS dub of Tokyo Godfathers, the assigned-male-at-birth Hana is voiced by trans actress Shakina Nayfack. From the same movie's dub, Hana's mother is voiced by gender non-conforming Kate Bornstein.
• Both the English dubs of given and Sasaki and Miyano feature queer characters played by queer actors (with some actors appearing in both series):
  • given: In addition to the aforementioned Ritsuka, his love interest Mafuyu is voiced by the queer Brandon McInnis. There's also Jonah Scott (who is bisexual) voices the bisexual Akihiko (who used to be in a relationship with the aforementioned Murata) and Brendan Blaber (who is bisexual) voices Mafuyu's previous boyfriend, Yuuki (both actors also appeared in the show below). The dub is also directed by the gay David Wald.
  • Sasaki and Miyano: The title characters Sasaki and Miyano, both implicitly bisexual, are voiced respectively by the bisexual Kellen Goff and the non-binary Joshua Waters (both actors also appeared in the show above with the latter also playing a queer character). In addition, Brandon McInnis voices the gay supporting character Hirano (whose love interest is the aforementioned Kagiura).
• Reign of the Seven Spellblades:
  • Carlos Whitrow was assigned male at birth but was magically neutered and uses they/them pronouns. In the English dub, they're voiced by non-binary voice actor Dallas Reid.
    • Kiba Walker, who is gay, briefly took over for Reid as Carlos, but would later go to voice Tim Linton, who is also gay.
  • In the same dub, Pete Reston, a Sex Shifter who was originally assigned male at birth, is voiced by Lexi Nieto, who is non-binary (using both gender-neutral and female pronouns).

Individual Examples:

• In the English dub of Asteroid in Love, Moe "Suzu" Suzuya, a lesbian teen who came out in the course of the anime, is played by the bisexual Madeleine Morris.
• In the Netflix dub of Kakegurui, the lesbian Sayaka Igarashi is voiced by bisexual voice actress Erica Lindbeck.^note Lindbeck wouldn't come out until 2020
• Super Crooks (2021) sees Gladiator, who's gay, voiced by the openly gay Cam Clarke.
• In the dub of Komi Can't Communicate, the genderfluid Najimi Osana (who is also referred to with they/them pronouns in the dub) is voiced by Skyler Davenport, who is agender.
• In the English dub of One Piece, transgender woman Kiku is voiced by trans voice actress Kayleigh McKee.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean: Genderfluid and pansexual Brittany Lauda voices Foo Fighters, or F.F., who uses they/them pronouns.
• Kiruko of Heavenly Delusion is a man in a woman’s body and is played by non-binary Anjali Kunapaneni.
• In Bleach, Giselle Gewelle's gender is left vague and is voiced by transgender non-binary Casey Mongillo.
• In Discotek Media's English dub of Lovely★Complex, the trans character of Seiko is voiced by Oz "Siv" Ryan, who is genderfluid.
• Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: Pansexual actress Mae Whitman reprises her role of lesbian Roxy Richter from the 2010 live-action film for the English dub.

Film — Animated

• Batman: The Killing Joke: Barbara's Gay Best Friend Reese is played by J. P. Karliak, who is also gay.
• Catwoman: Hunted sees Batwoman, a lesbian, voiced by Stephanie Beatriz, who's bisexual.
• Elemental (2023): Lake, Wade’s nonbinary sibling, is voiced by Kai Ava Hauser, who is also nonbinary.
• In The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Katie, who is confirmed to be queer by the end of the film, is voiced by bisexual actress Abbi Jacobson.
• NIMONA (2023): Openly gay actor Eugene Lee Yang voices Ambrosius, whose relationship (and the strain his being framed for murder/treason puts thereon) with his boyfriend Ballister is a major plot thread through the movie.
• Onward: Lesbian actress Lena Waithe voices the lesbian cop, Specter.
• Strange World: Jaboukie Young-White voices Ethan Clade, who is shown to have a romantic attraction to another male character. Young-White himself is openly gay.
• Zootopia: Bucky Oryx-Antlerson, who's always seen arguing with his husband Pronx, is voiced by the director Byron Howard, who's also gay in real life.

