TV

The Top 25 Lesbian/Bi Characters on TV (Right Now)

It’s such an exciting time to be a gay lady who loves to watch fictional gay ladies. Right now, there are more lesbian and bisexual characters on TV than ever before, spanning broadcast and cable networks, age demographics, genres, ethnicities, races, and nations. So recently we asked you to help us rank the top 25. (If you’d told us five year ago that there would be more than 25 lesbian/bi characters on active television shows, we would have laughed in your face-but here we are!) After two weeks of voting, we’ve tallied the results, and here are some interesting tidbits about your current favs:

Eight of your Top 25 (30 percent) are women of color, making this one of our most awesomely diverse lists ever.

Six of your Top 25 characters are played by Canadian actresses, two are played by English actresses, and two are played by German actresses.

The Top 25 character who has appeared in the least amount of episodes is Dani from Glee, logging only one appearance so far, which goes to show how far a little smooching with Naya Rivera goes in the hearts of lesbian and bisexual TV viewers.

The Top 25 character who has appeared in the most amount of episodes is Callie Torres from Grey’s Anatomy. She has logged 176 episodes in 10 seasons. (The next closest contender is Arizona Robbins with 116 episodes of Grey’s and Kalinda Sharma from The Good Wife, coming it at 97 episodes.)

The majority of characters from the list appear on American cable shows (10), followed by American broadcast shows (9).

But the show with the most characters on the list appears only on Netflix (Orange Is the New Black).

Netflix, ABC, ABC Family, and Syfy are tied with four characters each on the list.

And now, without further ado, your rankings of the Top 25 Lesbian/Bi Characters on TV (Right Now) 25. Dani, Glee

It is a tough act to follow our beloved Brittany S. Pierce as Santana Lopez’s girlfriend on Glee, and while we’re still pretty convinced Brittana is straight-up endgame, we’re happy to see Santana smiling again. We downloaded “Here Comes the Sun” to our iPods, too, if we’re being honest. Here’s to early morning kisses, acoustic duets, and innocent distractions.

Check out our Glee recaps! 24. Crazy Eyes, Orange is the New Black

Suzanne Warren is an enigma wrapped in a mystery cloaked in a Shakespearean monologue. She’s got a tough exterior with a gooey caramel center. On the one hand, she’s aggressive and commanding, but on the other, she expresses such tender vulnerability when asking Piper why people call her “Crazy Eyes.” We’d throw our pie for her any day.

Check out our Orange Is the New Black recaps!

23. Nicky Nichols, Orange is the New Black

Nicky Nichols is a reformed junkie who sees the world just as it is, but still has a heart full of compassion and a never-say-die mentality. Because hey, you never know if tomorrow night is taco night. We loved watching the Piper-Alex dynamic unfold during season one of Orange Is the New Black, but we’ve got to be honest: We were really feeling those subtle moves Nicky was putting on Alex. We were also digging her never-miss zingers. We’ll never look at hotdogs or hallways the same way again.

Check out our Orange Is the New Black recaps! 22. Isabel Lobo, Tierra De Lobos

She’s a tomboy from an affluent family on the run with her lesbian lover who used to be a prostitute! Throw in some of the most well-lit lesbian make-out scenes in the history of television and it’s no wonder this Spanish soap has us crawling all over the Internet looking for clips and subtitles! Season three is underway, and we have some good news: We’ve heard your pleas, and recaps are on the way. 21. Kalinda Sharma, The Good Wife If there’s one thing every viewer of The Good Wife can agree on, it’s that we want more Kalinda. And not that barely recognizable season four Kalinda who lost her swagger and her purpose. We want our badass bisexual private eye back, and we want her back with her acerbic wit in tact. But the leather and boots can stay. The leather and boots can always stay.

Check out our The Good Wife recaps!

20. Lena Adams, The Fosters

Lena Adams is the voice of reason in a house full of hormonal teenagers and a partner who wears her heart on the same sleeve as her police badge. Slow to anger, quick to comfort, and always remembering to buy that guacamole Stef likes, she is the glue that holds the Foster-Adams family together. But don’t let that mom/vice-principal stuff fool you; Lena’s also down for some making out with her wife in the backseat of their SUV.

Check out our The Fosters recaps! 19. HG Wells, Warehouse 13

H.G. Wells is a woman? Yes, H.G. Wells is a woman. Oh, what a woman. Bronzed in the 1800s for using Warehouse artifacts to gain revenge on the men who killed her daughter, she was bronzed and awakened in the 21st century, which suited her just fine, thank you very much. She was always way ahead of her time. Twice, she tried to sacrifice her life to save the Warehouse (which was a nice gesture after she tried to destroy the world with a magical trident one time). We’ll see her once more before Warehouse 13 comes to a close in 2014. Here’s hoping she’s escaped her self-imposed exile in Nowhere, Wisconsin.

