Pucker up and get ready for some monumental smooches #20BiTeen
BY LUCY KNIGHT
They’re calling it 20-bi-teen for a reason: this year is promising to be the best yet for queer representation in TV and film. Gone are the days where the only place to see a snog between two girls was on Rose and Rosie’s YouTube channel. From Oscar-nominated films to weekly TV soaps, we’ve picked our favourite lady-kissing-lady moments of the year so far. Here’s hoping there are many more to come!
Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill, The Favourite
On the very first day of 2019, The Favourite hit UK cinema screens in all its Sapphic glory. Spoilt for choice of queer kisses, we’ve gone for this smooch between the resplendent Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz as the seductive Duchess of Marlborough. (Sorry, Emma Stone.)
Gabrielle and Georgie, Colette
Next in 2019’s lesbian period dramas came Colette, the film queer women have been waiting for since we saw Keira Knightley in Bend It Like Beckham. Unlike in that noughties classic, the two girls actually do get together in this film, despite the restrictive society in which they live. We see Knightley’s character pushing the boundaries of the sexuality and gender expression expected of her when she locks lips with Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson.
Elena and Syd, One Day At A Time
Queerness has been a key feature of this Netflix original sitcom from its first season. The Cuban-American family around which the story centres includes a daughter, Elena, who has a non-binary “Syd-nificant Other”, Syd. This kiss, in the episode The First Time, comes after Syd has told their girlfriend that there is no pressure to have sex if she doesn’t want to. “No matter what happens, I love you,” they say. Cue uncontrollable gasps and tears at how cute and respectful these queer teenage legends are.
Kate and Rana, Coronation Street
Kate and Rana were an adorable inter-faith same-sex couple on the long-standing British soap, and it was an important moment for representation when they got engaged in November last year. They shared this sweet moment in their wedding day episode – if only Corrie hadn’t played into the “Bury Your Gays” trope, killing a lesbian character for the second time in the show’s history.
Rosa and Jocelyn, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Detective Rosa Diaz finally revealed her offscreen girlfriend Jocelyn in the sixth season of the acclaimed American police sitcom. And this girlfriend was played by none other than beloved comedian and general lesbian sweetheart, Cameron Esposito. Which means that both actors – Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Diaz, is bisexual – identify as queer in real life too! A monumental smooch.
Fleabag and Belinda, Fleabag
For those of us who have been imagining Kristin Scott-Thomas as a lesbian ever since her character references her “lesbian 15 minutes” in Four Weddings And A Funeral, the wait is over. As a powerful lesbian businesswoman, she rebuffs the advances of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character (unnamed and known only as “Fleabag”) but does allow her a magnificent snog.
Only reading DIVA online? You’re missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It’s pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.