Film — Live-Action

• Bird Box: B.D. Wong is gay, like his character Greg.
• In The Birdcage, the openly gay Nathan Lane plays the gay Drag Queen Albert. (He came out three years after the movie.)
• In Boy Meets Girl, the openly trans Michelle Hendley plays trans woman Ricky.
• In BPM Beats Per Minute, director Robin Campillo says he made a point of casting queer actors to play queer characters (although the sexualities of the individual cast members are not necessarily known).
• Virtually all roles played by Brianna Hildebrand (who is queer, into men and women alike) so far. In fact, she got into a relationship with a woman in the art department on Deadpool 2.
• But I'm a Cheerleader did have a majority heterosexual cast, but Clea DuVall identifies as a lesbian, and stars as Graham. Ru Paul, who's gay, plays an "ex-gay" counselor of a gay conversion camp (he insists he's straight). Douglas Spain (Andre) came out as gay in 2012.
• Although John Hurt never gave himself a specific label, he was open about his sexual experiences with other men in his youth and believed that sexuality was fluid and ever-changing throughout a person's lifetime. He played several career-defining queer roles, including Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and Caligula in I, Claudius.
• In Bye Bye Blondie, the lesbian Gloria as a young woman is played by bisexual actress/singer Soko.
• In Mean Girls, "too gay to function" Damian is played by gay actor Daniel Franzese, but he only came out a decade after the release of the movie.
  • In the 2024 version, he is played by Jaquel Spivey, who is also gay. In addition, Janis, who was Ambiguously Gay in the original is now an out lesbian, played by bisexual Auli'i Cravalho.
    • In addition, while this is not officially confirmed in canon, lesbian Reneé Rapp plays Regina George (reprising her role from Broadway), and interprets the character as a lesbian as well.
• Tessa Thompson, who is attracted to both men and women, while eschewing the bisexual label, has stated that her character in Thor: Ragnarok — Valkyrie — has the same preferences, but a scene establishing as much in the film was left off the final cut. Director Taika Waititi has confirmed as much himself and Thor: Love and Thunder later confirms it.
• Tangerine stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor (both trans women) as trans sex workers Sin-Dee and Alexandra.
• A Fantastic Woman stars trans actress Daniela Vega as trans woman Marina.
• In French Twist, gay Spanish pop new wave musician and actor Miguel Bosé plays the gay man Laurent meets at the end.
• Gods and Monsters stars Ian McKellen (who's gay) as gay film director James Whale.
• In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ezra Miller (who identifies as genderqueer and pansexual) plays the gay Patrick.
• Pride (2014) has the likes of Andrew Scott (Gethin) and Russell Tovey (Tim) amongst its cast.
• John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum has the Adjudicator, who is non-binary. They are played by the non-binary Asia Kate Dillon, who had asked to make the character non-binary to match their own identity.
• By Hook or By Crook has two trans lead actors (Silas Howard and Harry Dodge), playing the main characters Shy and Val. Both characters are implicitly trans, using male pronouns and words like "guy" and "man" to refer to each other, although the words "trans" and "transgender" are not actually used anywhere in the film.
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire: Adèle Haenel is queer like Héloïse (and was once in a relationship with the film's director Céline Sciamma).
• Room in Rome: Elena Anaya is a lesbian like her character Alba.
• Gia: Bisexual actress Angelina Jolie plays the lesbian model Gia Marie Carangi.
• It: Chapter Two: The gay couple who are victims of a homophobic attack at the beginning of the movie are played by gay director Xavier Dolan and gay actor Taylor Frey.^note The note about drawing from one's own experiences rings true here; Adrian in the book was much meeker when he was being threatened. Dolan pushed for him to be Defiant to the End. For that matter, Xavier Dolan often plays gay characters in his own movies.
• Blood of the Tribades: Chloé Cunha, who plays the lesbian vampire Élisabeth, is queer herself (in fact, she does queer comedy improv).
• Jennifer's Body: Jennifer is almost certainly bi or a lesbian. Megan Fox says she played her as a closeted lesbian, while she's bisexual herself.
• G.B.F.:
  • Michael J. Willett, who is openly gay, as the gay Tanner.
  • Paul Iacono, who mostly identifies as gay but also says he's bi, as the gay Brent.
• All Cheerleaders Die: Caitlin Stacey plays lesbian Maddie. Stacey's called herself variously lesbian, fluid, and pansexual in reality.
• Princess Cyd: Katie, who is portrayed as a butch lesbian but also discussed as being possibly transgender, is portrayed by Malic White, an actor who is transgender and uses they/them pronouns.
• Below Her Mouth: Erika Linder is a lesbian, like her character Dallas. Natalie Krill also has made comments that indicate that, like Jasmine, she's possibly bisexual.
• My Days of Mercy: Transmasculine non-binary Elliot Page (prior to coming out, but openly attracted to women) plays bisexual Lucy.
  • Page, prior to coming out, also played played lesbian Stacie in Freeheld.
• Charlie's Angels (2019): Sabina is heavily implied to be lesbian or bi (the director has confirmed that she's gay). Kristen Stewart, who plays her, is openly bisexual.
  • Stewart also played the non-specific queer Joan Jett in The Runaways and the lesbian Abby in Happiest Season.
• Bit: Nicole Maines, like her character Laurel, is transgender.
• Both Stephen Fry and Rupert Everett (both gay) have played Oscar Wilde in a film (Wilde and The Happy Prince, respectively).
• Luke Evans is openly gay and would play a gay character in the 2023 drama Our Son. His on-screen ex-husband is played by Billy Porter, who is also gay.
• The Crying Game: Jaye Davidson, who's gay, plays the trans woman Dil.
• Margarita: Nicola Correia-Damude is bisexual and plays a lesbian here.
• The Craft: Legacy: Both Lourdes and her actress Zoey Luna are transgender.
• Happiest Season:
  • Lesbian Abby is played by openly bisexual Kristen Stewart.
  • John is played by gay actor Daniel Levy.
  • Harper's ex Riley is played by bisexual actress Aubrey Plaza.
  • Clea DuVall, an open lesbian who directed and wrote this, cameos at the end as Riley's apparent new girlfriend.
• The Little Hours: Bisexual actress Aubrey Plaza plays bisexual nun Fernanda.
• Van Helsing has Aleera who's Ambiguously Bi - one of Dracula's brides but shows a lot of interest in Anna. Her actress Elena Anaya is openly lesbian.
• Downplayed in Thirteen (2003). Tracy and Evie at one point kiss to experiment, and then it evolves into a full-on makeout. Tracy's actress Evan Rachel Wood later came out as bisexual.
• The Scottish Short Film Authentic is about a young woman coming out to her brother. Nicola Docherty, who also wrote the script, has an attraction to women and men (preferring not to use a label) and based it on her own experiences.
• V for Vendetta gives Gordon Dietrich Adaptational Sexuality to be a closeted gay man, possibly to accommodate Stephen Fry now playing him.
• Moxie: Transgender actress Josie Totah plays CJ, who is also transgender.
• With a Kiss I Die: Paige Emerson, who's nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, plays Farryn, a bi or lesbian woman.
• Foxfire (1996): Legs, a lesbian, is played by bi actress Angelina Jolie. Goldie, who is heavily implied to be a lesbian as well, is played by lesbian actress Jenny Shimizu.
• Rough Night:
  • Ilana Glazer, a queer actress, plays Frankie, who is lesbian or bi.
  • Zoë Kravitz is bisexual, as Blair appears to be.
• Unpregnant: Barbie Ferreira is currently dating a woman, and she plays lesbian Bailey.
• Let It Snow: Dorrie is played by Liv Hewson, a non-binary lesbian, and her girlfriend Kerry is played by Anna Akana, who is bisexual.
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post: Star Chloë Grace Moretz has mentioned she's queer, but hasn't defined her sexuality specifically, and plays main character Cameron, a lesbian teen. Sasha Lane plays one of the lesbian girls being forced to undergo conversion therapy. Quinn Shephard plays Cameron's secret girlfriend. Lane (playing Jane) is a lesbian, and Shephard (Coley) has said she's queer.
• The White Orchid: Olivia Thirlby, who's bisexual, plays Claire, who picks up and then has sex with a woman, who's the only person in the film she's shown as attracted to (she never uses any labels).
• Victim (1961): Dirk Bogarde was, like his character Melville Farr, a closeted gay man. He not only wasn't out at the time but never actually came out publicly (however, friends knew of his orientation).
• Steam (2007): Kate Siegel is bisexual, playing Elizabeth, a lesbian. In fact, she came out during interviews for the film.
• Bloodthirsty: Lauren Beatty (Grey) and Katherine King So (Charlie) play a lesbian couple, while both are queer.
• Hearts Beat Loud: Sam and Rose are girlfriends in the film. Kiersey Clemons playing Sam is queer, Sasha Lane who plays Rose has said she's a lesbian. Clemons played lesbians in Dope as Diggy and Easy as Chase too.
• West Side Story (2021): Anybodys, who is usually portrayed as a tomboy, is explicitly stated to be a trans man in this film, and his actor iris menas is transmasculine and non-binary.
• The 2021 Irish Short Film Boxed In is about a trans man taking up boxing, played by trans actor Jackson Lennon. AJ is also in a relationship with a boy, and Jackson is likewise bisexual. AJ's boyfriend, implied to be trans as well, is likewise played by trans actor Elliot Douglas.
• Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl: Quinn Shephard, who's queer, plays bisexual Beth.
• Adam (2019):
  • Bobbi Salvör Menuez, who is nonbinary and pansexual, plays Gillian who had initially identified as a lesbian, then bisexual.
  • Leo Sheng plays Ethan, a trans man like him.
  • A number of the minor characters are also played by actors of the same gender or orientation.
• Yves Saint Laurent: Guillaume Gallienne is bisexual and plays the gay Pierre Bergé.
• She Hate Me: Bai Ling, who's bisexual, plays One, a lesbian.
• The Batman (2022): Selina Kyle/Catwoman is heavily implied to be in a relationship with her roommate Annika and also expresses interest in Batman. Her actress Zoë Kravitz is bisexual.
• Crush:
  • Queer actress Rowan Blanchard plays Paige, who's a lesbian.
  • Bisexual AJ is played by Auli'i Cravalho, who's also bisexual.
• Downplayed in Fear Street. Word of God is that Alice from 1978 is gay but closeted and secretly has a crush on Cindy. The character is played by Ryan Simpkins, who is non-binary.
• Most of the Cast Full of Gay of Fire Island is queer including Joel Kim Booster (Noah), Bowen Yang (Howie), Conrad Ricamora (Will), James Scully (Charlie), Margaret Cho (Erin), Tomás Matos (Keegan), Nick Adams (Cooper), and Zane Phillips (Dex).
• Dating Amber: Amber, a lesbian, was played by Lola Petticrew, a queer and nonbinary actor.
• Kaboom!: Smith, who's experimenting sexually, has sex with women but also men during the film. He was played by Thomas Dekker, who came out as gay later in 2017.
• They/Them (2022): All of the young LGBT+ characters were played by LGBT+ actors.
• Not Okay: Harper is a lesbian, while the actress who plays her, Nadia Alexander, is pansexual.
• Compulsion (2016): Sadie, a bisexual woman, was played by Lio Tipton, a nonbinary queer actor.
• The Retreat (2021): Chad Connell is gay like his character Connor (the only LGBT+ actor in the cast).
• Bodies Bodies Bodies: Sophie is in a relationship with Bee, and she's played by Amandla Stenberg, a nonbinary lesbian actor.
• Do Revenge: Eleanor's a lesbian, played by queer actress Maya Hawke. Her ex Carissa and new girlfriend Gabbi are played by queer actresses Ava Capri and Talia Ryder, respectively.
• Rocketman: Young Elton John is played by bi actor Kit Connor.
• Darby and the Dead: Piper mentions she's transgender like actress Nicole Maines.
• Kiersey Clemons, who's queer, has played lesbian characters Diggy (Dope), Chase (Easy) Sam (Hearts Beat Loud), Joanne (RENT Live) and bisexual Cassidy (Somebody I Used to Know) so far.
• Fresh (2022): Bisexual Mollie is played by lesbian Jonica T. Gibbs.
• Australian lesbian actress Mandahla Rose has played lesbians in most roles she's had, including from All About E and August In The City. In the former too, E's ex-girlfriend is played by Julia Billington, a queer nonbinary actor.
• Patricia Velásquez, a Venezuelan actress, came out as a lesbian in 2014. She played the lesbian lead character from Liz in September the same year. Even prior to coming out, she played lesbian Begoña on The L Word.
• Knock at the Cabin: Gay couple Eric and Andrew are played by gay actors Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge, respectively.
• BloodRayne: Rayne was played by actress Kristanna Loken, who is a bisexual woman like her.
• Women Talking: August Winter, who's nonbinary, played trans man Melvin.
• Bros: Both Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane are gay and play gay characters. Most secondary gay characters are also played by gay actors. The same goes for the lesbian and trans women who are supporting characters.
• Requiem (2021): Bella Ramsey is nonbinary and plays lesbian Evelyn. It was before Ramsey came out though.
• How To Blow Up A Pipeline: Sasha Lane is a lesbian like Theo.
• The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love: Laurel Holloman is bisexual and plays Butch Lesbian Randy (she says this role made her realize her bisexuality, in fact).
• Jagged Mind:
  • Maisie Richardson-Sellers, who's queer, plays Billie, a lesbian.
  • Shannon Woodward, who's also queer, plays Alex, who Billie dates.
• Signature Move: Fawzia Mirza is a lesbian like her character Zaynab.
• Attachment:
  • Ellie Kendrick plays Leah, who is a lesbian like her.
  • Josephine Park plays Maja, Leah's girlfriend. Park is married to another woman.
• Tragedy Girls: Sadie and McKayla, the titular duo, were strongly implied to have a mutual attraction given just how close they are. They are played by Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp, respectively. Both actresses are LGBT+, although Shipp only came out later.
• Eternals: Haaz Sleiman, who plays Phastos' husband Ben, is gay himself.
• The Hollow Child: Emily, who's attracted to Samantha, is played by bisexual actress Genevieve Buechner.
• The Next Best Thing:
  • Rupert Everett, one of the leads, is gay (and was out when he was cast) and plays a gay man in the film.
  • Neil Patrick Harris is technically a retroactive case; he is gay and plays a gay man in the film, but didn't publicly come out until years later.
• My Animal: Bobbi Salvör Menuez (a nonbinary pansexual) plays Heather and Amandla Stenberg (a nonbinary lesbian) plays Jonny. Their characters are two young women (or AFAB people) who fall for each other.
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World:
  • Roxie Richter is Ramona's ex-girlfriend. Her actress Mae Whitman would later come out as pansexual in August 2021.
  • Gay actor Ben Lewis plays Wallace's boyfriend "Other" Scott.
• Freaky: Josh is a gay teen played by non-binary actor Misha Osherovich.
• The Truth About Jane: RuPaul and his character Jimmy are both gay.
• Monster High: The Movie: Frankie Stein is changed to nonbinary and is therefore portrayed by the nonbinary Ceci Balagot.
• My Best Friend's Wedding: Both Rupert Everett and his character George are gay.
• Four Weddings and a Funeral: Gareth is played by Simon Callow, who is also gay.
• Mrs. Doubtfire: Openly gay actors Harvey Fierstein and Scott Capurro as Daniel's brother Frank and his boyfriend Jack, respectively.
• The Novice: Dani, a Butch Lesbian, was played by bisexual actress Dilone.
• The Prom: There's Jo Ellen Pellman as Emma, Ariana DeBose as Alyssa, and Kevin Chamberlin as Sheldon.
• 3 Days to Kill: Vivi is indicated to be attracted toward women along with men, like her actress Amber Heard.
• Scream (2022): Mindy is queer, like her actress Jasmin Savoy Brown.
• Bisexual actress Anna Paquin played Dr. Jean Markham, a closeted Scottish lesbian physician during the 1950s in Tell It to the Bees.
• Doctor in Trouble has Roddy, a Camp Gay photographer played by the gay Graham Chapman.
• Cruella: John McCrea, like his character Artie, is gay in real life.
• Make the Yuletide Gay: Adamo Ruggiero is gay like his character Nathan.
• Bottoms:
  • Ayo Edebiri plays Josie, a lesbian, while she is queer herself.
  • Ruby Cruz, who plays lesbian Hazel, identifies as queer.
  • Isabel's actress Havana Rose Liu is openly pansexual, and her character has displayed interest in both men and women, dating Jeff, while also being Josie's love interest and (later) her girlfriend.
  • Rhodes, Josie and PJ's childhood babysitter turned older friend, is a lesbian. Her actress, Punkie Johnson, is openly a lesbian in real life too.
• In Mamma Mia!, Harry's partner Petros is played by Juan Pablo Di Pace, who later came out as gay. In the sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the younger Harry is played by gay actor Hugh Skinner.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: Queer Stephanie Hsu as queer Joy Wang. Joy's girlfriend Becky is played by Tallie Medel, who is nonbinary.
• The New Mutants: Lesbian Dani is played by queer actress Blu Hunt. Maisie Williams plays the lesbian Rahne, but Williams identifies as fluid and disregards any LGBT labels and has only dated men.
• It's a Wonderful Knife (2023):
  • Karen, a lesbian married to Gale, was played by Cassandra Naud, who's queer.
  • Winnie and Bernie, two girls, turn out to have a mutual attraction. Jane Widdop (Winnie) and Jess McLeod (Bernie) are both nonbinary. Widdop has a girlfriend too.
• Alexander: Bagoas, traditionally considered a lover of both Darius and Alexander, is played by Francisco Bosch, who is gay in real life as well.
• Dear Evan Hansen: Both Jared and his actor Nik Dodani are gay.
• Ready Player One (2018): Lena Waithe, who played the lesbian Helen Harris/Aech, is a lesbian in real life.
• No Time to Die: It's revealed that Ben Whishaw's Q is gay, like the actor himself.
• Nope: Keke Palmer, who refuses to pin down a label but has expressed attraction to men and women, plays Em, who talks about sleeping with her (woman) therapist and mentions that she was planning on staying at her girlfriend's house.
• Lilting: The openly gay Ben Whishaw plays a gay man.
• Passages: Gay actor Ben Whishaw plays Martin, who is also gay.
• Cloud Atlas: Ben Whishaw, who later came out as gay, plays bisexual Robert Frobisher.
• Maestro: Queer actor Michael Urie plays Jerome Robbins, who was bisexual.
• Anyone but You: LGBT+ actress Alexandra Shipp plays lesbian Claudia.
• Girls Like Magic:
  • Lesbian actress Shantell Yasmine Abeydeera plays Jamie, a fellow lesbian.
  • Queer trans man D'Lo plays Nic, who's possibly meant to be a trans man too, though definitely somehow LGBT+ in any case.
  • Lesbian actress Sarah Croce plays Sarah, another lesbian.
• The Turning Point (1977): Michael was written as gay and played by gay actor James Mitchell.
• Gay actor Colman Domingo portrayed gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin.
• School of Rock: Brian Falduto, who played the gay student Billy in the film, is gay in real life.
• In My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, nonbinary character Victory is played by Melina Kotselou, who is also non-binary.
• Drive-Away Dolls: Queer actress Beanie Feldstein plays lesbian Sukie.
• Yes or No: Suppanad "Tina" Jittaleela played Kim, who it turns out is a Butch Lesbian. Jittaleela has a butch style herself, and had indicated she's queer in interviews about the film.

Live-Action TV

• AJ and the Queen: Series creator and star RuPaul is gay as are most of the actors who play the show's many queer characters.
• Orange Is the New Black:
  • The show features lesbian Samira Wiley as Poussey, Butch Lesbian Lea DeLaria as Carrie "Big Boo" Black, and trans actress Laverne Cox as Sophia. Then in season 3 Ruby Rose plays a lesbian. She is not only a lesbian but genderfluid too (still using female pronouns though). The last season introduces Dominga "Daddy" Duarte, who is either a lesbian or transgender (it's ambiguous), and played by lesbian Vicci Martinez. The bisexual lead Piper Chapman is portrayed by actress Taylor Schilling, who identifies as queer. McCullough similarly is indicated to be lesbian or bi, while her actress Emily Tarver started a relationship with castmate Vicci Martinez after it ended.
  • In a rare out example in the Brazilian dub, bisexual Piper is voiced by bisexual actress Mabel Cezar, one of the rare out LGBT voice actors in Brazil. Mabel is also married to the voice actress and translator Rayani Immediato, who voices Zirconia in the show.
• Laverne Cox was later touted as the first series regular trans character to be played by a trans performer on Doubt. She also played "sweet transvestite" Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.
• Ryan Murphy regularly employs this trope:
  • Glee has gay Chris Colfer playing Kurt. There are also other queer roles played by queer actors who identify differently: bisexual Naya Rivera as lesbian Santana, non-binary Alex Newell as trans girl Unique, and lesbian Dot Marie Jones as gay trans man Beiste.
  • American Horror Story is notable for having many queer characters portrayed by queer actors:
    • Zachary Quinto (gay) as Patrick (gay) in Murder House.
    • Sarah Paulson (non-specific queer) as Lana Winters (lesbian) in Asylum, Hypodermic Sally (bisexual) in Hotel, and Ally Mayfair-Richards (lesbian) in Cult.
    • Leslie Jordan (gay) as Quentin (gay) in Coven and Quentin/Ashley (gay) Roanoke.
    • Denis O'Hare (gay) as Stanley (gay) and Matt Bomer (gay) as Andy (gay) in Freak Show.
    • Lady Gaga (bisexual) as The Countess (bisexual) and Cheyenne Jackson (gay) as Will Drake (bisexual) in Hotel.
    • Billy Eichner (gay) as Harrison Wilton (gay) and Colton Haynes (gay) as Jack (gay) in Cult.
    • Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (gay) as Andre Stevens (gay) in Apocalypse.
    • Isaac Cole Powell (gay) as Troy Lord (gay) in Double Feature.
    • American Horror Stories has Matt Bomer and Gavin Creel as gay couple Michael and Troy.
  • The HBO adaptation of The Normal Heart has many of its gay characters played by gay actors, including Matt Bomer (Felix), Jim Parsons (Tommy), Joe Mantello (Mickey), B.D. Wong (Buzzy), Stephen Spinella (Sanford), Denis O'Hare (Hiram), and Jonathan Groff (Craig). (Mark Ruffalo (Ned) and Taylor Kitsch (Bruce) are the sole exceptions.^note Interestingly, Ruffalo actually questioned film director Ryan Murphy about whether he, a straight man, should be playing one of the landmark characters of gay theater, and was told quite bluntly by Murphy that he wanted the best actor for the role and Ruffalo was it.)
  • Pose is the first TV series with all of its trans characters played by trans actresses.
  • American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace has gay singer Ricky Martin as Gianni's lover Antonio D'Amico.
  • The bisexual lead of The Politician Payton Hobart is played by gay actor Ben Platt.
  • Hollywood (2020) has Jim Parsons as gay Hollywood talent agent Dick Samuels and Jeremy Pope as gay screenwriter Archie Coleman.
  • Ratched has Sarah Paulson playing the titular character reimagined as a closet lesbian as well as Cynthia Nixon playing her love interest Gwendolyn Briggs and Michael Benjamin Washington as Gwendolyn's gay husband.
  • Feud: Capote vs. the Swans:
    • Truman Capote's partner Jack Dunphy is played by gay actor Joe Mantello.
    • The Ambiguously Bi John O'Shea is played by gay actor Russell Tovey.
• Bisexual trans woman Rebecca Root plays trans woman Judy on Boy Meets Girl.
• Mrs. Hudson from Elementary is a trans woman played by Candis Cayne, who is trans. Cayne also played trans mistress Carmelita on Dirty Sexy Money.
• Buck Vu from The OA is a trans man played by trans actor Ian Alexander.
• Star Trek:
  • When George Takei came out as gay, a lot of people assumed that his most famous character, Hikaru Sulu of Star Trek: The Original Series was also gay. However, Takei has always adamantly denied this, and Sulu was portrayed as not only straight, but happily married to a woman and, in Star Trek: Generations, the father of a grown daughter who had followed in her father's footsteps. In Star Trek Beyond — albeit after the dimensional...shift — Sulu is shown with a husband and daughter (Sulu here portrayed by straight actor John Cho).
  • Star Trek: Discovery:
    • The show features the franchise's first gay couple, Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber, played by queer actor Anthony Rapp and gay actor Wilson Cruz, respectively.
    • Season Two introduces Lieutenant Commander Jet Reno, who mentions that her wife died during the war with the Klingons the previous season. Reno is played by Tig Notaro, who is also gay. This later leads to quite an amusing scene where Stamets and Reno flirt while possessed.
    • Adira Tal comes out as non-binary to Paul. Blu del Barrio, who plays them, is non-binary as well.
    • Adira Tal's partner and Tal's former host, Gray, is played by Ian Alexander, a non-binary pansexual actor. An episode early in the fourth season had a throwaway dialogue exchange referring to Gray's "transition", implying that he is a trans man in-universe as well.
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Jess Bush, who is queer, plays Christine Chapel, who is bisexual.
• One of the first TV characters to be identified in-show as non-binary, Taylor Mason, is played by the openly non-binary Asia Kate Dillon in Showtime's Billions.
• Sean Hayes played Jack McFarland on Will & Grace but was not "officially" out during the show's initial run. When he "officially" came out in an Advocate article in the run-up to playing the gay title character in Sean Saves the World he took the position that he had "never been in". With the return of W&G, Jack is at last played by an actor known to have a matching orientation.
• The Arrowverse has a variety of queer characters played by queer actors:
  • Wentworth Miller, who initially plays the straight Leonard Snart / Captain Cold from Earth-1 and then the gay "Leo" Snart / Citizen Cold from Earth-X. In 2020, Miller announced that he would no longer play straight characters hence why he refused to return for a sixth season of Prison Break.
  • Russell Tovey, who plays the gay Ray Terrill/The Ray, is also gay himself. In fact, Leo and Ray are dating. It's unclear if Ray's Earth-X doppelganger (also voiced by Tovey) was gay, as he's killed before this can be revealed.
  • While Victor Garber, who is gay, plays the straight (and happily married) Professor Stein, the Flash episode "Duet" features an alternate universe where Stein is married to a man.
  • In a similar way, queer actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers initially played the straight Amaya Jiwe (Vixen) in Legends of Tomorrow but in season 4, she got recast as pansexual demon Charlie.
  • Gay villain-turned-good guy Hartley Rathway, aka Pied Piper, is played by bisexual actor Andy Mientus.
  • Supergirl:
    • Season 4 introduces transgender hero Nia Nal aka Dreamer, played by transgender actress Nicole Maines.
    • Chyler Leigh (unspecific LGBT) as lesbian Alex Danvers on Supergirl - though Leigh came out after her character and said Alex's story helped her work it out.
  • In season 7 of Arrow, William Clayton (Oliver's son) as an adult is played by gay actor Ben Lewis.
  • Batwoman (2019):
    • Ruby Rose, who identifies as a lesbian, plays the titular character, who is also a lesbian. The casting call for Kate Kane specifically asked for a queer actress, though the producers had also been prepared to cast a straight actress as a last resort. Ruby Rose's casting fulfilled the original intention.
    • When she left the show, the producers made sure to be clear they were looking for another LGBT actress as the replacement. They ended up casting bisexual Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, the next Batwoman, who's also lesbian.
    • Bevin Bru, who plays Angelique (Ryan's ex-girlfriend) is bisexual as well. Given the above, it's probably a deliberate choice.
• In Scream: The TV Series, Audrey is Ambiguously Bi, while her actor Bex Taylor-Klaus is pansexual and non-binary.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer - although Amber Benson and Alyson Hannigan were straight actresses playing lesbians, Iyari Limon — who plays Willow's Season 7 girlfriend Kennedy — is bisexual. Gay actor Tom Lenk also played the gay (albeit Ambiguously Bi) Andrew Wells.
• Scott Thompson of The Kids in the Hall has been openly gay since the '80s, and his most famous character is the "alpha queen" gay socialite Buddy Cole.
• Following "The Puppy Episode" of Ellen, lesbian Ellen Morgan was played by lesbian Ellen DeGeneres. On her next sitcom The Ellen Show, her character Ellen Richmond was openly lesbian from the start.
• 13 Reasons Why has Ryan, who is a gay man, played by Tommy Dorfman, who also identified as a gay man at the time but has since come out as a trans lesbian. In the fourth season, Alex (played by queer actor Miles Heizer) also comes out as queer.
• Several gay actors from HBO's series Looking play gay characters, including (but not limited to) Jonathan Groff (Patrick), Russell Tovey (Kevin), Murray Bartlett (Dom), Daniel Franzese (Eddie), and Chris Perfetti (Brady).
• In Gotham, Oswald Cobblepot is reimagined as gay like his actor Robin Lord Taylor.
• Instinct stars Alan Cumming, who is bisexual, as the gay, happily married Dylan Reinhart.
• Teen Wolf:
  • Jackson was originally portrayed as straight, only getting involved with female characters. After his actor Colton Haynes came out and returned to the show after leaving some time prior, Jackson entered a relationship with another man.
  • Charlie Carver, who played the gay werewolf Ethan, also came out as gay after the departure of his character. When he comes back, he's in a relationship with the aforementioned Jackson.
  • The minor bisexual character Caitlin is played by Zelda Williams who's also bisexual in real life.
  • Michael Johnston, who plays the gay chimera Corey, came out in 2023.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine has bisexual Rosa Diaz being played by bisexual Stephanie Beatriz (in fact Beatriz coming out prompted Diaz to be written as bi too).
• Modern Family:
  • Gay Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays one half of the show’s gay couple, Mitchell.
  • Nathan Lane is gay like his character Pepper Saltzman.
  • One episode introduced Tom, who is a transgender boy like his actor, Jackson Millarker.
• Peep Show has bisexual Robert Webb as the also bisexual Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne, though Webb was not out while the series was airing.
• Schitt's Creek:
  • Gay actor Daniel Levy plays flamboyant pansexual David Rose.
  • François Arnaud, who played David's ex Sebastien Raine, came out as bisexual in 2020.
  • Emily Hampshire, who plays the pansexual Stevie, came out as pansexual in 2019. In fact, the role made her realize this about herself.
• Most of the many queer characters on The Other Two are played by queer actors, including Drew Tarver who plays Carey.
• Sex Education:
  • Dua Saleh and Robyn Holdaway are openly non-binary like their characters Cal and Layla.
  • Gay character Eric is played by Ncuti Gatwa, who came out as queer in 2023.
• The Exorcist:
  • The gay Father Marcus is played by the openly gay Ben Daniels (he also played the bisexual Paul Grayson in Flesh and Bone).
  • The lesbian teen Verity in season 2 is played by queer actress Brianna Hildebrand.
• Danger Force: Finn, a reporter, is a transgender boy like his actor, Sasha Cohen.
• Doom Patrol (2019): In a minor case of First-Episode Twist, Matt Bomer's character Larry is revealed to be cheating on his wife with a man.
• Desperate Housewives: Bob Hunter is played by Tuc Watkins, who came out of the closet in 2013.
• Andi Mack: Cyrus, who came out as gay during the series, was played by Joshua Rush, who is bisexual. However, Rush came out after the show ended, making this a retroactive example.
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Susie, who has an Ambiguous Gender Identity at first, and comes out as a trans man and changes his name to Theo midway through the show is played by pansexual non-binary actor Lachlan Watson.
• Party of Five (2020): Matthew, who's transgender, is played by non-binary actor Garcia.
• Dispatches From Elsewhere: Simone is played by Eve Lindley, who's transgender like her.
• Vida:
  • Ser Anzoategui, who plays Butch Lesbian Eddy, is non-binary.
  • Roberta Colindrez, who plays Nico (a slightly less Butch Lesbian), identifies as queer.
  • Additionally, a number of minor LGBT+ characters are played by LGBT+ actors as well.
• Lip Service: Heather Peace is a lesbian like her character Sam (which in fact means she's the only one among the actresses on the show).
• Mad Men: The openly gay Bryan Batt plays Sal Romano, who's also gay but closeted due to the time period, his job, and his marriage.
• Control Z: Isabela, who's a trans girl, is played by Zión Moreno, who is also a trans girl.
• The Baby-Sitters Club (2020): Mary Anne's babysitting charge Bailey is a trans girl. The character is played by Kai Shappley, a trans girl who was also the focus of the documentary Trans in America: Texas Strong. According to her mum, Kai was specifically sought after for the role.
• Doctor Who:
  • Lesbian companion Bill Potts is played by bisexual actress Pearl Mackie.
  • Captain Jack Harkness in both this and Torchwood, who is pansexual, is played by openly gay actor John Barrowman.
  • Midshipman Alonso Frame, whom the Doctor sets up with Jack, is played by gay actor Russell Tovey.
  • Rose Noble, Donna Noble's daughter, is transgender like her actress Yasmin Finney.
• Hightown: Lesbian Jackie is played by bisexual actress Monica Raymund.
• The Magicians: Bisexual Elliot is played by openly queer Hale Appleman.
• Invoked by Darren Criss. He's straight, but after two acclaimed roles where he played gays (Blaine in Glee and Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story), he announced that he would no longer seek out or accept gay roles, as he realized that every gay male character he plays takes that opportunity away from an actually-gay actor.
• Empire: Openly gay Jussie Smollett plays the gay middle son Jamal.
• Trinkets:
  • Elodie is gay, played by Brianna Hildebrand, who's stated she likes both men and women (while just going by "gay").
  • Sam, whom Elodie flirts with early on, is played by Caitlin Michael Riley, a queer actress.
  • Sabine is pansexual, played by queer and non-binary actor Kat Cunning.
• Never Have I Ever:
  • Dino Petrera is gay like his character Jonah Sharpe.
  • Lee Rodriguez, who plays the lesbian Fabiola, identifies as queer.
  • Addison is non-binary like their actor Terry Hu.
  • Jennifer Warner is a trans woman, like her actress Alexandra Billings.
• The Boys (2019): Nicola Correia-Damude plays Elena, Maeve's ex-girlfriend. She's bisexual in real life.
• We Are Who We Are:
  • Maggie is a lesbian in a same-sex marriage. Alice Braga, who plays her, has been dating fellow Brazilian actress Bianca Comparato for three years.
  • Jack Dylan Grazer plays Fraser, who is gay or bi, and came out as bisexual in 2021, along with stating his pronouns as he/they.
  • Caitlin is questioning her gender and thinks she may be a trans boy. She also shows attraction to girls and boys. Actress Jordan Kristine Seamón realized she's genderfluid as a result of playing Caitlin, saying it was a personal journey of self-discovery. Seamón is also bisexual and uses she/they pronouns.
• Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams: In "Real Life" Sarah, a lesbian, was played by Anna Paquin, who's bi.
• Big Sky: Trans woman Jerrie is played by trans non-binary actor Jesse James Keitel.
• Quantico: Rick Cosnett as Elias Harper and Russell Tovey as Harry Doyle. Both are gay like their characters, though Cosnett came out after the show ended.
• Euphoria:
  • Hunter Schafer, like Jules, is a trans woman. Jules is also bisexual; Schafer originally identified as "closer to what you might call a lesbian" before updating her orientation to "bi or pan or something" in 2021.
  • Bobbi Salvör Menuez is pansexual, transgender, and nonbinary, and the character they play, TC, is also nonbinary.
  • Quintessa Swindell plays Anna, and they are both non-binary.
• Wynonna Earp: Dominique Provost-Chalkley is queer and non-binary and their character Waverly Earp is bi. Likewise, Katherine Barrell has stated she likes both men and women while her character Nicole Haught is a lesbian.
• Carnival Row: Bisexual Vignette is played by Cara Delevingne, who's pansexual and genderfluid.
• The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister: Maxine Peake, who's bisexual, plays lesbian Anne.
• Law & Order: SVU:
  • Dr. Huang is gay like his actor B.D. Wong.
  • Kat Tamin is bi. Jamie Gray Hyder has said she'd been with both men and women while choosing not to label herself.
  • Wentworth Miller played attorney Isaiah Holmes for two episodes, who's gay like him.
  • Rafael Barba's actor (Raúl Esparza) is bisexual in real life, and most fans agree the character is at least Ambiguously Bi. Esparza has also indicated that he'd be fine with Barba being revealed as LGBT+.
• Dark Angel: Transgender lesbian Louise in "Out" was played by trans actress Jessica Crockett. It's listed as the first time a trans woman character on an American television series was played by a real trans woman.
• Actress Luvia Petersen is openly bisexual and has played queer women pretty often. Dax/Cowboy on The L Word was a butch lesbian mechanic and drag king. Jasmine Garza on Continuum is bisexual like Petersen. Her characters Val McGrath-Dufresne (Ghost Wars), Meg Harris (The Murders), and Mrs. Johanssen (The Babysitters Club 2020) were all lesbians. Brooke on Riverdale was indicated as being bisexual too.
• True Blood:
  • Rutina Wesley plays Tara, who it turns out is a bisexual woman. She became engaged to a woman in 2017, albeit after the series ended, and like Tara had been with men before (though Wesley doesn't label herself).
  • Danielle, a werewolf who's bisexual (or at least willing to get intimate with a woman at times) was played by Jamie Gray Hyder, who's said she has been with both men and women (while also not using labels).
  • Evan Rachel Wood, who's openly bisexual, plays bisexual vampire Queen Sophie-Anne.
  • Gay actor Denis O'Hare also plays the gay vampire Russell Edgington.
• The Wilds:
  • Mia Healey, who plays closeted lesbian Shelby, describes herself as bisexual.
  • Miles Gutierrez-Riley plays Ivan, who's gay, while he's queer.
• The Nevers: Vinnie Heaven, who plays Jack Nimble, called him trans androgynous, which is Heaven's gender as well.
• Equal, a 2020 HBO docudrama on the LGBT+ rights movement, portrays many historical LGBT+ people with LGBT+ actors (usually of the same orientation or gender). The cast includes Anthony Rapp as gay activist Harry Hay, Jamie Clayton as Christine Jorgenson, the first well-known American trans woman to get sex reassignment surgery, and Samira Wiley as Black lesbian playwright/writer Lorraine Hansberry.
• Grey's Anatomy:
  • Callie is bisexual and her actor, Sara Ramírez, is bisexual and non-binary. According to a 2013 interview, Ramírez asked for it to be part of their character.
  • Casey Parker and his actor Alex Blue Davis are both trans men.
  • Levi Schmitt and his actor Jake Borelli are both gay.
  • Kai Bartley and their actor E.R. Fightmaster are both non-binary.
  • Mika Yasuda is bisexual and is played by queer actress Midori Francis.
  • Donna Gibson and her actress Creator/Alexandra Billings are both trans lesbians.
  • Toby Donnelly is genderqueer and their actor, Ari Hader, is genderfluid
• The Republic of Sarah: Bisexual actress Nicola Correia-Damude plays Alexis Whitmore, who's having an affair with Amy "AJ" Johnson.
• iCarly (2021):
  • Laci Mosley, who is bisexual, plays pansexual Harper Bettencourt.
  • Pop starlet Double Dutch is revealed to be attracted to women and shares a kiss with Harper in the first season finale. Dutch's actress Poppy Liu identifies as queer and non-binary.
• First Day:
  • Hannah is played by Evie Macdonald, who's a trans girl like her.
  • Jack Childs is a fellow trans actor, playing Sarah, who reveals to Hannah he's a trans boy, taking the name Josh.
  • Maiah Stevenson plays Sam, a queer girl. Stevenson is queer as well and goes by she/they pronouns.
• Abby's: Abby is a bisexual woman, played by queer actor Natalie Morales, who has said her pronouns are she/they.
• High Fidelity: Rob in the Hulu adaptation is bisexual like Zoë Kravitz.
• The White Lotus: Armond is portrayed by the openly gay Murray Bartlett, previously of the gay HBO drama Looking. His sexuality isn't acknowledged in dialogue until episode three when Marks asks him if anal sex hurts after learning his father died of AIDS, but promotional materials also show him involved in a tryst with hotel staffer Dillon.
• Legacies: Josie Saltzman is canonically pansexual in the show, and in June 2021, her actress Kaylee Bryant came out as queer.
• Veep: The lesbian Marjorie Palmiotti is played by the lesbian Clea Duvall.
• Y: The Last Man (2021): Elliot Fletcher is a queer trans man and plays Sam Jordan, who shares his gender.
• Fantasy Island (2021): In "The Romance and the Bromance", Caitlin Stasey, who is pansexual, played Isabel, a young woman who's a huge fan of Victorian author Rachel Coldwater, traveling into the past where they get into a romance.
• Roswell, New Mexico: Tyler Blackburn is openly bisexual and plays Alex Manes, who's gay.
• The L Word: Laurel Holloman, Leisha Hailey, Katherine Moennig, Clementine Ford, Tammy Lynn Michaels, Guinevere Turner, Jane Lynch, Alexandra Holden, Kelly McGillis, Kristanna Loken, Karina Lombard and Heather Matarazzo are all lesbian or bisexual in real life, as well as playing lesbian or bisexual characters on the show (and Mia Kirshner has hinted at bisexuality in interviews). Amusingly, Leisha Hailey was the only actual (out) lesbian of the main cast (at the time), yet her character was bisexual. Daniel Sea, who played Max (a trans man who's initially identified as a lesbian cis woman) also had a very similar experience, coming out as non-binary and using they/them pronouns, still identifying as a lesbian in solidarity with women though saying their orientation is more akin to bisexual. Katherine Moennig is notable for only realizing that she's a lesbian while she was working on the show, a rare example of a character being their actor's real-life Closet Key.
  • This continued in its Sequel Series The L Word: Generation Q, adding new characters, mostly queer women but one trans man too, while most are played by actors of the same orientation or gender. Minor characters such as Rebecca Dowery (played by Olivia Thirlby, who's a bisexual woman like her) also followed this.
• For the People: Anya, a lesbian, is portrayed by pansexual Caitlin Stasey.
• Lovecraft Country: Monique Candelaria is two-spirit like Yahima and pansexual (it must be noted that "two-spirit" is an umbrella term to describe LGBT+ Native American people that can mean many different things, so they might not be a specific match).
• 4400:
  • Theo Germaine, who plays trans boy Noah, is bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary.
  • Dr. Andre Davis is trans, as is his actor, T.L. Thompson.
  • Wilder Yari, who portrays Jessica Tanner, Keisha's girlfriend, is queer.
  • Kausar Mohammed is queer like her character Soraya.
• The Umbrella Academy (2019): Elliot Page came out as transgender in 2020. The third season of the show, released in 2022, sees his character Viktor following suit.
• Yellowjackets:
  • Openly queer Jasmin Savoy Brown plays the teenage Taissa, who is later married to Simone.
  • Liv Hewson, who is gay and nonbinary, plays Van, a girl involved with Taissa when they're young.
  • Tawny Cypress, who played the adult Taissa, stated she's queer in Queer for Fear, a documentary that came out after the first season, saying that interestingly enough the film Heavenly Creatures (in which fellow cast member Melanie Lynskey had starred) made her realize this (she had fallen for her best friend at the time).
• The Haunting of Hill House (2018)'s lesbian protagonist Theo is played by Kate Siegel, who's bisexual.
• The Brittas Empire: Russell Porter (who plays the gay Tim Whistler in the series) is gay in real life. However, Tim Marriott (who plays Gavin Featherly, Tim's boyfriend in the series) isn't.
• Feel Good: Mae Martin plays a fictionalized version of herself. She's already openly bisexual at the start, then comes out as nonbinary as well (like Martin did, going by either they/them or she/her).
• Don't Look Deeper: Transmasculine actor Harvey Zielinski plays Abel, who is a trans man it's revealed.
• Gossip Girl (2021): Zión Moreno is a young trans woman like her character Luna La.
• Humberly González has played queer characters on In the Dark, Utopia Falls, Trapped: The Alex Cooper Story and Jupiter's Legacy while she is queer herself, though she only came out in the wake of her playing Sophie on Ginny and Georgia, stating these roles weren't sought out specifically. They did help her come out though since they portrayed LGBT+ women as normal and made her feel confident in her own queer sexuality.
• Twenties:
  • Jonica T. Gibbs is, like Hattie, a lesbian (with the same butch style as well).
  • Idina, a supporting character who's a lesbian as well, was played by the queer actress Shylo Shaner.
• Two and a Half Men: Evelyn Harper is bisexual. Her actress Holland Taylor is a lesbian.
• The Strain: Lesbian Nikki Taylor is played by bisexual actress Nicola Correia-Damude.
• Burden of Truth: Star Slade, who's queer, plays Luna, a lesbian.
• Emily Rios is a lesbian who's played lesbian characters twice. Maria on Men of a Certain Age was a recurring character. Later on The Bridge (US) she portrayed Adriana Mendez, a reporter (and both are also Mexican-American). Regarding the latter, she gushed about getting to play a woman like herself, even in a minor role, and the directors accepted her input that Adriana's sexuality is just incidental without being the focus of her entire character.
• American Gods (2017):
  • Yetide Badaki who plays the Depraved Bisexual goddess Bilquis came out as bisexual herself in 2021 and credited the show with helping her to be open about her sexuality.
  • Queer actress Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs plays Samantha "Sam" Black Crow, a Cherokee Two-Spirit.
• The Sex Lives of College Girls:
  • Leighton is a lesbian and her actress, Reneé Rapp, identifies as a lesbian as well.
  • Alicia dates Leighton; her actress Midori Francis is herself also queer.
  • The gay Travis is played by Betti, a genderfluid drag performer.
  • Tova's actor, Vico Ortiz, is also non-binary.
  • Coach Woods, who is a lesbian married to another woman, is played by Jillian Armenante, who is also married to a woman and has two children with her.
  • Molly, one of the women whom Leighton has sex with, was played by queer actress Emily Morales-Cabrera.
• Downplayed in Normal People. In the book, Joanna was a lesbian, and a Deleted Scene showed her with a girlfriend. Her actress Eliot Salt also has a girlfriend.
• Conversations with Friends: Lesbian Sasha Lane plays Bobbi, who's also a lesbian.
• Everything's Gonna Be Okay: Josh Thomas, Adam Faison, and Vico Ortiz are all LGBT+ (Thomas and Faison are gay while Ortiz is genderfluid) and play LGBT characters (although in Ortiz's case, they play a cisgender lesbian).
• Queen Sugar:
  • Nova Bordelon is bisexual and her actress Rutina Wesley was engaged to a woman at one point.
  • Micah starts questioning his sexuality in season 6. His actor, Nicholas L. Ashe, came out in 2020.
• Most gay men in EastSiders are played by gay actors including Thom (Van Hansis), Cal (Kit Williamson), Jeremy (Matthew McKelligon), and Paul (Sean Maher).
• Uncoupled stars Neil Patrick Harris and Tuc Watkins as gay divorced couple Michael and Colin.
• In The Order queer actress Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs plays Lilith Bathory, who's a bisexual woman who shares a kiss with a man she likes before dating a woman.
• Hacks:
  • Ava is bisexual, played by Hannah Einbinder who's also bisexual.
  • Lorenza Izzo, who's pansexual, portrays Ava's ex-girlfriend Ruby.
  • Marcus is gay, played by Carl Clemons-Hopkins, who's queer and nonbinary.
  • The "water cop" Wilson (who Marcus briefly dates) is played by Johnny Sibilly, who's queer.
• Single Drunk Female:
  • Rebecca Henderson is a lesbian like her character Olivia.
  • Jojo Brown, who is a bisexual trans woman, plays Mindy, who is also a trans woman.
• Our Flag Means Death features the likes of Nathan Foad (who's gay like his character Lucius) and Vico Ortiz (who's non-binary like their character Jim).
• The Sandman (2022):
  • The nonbinary character Desire of the Endless is played by the nonbinary actor Mason Alexander Park.
  • Out gay character Hal is played by out gay actor John Cameron Mitchell.
• The Bisexual: Desiree Akhavan plays Leila, the titular character who is a bisexual woman like her.
• Dynasty (1981) has a retroactive example with Kevin Conroy playing Steven's love interest Bart Fallmont although Conroy came out as gay over 30 years later.
• The First Lady: Gillian Anderson, who's said she's had relationships with other women in the past and isn't attracted to people based on gender (but doesn't label herself) plays Eleanor Roosevelt, who is portrayed here as having a female lover in the 1930s for a time.
• Dickinson: Sue is in love with Emily and is played by queer actress Ella Hunt.
• Flowers (2016): Sophia Di Martino plays Amy, a lesbian, while she's dated men and women though she doesn't label herself.
• A League of Their Own (2022):
  • Abbi Jacobson is bisexual, and her character Carson Shaw discovers she's attracted to women during the show.
  • Roberta Colindrez identifies as queer, and her character Lupe Garcia is a Butch Lesbian.
  • Melanie Field is queer just like Jo Deluca, the character she portrays on the show.
  • Lea Robinson, who's nonbinary and queer, plays trans man Bertie.
  • Rosie O'Donnell plays Vi, who's a lesbian like her.
• Heartstopper:
  • Charlie is gay and is played by Joe Locke who is also gay in real life.
  • Kit Connor is bi like his character Nick.
  • Elle is a transgender girl, as is her actress Yasmin Finney.
  • Isaac is aroace and played by gay actor Tobie Donovan.
  • Darcy, a lesbian, is played by queer transmasculine actor Kizzy Edgell.
  • Mr Ajayi is gay, as is his actor Fisayo Akinade.
  • Felix, one of Elle's new friends, is non-binary and is played by transmasculine actor Ash Self.
  • Naomi, another one of Elle's new friends, is a trans woman like her actress Bel Priestley.
• In the Dark:
  • Vanessa, Jess' bisexual first girlfriend, was played by Humberly González, who's queer.
  • Sterling, a lesbian whom Jess dates after Vanessa, was played by Natalie Liconti, who's a lesbian and nonbinary.
• The Fall (2013): Stella is bisexual, and played by Gillian Anderson, who's said she's had relationships with women in the past, but doesn't use any LGBT+ label.
• Shay Mitchell said she's attracted to people based on a specific personality, regardless of their gender. In 2022, she appeared on TikTok with a video that indicated she's bisexual.
  • On Pretty Little Liars she played lesbian Emily Fields.
  • Later on You she played Peach Salinger, who's bi or a lesbian.
  • Stella Cole, whom Mitchell played after this on Dollface, is a bisexual woman.
• Alia Shawkat is openly bisexual and has played several queer female characters.
  • Adele on Broad City, who hooks up with Ilana.
  • Lila on Transparent, who ends up in a polyamorous relationship with Sarah.
  • Blanche on Summer Camp Island, who's female and dating Ava.
  • Nima/Naima in Duck Butter, whose relationship with another woman she meets, Sergio, is the core of the plot.
  • Dory on Search Party, whose primary love interest, Drew, is male, but later enters a relationship with her friend Porcia.
• Cold Case: Butch Lesbian Billie was played by Tessa Thompson (her very first TV role), who came out many years later as LGBT+ (not using labels, but she's attracted to women along with men).
• Avocado Toast: Molly is based on and played by Heidi Lynch, who's bisexual like her.
• Elizabeth Ludlow has played two characters who are LGBT+ like them.
  • In Equal, she played the real Butch Lesbian Stormé DeLarverie, who protected the LGBT+ community in New York City with her guns (DeLarverie's scuffle with the NYPD is often identified as the spark of the famous Stonewall Riot).
  • They play another lesbian, Keeya, who's married to another woman in Peacemaker.
• Willow: Kit (played by queer actress Ruby Cruz) and Jade (whom lesbian actress Erin Kellyman plays) are both confirmed as in love with each other.
• In Quantum Leap (2022), non-binary character Ian Wright is played by non-binary actor Mason Alexander Park, and both use they/them pronouns.
• While promoting her show Ragdoll, in which she plays queer detective Lake Edmonds, Lucy Hale said that while she doesn't like talking about her sexuality, she shared her character's attraction to women while not specifically defining anything.
• Stranger Things:
  • The tie-in podcast and novel Rebel Robin has Robin's favorite teacher Mr. Hauser, who is revealed to be gay in the novel and is voiced by Sean Maher in the podcast.
  • Season 4 all but states that Will is gay, which was also confirmed by the cast and showrunners in interviews. Will's actor Noah Schnapp came out as gay about 6 months after Season 4 was released, even quipping that he and Will have more in common than he thought.
  • Robin is a lesbian played by queer actress Maya Hawke.
  • Amybeth McNulty is bisexual and plays Vickie, who is heavily implied to be bi.
• 9-1-1: Gay operator Josh Russo is played by gay actor Bryan Safi.
• 9-1-1: Lone Star:
  • Transgender character Paul Strickland is played by Brian Michael Smith, who is also transgender.
  • Gay couple TK and Carlos are played by Ronen Rubinstein (who is bisexual) and Rafael Silva (who is gay).
• The Last of Us (2023):
  • Nonbinary actor Bella Ramsey plays Ellie Williams, who is a lesbian.
  • Gay actor Murray Bartlett played Frank, who became lovers with Bill.
• Misfits: Lesbian Charlie Covell played James, the trans man who stole Alex's penis because he'd wanted one so much (being able to get it became his superpower).
• Bisexual actress Nicole Pacent plays Tara's girlfriend Rebecca on the revival Criminal Minds: Evolution. She had previously played lesbian Aster in the web series Anyone But Me.
• Accused (2023): In "Robyn's Story", J. Harrison Ghee, who's a pansexual nonbinary actor, plays Robyn who is at the very least a gay man (or maybe nonbinary too) and performs drag like Ghee.
• Gotham Knights (2023):
  • Cullen Row is a trans man, and his actor Tyler DiCharia is a gay transgender man.
  • Anna Lore is bisexual and plays Stephanie, who comes out as a lesbian.
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Nikki implied in episode 4 that she was queer by the quip, "Oof, hetero life is grim", with it being confirmed by her actress Ginger Gonzaga. Gonzaga herself is bisexual.
• Shadow and Bone: Jack Wolfe is gay like the character he plays, Wylan.
• Charmed (2018): Main character Mikaela in the final season was bisexual and played by queer actress Lucy Barrett. Season three also introduced two trans supporting characters, trans woman Josefina and trans man Kevin. Both were played by trans actors, Mareya Salazar and J.J. Hawkins respectively, with the same genders. Additionally, lesbian Jada (another supporting character) was also played by queer actress Aleyse Shannon in the show's early seasons.
• The Power (2023): Transgender Chilean actress Daniela Vega plays Sister Maria, a nun who tells Eve she's also trans.
• Mercedes Mason, who's bisexual, has played bisexual Cora on How to Get Away with Murder and lesbian Lena on The L Word: Generation Q (coming out herself as a result of the latter).
• Perry Mason (2020): Jen Tullock, who's queer, plays Anita St. Pierre, the second woman Della sees in Season 2.
• Ariela Barer is gay, and so far has played two LGBT+ characters.
  • On Saved by the Bell (2020) she played Chloe, who's queer.
  • She played bisexual girl Ziggie too on Rebel.
• On Once and Again, Jessie falls in love with a girl and is played by bisexual Evan Rachel Wood. However, Wood only came out many years later.
• The Undeclared War: Maisie Richardson-Sellers, who's queer, plays Kathy Freeman who briefly has a relationship with Saara, the female protagonist.
• The first ever example of a transgender person playing a transgender character on television was in the Australian Prime Time Soap Number 96, where cabaret performer Carlotta played recurring guest character Robyn Ross for four episodes in 1973. To preserve the twist that Robyn was a transgender woman, Carlotta was credited under the name "Carolle Lea".
• In a later season of Riverdale, Betty finds herself falling for a female FBI Agent. This was after her actress Lili Reinhart came out as bisexual.
• While it was never said in the show itself, years later it was confirmed Alex and Stevie on Wizards of Waverly Place had a relationship. Stevie's actress Hayley Kiyoko is openly lesbian.
• The Witcher (2019): Jaskier's season 3 love interest Prince Radovid is played by gay actor Hugh Skinner.
• The Crowded Room: Lesbian Sasha Lane plays Ariana, a bisexual who's one of Danny's alternate personalities.
• How I Met Your Mother:
  • Barney's gay half-brother James is played by pansexual Wayne Brady, though Brady didn't come out until 10 years after the show ended.
  • James' husband Tom is played by gay actor Jai Rodriguez.
  • In the Failed Pilot Episode How I Met Your Dad, Danny's husband Todd is played by bisexual actor Drew Tarver.
  • In How I Met Your Father, the lesbian Ellen is played by lesbian actress Tien Tran.
• On Walker: Independence, closeted lesbian Kate is played by nonbinary Katie Findlay.
• Deputy: Bishop is a lesbian and nonbinary. They're portrayed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, who's nonbinary and pansexual, and uses they/them pronouns like Bishop as well.
• Foundation (2021): Ben Daniels is openly gay and his character Bel Riose is married to a man.
• Vicious: Freddie and Stuart, who are both gay, are portrayed by gay actors Sirs Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, respectively.
• Quintessa Swindell, who's nonbinary, was on In Treatment during season 4 for six episodes playing lesbian Laila.
• Bobbi Salvör Menuez, who's nonbinary, transgender, and pansexual, had played bisexual Toby on I Love Dick.
• Schmigadoon!:
  • Bisexual Alan Cumming portrays Mayor Menlove of Schmigadoon, whose homosexuality becomes more and more apparent as the season goes on.
  • Gay Tituss Burgess portrays the Narrator of Schmicago, who hooks up with Sgt. Rivera in the last episode.
• The Spencer Sisters: Thomas Antony Olajide is queer. He plays Zane, who is married to another man and raising their adopted daughter with him.
• House Of Cards: Frank is revealed to be bisexual. Kevin Spacey, after years of speculation, finally came out as gay during his sexual assault scandal.
• Dead of Summer:
  • Mark Indelicato played Blair, who's gay like him.
  • Zelda Williams, a bisexual woman, played Drew, a gay trans boy.
• Gen V: Dr. Edison Cardosa is married to another man. Marco Pigossi plays him, and he's in a relationship with director Marco Calvani.
• The Newsreader: Rory Fleck Byrne is gay and portrays the bisexual Gerry Carroll.
• Stargirl (2020): Like his character Todd Rice, Tim Gabriel is queer in real life.
• Anna Paquin played Robyn, a bisexual like her, on Flack.
• High School Musical: The Musical: The Series:
  • Even before the show premiered, Frankie Rodriguez revealed in multiple interviews regarding his character Carlos and his planned story arc for season 1 that he, like Carlos, is gay.
  • Joe Serafini, who plays Carlos' love interest Seb, was a bit slower to divulge his own sexuality but eventually confirmed he is bisexual. He also somehow lands a role as the female Sharpay in the musical.
  • Other cast members Lester, Saperstein, and Bassett have also come out as LGBTQ and creator Tim Federle has expressed interest in having their respective characters explore their sexualities in future seasons. As such, season three sees an arc where Ashlyn realizes they're bi over the course of the summer, and Big Red comes out at the last minute as well.
• Transatlantic (2023): The openly queer Cory Michael Smith plays Varian Fry, portrayed here as a closeted gay man. His dalliance with Thomas is an invention of the show; in real life, the notion that Fry was gay came from his son after Fry had died.
• Fellow Travelers: Matt Bomer (Hawk) and Jonathan Bailey (Tim) are both gay like their characters.
• One of Us is Lying: Janae is a lesbian and genderfluid, while actor Jess McLeod realized they're nonbinary as a result of the role.
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Tituss Burgess and his character Titus Andromedon are both gay.
• Saturday Night Live:
  • Occasionally gay celebrities are played by gay cast members:
    • Tennis player Billie Jean King, a lesbian, is played by Kate McKinnon, who's also a lesbian.
    • Controversial gay Congressman George Santos, is played by gay Bowen Yang.
  • As an open lesbian, Kate McKinnon often plays lesbian characters, such as Barbara DeDrew in the "Whiskers R We" sketches and the Butch Lesbian Dre who (alongside Aidy Bryant's Megan) mistakes Themyscira for an island of lesbians and ends up kissing Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman.
  • A Season 46 sketch about the "It Gets Better" project had all the gay characters in the sketch played by gay cast members (McKinnon, Bowen Yang, and Punkie Johnson) and the gay host Dan Levy. During the finale of that same season, those same three cast members (plus the host Anya Taylor-Joy, who is not an example) played a group of gay characters celebrating (and crying about) LGBT Pride Month.
• The Crown (2016): Gay actor Ben Daniels plays bisexual Lord Snowdon.
• A Very English Scandal: Norman Josiffe is played by gay actor Ben Whishaw.
• London Spy: The openly gay Ben Whishaw plays a gay man.
• This Is Going To Hurt: Adam Kay is depicted in this series as having a boyfriend. In real life, his actor, Ben Whishaw, is gay.
• Community: The pansexual Dean Pelton is played by the openly queer Jim Rash.
• Dante's Cove:
  • Gay actor Charlie David plays Toby.
• Only Murders in the Building:
  • The Camp Gay Howard Morris is played by openly gay Michael Cyril Creighton.
  • Charles' stunt double Sazz Pataki is a lesbian played by lesbian Jane Lynch.
  • Mabel dates Alice Banks, an artist played by Cara Delevingne who is pansexual and genderfluid in real life.
• The Larry Sanders Show: Both Brian and his actor Scott Thompson are gay.
• Queer as Folk (US) stars gay actor Randy Harrison as the gay Justin Taylor.
• Class of '07: Bernie Van Tiel plays Tegan, who's a Butch Lesbian. Van Tiel is queer.
• Canadian actor Adam Beauchese is gay. In You Me Her he played Will, who's also gay. Wild Cards (2024) has him play Peter Millford, who's revealed to be involved with another man.
• Lost Girl: Zoie Palmer played lesbian Dr. Lauren Lewis. During the show, she came out publicly by thanking Alex Lalonde, her girlfriend, while getting an award for her work in the role.
• Teenage Bounty Hunters: Sterling Wesley eventually realizes she's bisexual through her relationship with April Stevens. Sterling's actress Maddie Phillips is bisexual too.
• Raven's Home: In Season 5, Raven’s assistant Nikki is a transgender female (she explicitly identified herself as such), just like her actress Juliana Joel.

Music Videos

• Stolen City's music video for the song "Faces" revolves around a transgender girl who is the victim of bullying. She's played by trans actress Jamie O'Herlihy. Ironically when the video came out, a lot of people didn't realize she was supposed to be trans.^note The original script had her either at the start or during her transition — including wearing a wig to look more feminine. Jamie, however, had already transitioned and had her own long hair, so this was dropped.
• Most of the actors/performers in the video for Mary Lambert's "Know Your Name" are LGBT+, like Sara Ramirez as the love interest.
• t.A.T.u. were infamously portrayed as a lesbian couple, both in their music videos and in their actual music, live performances, and general public image. Even though it was all an act, one member, Julia Volkova, is actually bisexual in real life.

Podcasts

• Night Vale Presents has a bit of a history with this...
  • Welcome to Night Vale: Cecil Palmer and Carlos are played by gay actors Cecil Baldwin and Dylan Marron.
    • Marron's casting fixes what the creators saw as a tone-deaf mistake in originally casting straight series co-creator Jeffrey Cranor in the role.
  • Alice Isn't Dead: Protagonist Keisha is played by queer actor Jasika Nicole.
  • The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air): Julian the Janitor is played by Neutral Milk Hotel alumnus Julian Koster, who came out as "not straight" in the end-of-season Q&A.
• The Magnus Archives: Protagonist Archivist Jonathan Sims is played by the real Jonathan Sims, who is bisexual, and Georgie Barker is played by Sasha Sienna, who is also bisexual and genderqueer.
• Starship Q Star: Non-binary actors Drey Mendez, Isha Menon, and Sunanda Sachatrakui voice the lesbian Sim, the queer Solaris, and Butch Lesbian Dusty.
• Unwell Podcast: Kathleen Hoil, the voice actor for Abbie, is also nonbinary.

Professional Wrestling

• Orlando Jordan is bi and, upon showing up in TNA in the 2010s, portrayed his wrestling persona as a Depraved Bisexual.
• Sonya Deville was the first openly lesbian performer to wrestle for WWE, and there were several on-screen hints that she had an attraction to her partner Mandy Rose. They did want to turn it into a full-blown storyline, but WWE nixed it.
• Cassandro is an Exotico - a luchador who performs as a drag queen - and he eventually came out as gay to match his character.
• Mariah Moreno incorporated her trans identity into her on-screen character for WILD Wrestling - "The Bloodthirsty Vixen" Amanda - in 2011. She defeated Lucky O'Shea for the promotion's championship, but was disqualified in kayfabe when her being trans was revealed. The storyline saw management ultimately deciding to let her compete, and she set a record for being the first trans athlete to win a championship in any sport.

Radio

• Round the Horne had a recurring sketch featuring two Camp Gay men named Julian and Sandy. They were respectively played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams, both of whom were also gay in real life, with the latter also describing himself as asexual.
• Doctor Who Redacted stars trans actress Charlie Craggs as trans podcaster Cleo Proctor.
• In A Ghastly Mistake, a Radio 4 dramatisation of the real-life trial of transgender man Sir Ewan Forbes, 11th Baronet of Craiglevar, whose cousin sued him over the title, claiming he wasn't a male heir, Forbes is played by non-binary actor Kit Green.

Theatre

• The show Hedwig and the Angry Inch has the titular character of Hedwig who is possibly a trans woman but could also be Camp Gay. Hedwig is usually played by gay or effeminate men because of this. In fact, when the rather masculine Taye Diggs took over the role, upset critics and fans rioted.
• The 2018 Broadway production of The Boys in the Band features an entirely queer cast, including the likes of Matt Bomer (Donald), Zachary Quinto (Harold), Andrew Rannells (Larry), Charlie Carver (Cowboy), and Jim Parsons (Michael). It was later adapted into a movie on Netflix with the same cast.
  • The original off-Broadway production (and 1970 film adaptation) featured Kenneth Nelson (Michael), Leonard Frey (Harold), Frederick Combs (Donald), Keith Prentice (Larry), and Robert La Tourneaux (Cowboy).
• In the original Broadway run of Avenue Q the puppeteer of the resident closeted homosexual Rod, John Tartaglia, is a gay man in real life, who's currently happily taken by his partner, Devin Neilson, who's also known as Tumblebrutus from the American tour of Cats.
• Miya Rurika came out as gender-free after their retirement from the Takarazuka Revue. Their character Sweetheart in Baddy is depicted with an Ambiguous Gender.
• The Broadway production of Deaf West's Spring Awakening has the bisexual Andy Mientus and gay Joshua Castille play Hanschen and Ernst, who has a seduction and makeout scene.
• The Prom:
  • Both Brooks Ashmanskas (Barry) and Josh Lamon (Sheldon) are openly gay actors playing explicitly gay characters. Christopher Sieber is also openly gay, but his character Trent's sexuality is never stated in the show.
  • Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla, who play Emma and Alyssa respectively, each came out during the show's run, with Kinnunen preferring not to commit to a label but generally going with "bi/queer" and McCalla eventually confirming that she identifies as bisexual.
• Torch Song Trilogy: Harvey Fierstein is openly gay and plays flamboyant gay man Arnold Beckoff.
• Several productions of Angels in America have featured queer actors:
  • The original 1993-94 Broadway run starred Stephen Spinella as Prior and Joe Mantello as Louis.
  • A 2010 off-Broadway production starred Zachary Quinto as Louis and Billy Porter as Belize.
  • A 2013 Sydney production featured DeObia Oparei (who’s gay) as Belize.
  • A 2013-14 Toronto production starred Damien Atkins (who’s gay) as Prior and Gregory Prest (who’s gay) as Louis.
  • The 2017 National Theatre production starred Nathan Lane (ironically) as Roy Cohn and Russell Tovey as Joe. When the production transferred to Broadway the following year, Tovey was replaced by Lee Pace. In fact, Pace came out during this time.
  • A 2018 Berkeley production starred Randy Harrison as Prior, Stephen Spinella as Roy Cohn, and Bob The Drag Queen as Belize.
• The Normal Heart has had its fair share of queer actors:
  • The original 1985 off-Broadway production starred Brad Davis as Ned.
  • During its 1986 run in London, Ned was briefly played by Tom Hulce.
  • A 2004 off-Broadway revival had Raúl Esparza as Ned.
  • The 2011 Broadway run starred Joe Mantello as Ned, John Benjamin Hickey as Felix, Lee Pace as Bruce, and Jim Parsons as Tommy (which he’d later reprise for the HBO version).
  • A 2011-12 Toronto production starred Jonathan Wilson (who’s gay) as Ned.
  • The 2021 National Theatre production starred Ben Daniels as Ned.

Video Games

Multiple Roles:

• Allegra Clark, who identifies as queer after initially coming out as bisexual, voices several bisexual characters: Dorothea from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Josephine in Dragon Age: Inquisition, Alice in Rune Factory 5, and Marisa in Street Fighter 6. She also voices non-binary Bloodhound in Apex Legends and pansexual Naomi in Goodbye Volcano High.
• The openly gay Cam Clarke plays the bisexual option Sky from Jade Empire, whom the male playable character can enter a relationship with. He also voices a male Corrin from Fire Emblem Fates, who can enter into a relationship with another bisexual man, Niles. Likewise, he voices Tesshu in the third Tenchu game, which has an unlockable Gag Dub language option called B-Side that changes the story so that Tesshu's quest involves getting back together with his boyfriend(s).
• Besides Lesbian Jock Valkryie in Apex Legends, pansexual and genderfluid Erika Ishii voices the nonbinary Catbat in Crash Team Rumble.
• Bisexual voice actress Erica Lindbeck voices several bisexual characters: Black Cat in Spider-Man (PS4) (who was revealed to be bisexual in 2002), Psylocke in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Lucy in Rune Factory 5, and Ambiguously Gay Peppermint in Hi-Fi RUSH.
• Non-binary actor Casey Mongillo voices a number of non-binary characters including Floofty from Bugsnax and Limstella in Fire Emblem Heroes.

Individual Examples:

• Also from Apex Legends is Lesbian Jock Valkryie, voiced by the openly pansexual and genderfluid Erika Ishii, as well as the trans female Catalyst played by trans actress Meli Grant.
• In Billie Bust Up!, pansexual character Fantoccio is voiced by asexual actor Michael Kovach.
• In Borderlands 3, gay couple Sir Hammerlock and Wainwright Jakobs are portrayed by J. Michael Tatum and David Wald, respectively, both of whom are gay in real life. Lor (who mentions he wishes to transition and comes out in a later title) is voiced by transmasc actor Ciarán Strange.
• Baldur's Gate III:
  • Nocturne, a Forgotten Childhood Friend of party member Shadowheart shows up in Act II. If the latter recovers some memories in Act I she will remember that Nocturne presented as a boy, and Nocturne confirms she's a trans woman. She is voiced by Abagail Thorn of Philosophy Tube, who is also a trans woman.
  • Shadowheart herself is bi/pan and finds Amazonian Beauty Karlach attractive. She is voiced by Jennifer English, who is a lesbian.
• Cassette Beasts: Both Ranger Captain Skip and their voice actor Marin Miller are non-binary and go by they/them pronouns.
• Cyberpunk 2077:
  • Claire is voiced by Maddie Taylor, both of whom are trans women.
  • A V of either gender can have a one-night stand with Meredith Stout. Stout's voice actress, Erica Lindbeck, is bisexual.
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses: Lindhardt, who is bisexual, is played by the openly gay Chris Patton.
• Friday Night Funkin': B3 Remixed: Biddle3 voices Shaya Dearest, both of whom are trans women.
• Goodbye Volcano High:
  • Both Fang and their voice talent, Lachlan Watson, are non-binary and go by they/them pronouns.
  • Both Sage and his voice actor, Jensen Trani, are transgender men.
  • Both Rosa and her voice actress, Dee Revilla, are transgender women.
• In Guilty Gear -STRIVE-, agender Testament is portrayed in English by the transfeminine voice actress Kayleigh McKee.
• In Heart of the Woods, which added voice acting in a later patch, Tara Bryck is a trans woman, like her VA, Stephanie Arata.
• Lev in The Last of Us Part II is a trans man like his actor Ian Alexander.
• Life Is Strange: Ashly Burch, Chloe Price's voice actor in the first game, is pansexual while Chloe is bisexual/lesbian.
• Zoe from Monster Prom is framed as an allegory for a trans woman's experience: she's an ancient eldritch being who has discovered that she's much happier and more fulfilled living as a high schooler, and many of the issues she faces in trying to self-actualize parallel common trans experiences (such as being deadnamed, either maliciously by bullies or by people who misguidedly want her to go back to the way they remember her). Her voice actor, Casey Mongillo, is trans femme non-binary.
  • In the sequel Monster Camp, Casey Mongillo returns to voice Milo Belladonna and Hex, both of whom identify as nonbinary they/them. Additionally, Ciarán Strange, a trans masc singer/songwriter/actor/graphic novelist, provides the voice for non-binary playable character Sawyer.
• Birdo from Super Mario Bros., who is a transgender woman, was voiced in the Super Mario USA commercial and BS Super Mario USA by Jun Donna, a Japanese trans female voice actress.
• Tyler in Tell Me Why is usually credited with being the first playable trans character in a video game from a major developer. His voice actor August Aiden Black is also a trans man. In addition, DONTNOD Entertainment enforced this by making sure to cast trans voice actors for the voiceovers in other languages.
• Juniper in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is listed in the game's code as nonbinary^note Male characters are given a gender value of "0" and female characters are "1", but Juniper is listed as "2", in a manner similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 2's Roc. and uses they/them pronouns. Their voice actor, Lilly Hart, is also nonbinary.
• Street Fighter 6: Eternity, a gender-nonconforming character, is voiced by Vittorio Wyatt Gray, who is trans.

Web Animation

• The Amazing Digital Circus: Pansexual actress Ashley Nichols voices the genderqueer character, Zooble, who uses all pronouns.
• Helluva Boss:
  • Pansexual imp Blitzo is voiced by a gay actor Brandon Rogers.
  • Millie's sister Sallie May is a trans woman and is played by trans lesbian voice actress Morgana Ignis.
• In gen:LOCK, pansexual genderfluid character Val/entina Romanyszyn is voiced by non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon. The creators' first choice for the role, Tatiana Maslany, turned down the role on the grounds that this trope should be in place.
• Queer Duck is gay, and so is his voice actor Jim J. Bullock.
• Rain: The Animated Series: Rain, a trans girl, is voiced by Larissa Frost, who’s also a trans woman.
• RWBY:
  • Panromantic demisexual intersex transgender non-binary actor Kdin Jenzen voices May Marigold, a transgender woman.
  • Arryn Zech revealed on a livestream that Blake Belladonna, just like herself, is bi.
  • Yang is Ambiguously Bi and eventually ends up in a relationship with Blake. She is voiced by Barbara Dunkelman, who stated she wasn't fully straight.
  • Bisexual actress Lindsay Sheppard voices Saphron Cotta-Arc, who has a wife and son.

Web Videos

• Carmilla
  • Elise Bauman, who is bisexual, plays lesbian Laura Hollis.
  • Natasha Negovanlis, who is pansexual, plays lesbian Carmilla Karnstein.
  • K Alexander, who is non-binary, plays non-binary LaFontaine.
• Dee from Couple-ish is a non-binary character played by K Alexander, who is also non-binary.
• Critical Role.
  • Taliesin Jaffe, who is bisexual, plays multiple — genderfluid bisexual Mollymauk Tealeaf (campaign 2), aromantic asexual Caduceus Clay (campaign 2, after Molly's death), and nonbinary Ashton Greymoore (campaign 3), who uses both he/him and they/them pronouns.
  • Similarly, Ashly Burch and Mica Burton guest star in several episodes as bisexual dwarven fighter Keg and aasimar druid Reani, respectively. Burch and Burton are pansexual and bisexual, respectively.
  • AF Flowers from the Monsterhearts One Shot and their player A. G. Beardsley (credited on the show as Ally Beardsley) are both nonbinary and use they/them pronouns.
• Dragon Ball Z Abridged: Yajirobe, Korin, and Burter, who were all made gay in the series, are voiced by the gay KaiserNeko. He also voices the flamboyantly gay Sharpner in the Buu Bits years after the series ended.
• The Noedolekcin Archives: Puz, a genderfluid person, voices the genderfluid Kirk Odd.
• The short film Out is about a gay teenager coming out to his parents. He's played by trans actor Archer Bradshaw, who also identifies as bisexual.
• Shield of Tomorrow has main cast members Sam de Leve (non-binary) and Amy Dallen (bisexual) playing Commander Junil Rue (non-binary) and Doctor Throlo Sh'shirros (some flavor of sapphic), as well as recurring guest Xander Jeanerret playing Counselor Tristan Peylore (both gay).
• The Irish web series Teen Life has transgender character Calum played by Jackson Lennon (credited as Jackson Ellis). He also stars in the film Boxed In, based on his own experiences transitioning as a teenager.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Blaine, who is non-binary/genderfluid, is voiced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, who is transgender, non-binary, and pansexual.
• Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake: Andrew Rannells, who is gay, voices Gary Prince, who is in a relationship with Marshall Lee. His original voice actor in Adventure Time, Neil Patrick Harris, is also gay.
• Amphibia:
  • Sasha Waybright and her actress Anna Akana are both bisexual.
  • A Freeze-Frame Bonus of Mr. X's phone contacts, which include one named "Hubby", implies that Mr. X is gay, like his voice actor RuPaul.
• Baby Shark's Big Show!: Viv, one of Vola’s mothers, is voiced by bisexual actress Sherry Cola.
• Baymax!: Mbita and his actor Jaboukie Young-White are both part of the LBGTQ community.
• Big Mouth:
  • The gay characters Matthew MacDell and Aiden are voiced by actual gays Andrew Rannells and Zachary Quinto, respectively. Also, the Old Queen in the episode "Guy Town" is voiced by Harvey Fierstein.
  • In the fourth season, transgender character Natalie is voiced by Josie Totah, who is also transgender.
  • Missy's cousin Lena and her voice actress Lena Waithe are both lesbians.
• Bob's Burgers:
  • Ambiguously Bi Linda Belcher is voiced by the openly gay John Roberts.
  • In "Turkey in a Can", the openly gay butcher who flirts with Bob is voiced by the openly gay Tuc Watkins.
  • Dalton Crespin, a semi-recurring character in Season 8, is voiced by the openly gay John Early.
  • Marshmallow, who is transgender, was later recast by the transgender actress Jari Jones.
• BoJack Horseman:
  • Business negotiator, Mary-Beth, who was introduced in season 5 to settle a dispute between Princess Carolyn and Todd is a lesbian. She's also voiced by Wanda Sykes, a lesbian.
  • Yolanda, a woman Todd dated, is asexual and is voiced by the queer actress Natalie Morales.
  • The asexual Maude introduced in season 6 is voiced by the asexual Echo Gillette.
  • Taneisha, a lesbian getting married to her fiance, is voiced by the bisexual actress Tessa Thompson.
• Bossy Bear: Real-life couple Lance Bass and Michael Turchin voice Tyler and Greg respectively, Ginger’s dads.
• The Bravest Knight: Cedric and Andrew's voice actors T.R. Knight and Wilson Cruz are both gay in real life like Cedric and Andrew are.
• Human Resources: Natalie's sister Nadja and her girlfriend Danielle are both voiced by queer actresses Sabrina Jalees and Ariana DeBose.
• Big City Greens: One of the gay couple, Alexander, is voiced by gay actor John Early.
• Big Nate: Amy is a lesbian and her voice actress, Ali Stroker, is bisexual.
• Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix: The eponymous Dolph Laserhawk is attracted to men and voiced by queer actor Nathaniel Curtis.
• Thomas in City of Ghosts is non-binary and is voiced by transgender child actor Blue Chapman.
• In the 2019 reboot of Clifford the Big Red Dog, one of Samantha's moms, Dr. Mulberry, is voiced by Maggie Cassella, an openly lesbian actress.
• Centaurworld: Camp Gay Zulius is voiced by openly gay actor Paveesh Cheena.
• Clarence: Jeff's two moms EJ and Sue were voiced by real-life lesbians Lea DeLaria and Tig Notaro.
• Clone High: Lesbian actress Vicci Martinez voices Frida Kahlo, who is queer.
• Craig of the Creek:
  • Angel, who is agender and uses "they/them" pronouns, was voiced by queer agender storyboard artist and writer of the show Angel Lorenzana. Eventually, they would be voiced by Miss Benny, a queer transgender woman.
  • J.P.'s sister Laura is a lesbian, just like her voice actress Fortune Feimster.
  • Honeysuckle Ranger Raj's voice actor Paveesh Cheena is gay.
  • Secret Keeper's voice actor Cole Escola is gay and non-binary.
• Daria: Depraved Bisexual Alison is voiced by Bif Naked, who's also bisexual.
• Dead End: Paranormal Park:
  • Barney, the main lead, is both gay and trans and so is his voice actor, Zach Barack. This stands in contrast to the pilot of sorts, Dead End, where Barney is voiced by Zack Pearlman, who is neither.
  • In the EU Portuguese dub the gay actor Henrique Feist voices Pugsley, which is now written to be more allegorical to the gay and trans experience.
  • Zagan is a transgender woman like her voice actress, Michaela Jae Rodriguez.
  • Margie, a woman Barney and Logs meet, is in a relationship with another woman and is played by sapphic transgender actress Angelica Ross.
  • Jules, a non-binary ghost, is voiced by non-binary actor Z Infante.
• The lead character of Disenchantment, Princess Bean, is hinted at throughout the first two seasons and firmly established in the third season to be bisexual. Her voice actress Abbi Jacobson is herself bisexual.
• Doc McStuffins: In “The Emergency Plan”, lesbian couple Thea Dolls and Edie Dolls are voiced by lesbian actresses Wanda Sykes and Portia de Rossi respectively.
• The Dragon Prince: Book 4 introduces Claudia's boyfriend the Earthblood elf Terry, who is a transgender man and his English voice actor, Benjamin Callins, is a bisexual transgender man.
• In Drawn Together, Xandir, a gay man, is voiced by Jack Plotnick, who is also gay.
• Gargoyles: Lexington, who was confirmed to be gay, is voiced by gay actor Thom Adcox Hernandez.
• The Ghost and Molly McGee:
  • Molly's history teacher Mrs. Roop and her wife Pam Roop are voiced by lesbian actresses Jane Lynch and Erica Luttrell.
  • Jeff, Geoff's partner, is voiced by gay actor Vincent Rodriguez III.
• Hailey's On It!: Hailey's classmates Thad and his boyfriend Jonathan are voiced by gay actors, Nik Dodani and Nico Santos.
• Hazbin Hotel:
  • Pansexual actress Elsie Lovelock voices the bisexual demon Charlie Morningstar in her singing voice in the pilot.
    • Queer actress Jill Harris voices Charlie in her regular speaking voice in the pilot.
  • Gay porn star Angel Dust is voiced by an asexual Michael Kovach in the pilot and the ADDICT music video.
  • Openly bisexual actress Stephanie Beatriz voices Charlie's girlfriend Vaggie in the series.
  • Openly gay actor Joel Perez voices Valentino, the depraved pansexual Overlord.
• Hey Arnold! has Mr. Simmons voiced by Dan Butler, though his relationship with Peter is made subtle.
• Raye Rodriguez, the series creator of High Guardian Spice voices the transgender Professor Caraway. On the flip side, transgender woman Julia Kaye voices Snapdragon, who is confirmed to transition eventually. Sage's lesbian cousin, Anise, is played by lesbian actress Haviland Stillwell.
• Invincible (2021): Andrew Rannells and Jonathan Groff are gay like their characters William and Rick. Groff's replacement in Season 2 Luke Mac Farlane is also gay.
• Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous: Queer actress Kausar Mohammed voices Yasmina, who is bisexual.
• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Asher is non-binary, and their voice actor, River Butcher, is a trans man.
• In The Legend of Korra, Janet Varney, who plays the title character, is bisexual, and in the series finale Korra ended up in a relationship with Asami.
• The Legend of Vox Machina:
  • The genderqueer tavern keeper in the first episode is portrayed by the nonbinary Mason Alexander Park.
  • Lesbian halfling paladin Lady Kima is voiced by openly bisexual Stephanie Beatriz.
• The Loud House:
  • Bisexual non-binary actor Alyson Stoner voices Luna's girlfriend Sam.
  • Bisexual transgender actress Maddie Taylor voices transgender pageant host Dana Dufresne. In fact, her character transitioned with her.
  • Pansexual actor Wayne Brady voiced Harold McBride, one of Clyde's dads, until he was replaced by Khary Payton.
  • Pansexual and queer actress Ashly Burch voices Lainey, one of Lynn's roller derby teammates who is dating Alice.
  • Tonatiuh Elizarraraz, who's gay, voices Leni's Gay Best Friend Miguel.
• Madagascar: A Little Wild: Odee Elliot, a non-binary okapi, is voiced by the non-binary actor iris menas.
• Miraculous Ladybug:
  • Zoé reveals herself to be sapphic and attracted to Marinette during the fifth season. Her English voice actress, Deneen Melody, is pansexual.
  • Pansexual actress Erin Fitzgerald voiced Rose, who is bisexual, and Juleka, who is a lesbian, in the English dub for season 1.
  • Alix is aromantic and she is voiced by Kira Buckland, who uses she/they pronouns, in the English dub.
  • Olympia and Barbara are implied to be a couple and are both voiced by bisexual non-binary actor Anairis Quiñones in the English dub.
• The third generation of Monster High reimagines Frankie Stein as non-binary. Accordingly, they're played by non-binary actor iris menas.
  • For their music video, Frankie's singing voice actor is Amanda Kruger, who is also nonbinary.
• Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023):
  • Non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon voices the (literal) non-binary operating system LOS-307.
  • Transgender non-binary actor Indya Moore voices Brooklyn, a transgender girl who is a member of the volleyball team in her school.
  • Pansexual transmasculine non-binary actor Ian Alexander voices Tai, a non-binary person who is a member of the volleyball team in their school.
  • Gay actors Andy Cohen and Wilson Cruz voice Isaac and Antonio Calderon, Casey's dads.
• OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes:
  • Lesbian Black Strategy (of the Hue Troop) is voiced by asexual Erica Mendez.
  • Enid is bisexual and her voice actress Ashly Burch came out as queer and pansexual on July 1, 2022.
• The Owl House:
  • Raine Whispers is non-binary and uses "they/them" pronouns, just like their voice actor Avi Roque. And in "Them's the Breaks, Kid", teen Raine is voiced by non-binary actor Blu del Barrio.
  • Amity Blight is a lesbian and her voice actress Mae Whitman came out as pansexual in August 2021.
• Our Cartoon President: Matt Rogers, who is gay, voices Pete Buttigieg.
• Pinecone And Pony: Wren, who is non-binary, is voiced by transgender and non-binary actor Ser Anzoategui.
• The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder:
  • Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter, who are both gay in real life, voice Maya and KG's dads.
  • EJ Johnson is gender nonconforming and gay, just like Michael.
  • Sebastian Boyle, a.k.a. Makeup Boy, goes on a date with Michael and is voiced by Bretman Rock, who is gay and non-binary.
• Q-Force:
  • Real-life gay actors Sean Hayes, Matt Rogers, and Gabe Liedman voiced the gay characters Steve Mayweather, Twink, and Benji.
  • Real-life lesbian actresses Wanda Sykes and Fortune Feimster voiced the lesbian characters Deb and Louisa Desk.
  • Transgender Stat is voiced by transgender actress Patti Harrison.
• Ridley Jones:
  • Fred, a non-binary bison, is voiced by the non-binary iris means.
  • Ismat's fathers Aten and Kosi are voiced by openly gay actors Andrew Rannells and Chris Colfer.
• In Rubble & Crew, River, who is nonbinary, is voiced by Cihang Ma, who is also nonbinary.
• In the 2021 reboot of Rugrats, Butch Lesbian Betty DeVille is voiced by Natalie Morales, who is queer.
• The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy: Non-binary actor Sam Smith voices the genderless alien Dr. Azel, who uses all pronouns and is in a relationship with a woman named Dr. Klak.
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:
  • Double Trouble, the non-binary mercenary introduced in the fourth season, is voiced by Jacob Tobia, who is also non-binary.
  • Showrunner ND Stevenson, who is transmasc and bigender, and in a relationship with a woman, voices Princess Spinnerella, who is not non-binary but is also in a relationship with another woman.
  • Jewelstar is a transgender man like his voice actor, Alex Blue Davis.
• The Simpsons:
  • Harvey Fierstein plays Karl in "Simpson and Delilah". Karl isn't expressly identified as gay but he does kiss Homer.
  • John Waters plays John in "Homer's Phobia".
  • Scott Thompson plays Grady in "Three Gays of the Condo", "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words", "Flaming Moe", and "Werking Mom".
  • Both Julio and his second actor Tony Rodriguez are gay.
  • Lesbian actress Fortune Feimster plays Evelyn, Patty's girlfriend in "Livin' La Pura Vida".
  • In "Werking Mom", RuPaul voices drag queen Queen Chante.
  • Michael from "Portrait of a Lackey on Fire", who served as a love interest to Smithers, was played by gay actor Victor Garber.
  • Gay actor Bryan Batt plays Philip in "Mad About the Toy".
  • In "Marge the Lumberjill", nonbinary actor Asia Kate Dillon plays Paula, who has a wife.
• Star Wars Resistance: Flix, who was confirmed to be gay, is voiced by queer actor Jim Rash.
• Steven Universe:
  • Ruby and Sapphire are feminine sexless aliens romantically involved with each other. Sapphire's voice actress Erica Luttrell is WLW. Ruby's voice actress Charlyne Yi is non-binary and queer.
  • Non-binary Drag Queen Jinkx Monsoon voices Emerald, who is sexless and female-presenting.
  • Steven Universe: Future: Shep is a transgender non-binary character using "they/them" pronouns, similar to their voice actor Indya Moore.
• Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City has a few examples.
  • Banoffee, who is a transgender woman, is voiced by trans woman Felicia Bonée.
  • Raisin Cane, who is non-binary, is voiced by the nonbinary Justin Saint.
• Total Drama: Camp Gay Bowie is voiced by Brandon Michael Arrington, who is also part of the LGBTQ community.
• Transformers Earthspark: Z Infante and the character they voice, Nightshade, are both non-binary.
• Tuca & Bertie: Lesbian Jane Lynch voices the Butch Bisexual Coach Maple.
• Velma:
  • Daphne's mothers are played by lesbian actresses Wanda Sykes and Jane Lynch.
  • Sara Ramirez and their character Amber are both non-binary.
• We Baby Bears: Pirate Parrot Polly is non-binary like their voice actor, Em Hagen.
• In the reboot of the X-Men animated series X-Men '97, Morph is non-binary and is voiced by gay actor J.P. Karliak.

In-Universe Examples:

Film — Live-Action

• In Longtime Companion, Howard's character on the Soap Within a Show Other People is stated to be the first openly gay character on daytime TV but Howard initially fears typecasting afterwards. Rumors of Howard having AIDS — which are true towards the end of the movie — later end up costing him his role on Other People and a potential movie role.

Live-Action TV

• Parodied in sketch show Smack the Pony where a sketch involved two actresses who have to play a lesbian scene. The straight actress is queasy about it all and wants to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. But the lesbian actress keeps inventing excuses for reshoots.
  "No, I'm not happy with the way I did that. Sorry! My fault! But can we do just one more take?"
• Discussed in The Other Two: Cary protests that Dean must be into men because he's playing George Michael in a biopic. Shuli points out that only straight people play gay roles, but Dean is 'gay-baiting' by dating Cary because having a man who might be gay play a gay man helps generate buzz.

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"Natasha, we'll talk about it later!"