Check out our Warehouse 13 recaps! 18. Leslie Shay, Chicago Fire

It’s a hard knock life for a lesbian paramedic superhero whose girlfriend of three years leaves her to have a baby and a wedding with a dude, so it’s no wonder Leslie Shay got a little confused and started demanding babies from her (male) roommate. Of course, we’ve all been there. Well, maybe not the wanting-to-have-a-baby-with-a-man thing, but we’ve definitely all overestimated someone’s lesbianism at one time or another. We’ve also invited our best friends to switch teams at least once. Or, well, we would have done if they looked at us like Dawson looks at Shay.

Check out our Chicago Fire recaps!

17. Piper Chapman, Orange is the New Black

We’re living in the Golden Age of male antiheroes. Don Draper, Dexter, Walter White. But there aren’t many shows that have presented us with a female character as morally dubious as Piper Chapman. Is she self-centered? Yeah. Is she blinded to her own privilege? You betcha. Is she needy and spoiled and kind of manipulative? Mmm hmm. But she’s also brave as hell and flush with empathy and uncommonly resourceful and learning what it means when you love wide open. Her layers make her fascinating. We just hope she’s still alive when Netflix drops Season 2.

Check out our Orange Is the New Black recaps! 16. Gail Peck, Rookie Blue

Gail Peck always stood out as the snarkiest and quirkiest of the Rookies, but this season she met her match in forensic pathologist Holly. What started out as a platonic “plus one” quickly developed into a flirtationship that had our hearts fluttering. After the intensity of one case put things into perspective, Gail took it up a notch with a kiss, and we all set sail on the Good Ship Golly.

Check out our Rookie Blue recaps! 15. Rebecca von lahnstein, Verbotene Liebe

You are a strong lesbian lady if you agree to design the wedding dress of the woman you’re in love with, especially when that woman is running from her feelings for you by marrying your brother. Lucky for Rebecca, Marlene was so smitten with her wedding dress, that she offered up her gratitude with a full-on open-mouthed homosexy kiss and an admission of sapphic supplication.

14. Marlene Wolf, Verbotene Liebe

Sometimes you kiss your boyfriend’s sister during a game of spin the bottle and the next thing you know, you’re falling in love with her and leaving your groom on your wedding day and chasing down your lesbian love before she flies of to Los Angeles forever. Soaps are soaps, all over the world, and their love stories are so ridiculously delicious. Even more amazing: A whole year after they confessed their feelings for each other, Rebecca and Marlene are both still alive! Four for you, Germany. You go, Germany. 13. Tamsin, Lost Girl

When Tamsin appeared on our TVs during Lost Girl‘s third season, we knew right away we were going to like her, and not just because her first order of business was to punch Dyson in the face. Her no-nonsense wit, her casual bravado, and her mysterious past had us hooked-and then she climbed into the bathtub with Bo and we knew we would love her forever.

Check out our Lost Girl recaps! 12. Mulan, Once Upon a Time

There was a time when people didn’t believe she had what it took, but she knew she had that warrior spirit. There was also a time when people didn’t believe she was a gay lady, but we knew we had that gaydar spirit. She is a fierce fighter and a loyal companion, and so noble she didn’t even confess her love to the once-cursed princess that she helped rescue. (Damn that chivalry, Mulan! Go back and get your girl!)

Check out our Once Upon a Time recaps!

11. Stef Foster, The Fosters

When ABC Family unveiled its plan for The Fosters, we hoped against hope that we’d finally find ourselves in some kind of lesbian Cosby Show situation-and that’s exactly what happened! In a short 13-episode first season, we got to see a rock solid lesbian partnership around which an entire gaggle of kids orbits. We also got to see flashbacks of Stef coming out, a heartbreakingly real confrontation between Stef and her casually homophobic father, and a lesbian wedding officiated by the most famous fictional TV pastor ever. Now stop getting shot, lady. TV lesbians are 7,000% more likely to die of minor gun wounds!

Check out our The Fosters recaps! 10. Cosima Niehaus, Orphan Black

Despite the fact that she is one of who-knows-how-many clones, Cosima Niehaus (324B21) stands alone in our affection. She’s got those Ravenclaw smarts, that Gryffindor loyalty, that Hufflepuff work ethic, and that Slytherin girlfriend. (Just kidding! We love you, Delphine!) Without her, all of the other clones would be lost, so let’s hope that mysterious lung thing she’s got going on is just a pesky case of bronchitis.

Check out our Orphan Black recaps! 9. Callie Torres, Grey’s Anatomy

Callie has been on our TVs almost twice as long as any other character on this list, which means we’ve been loving her for nearly a decade! Working at Seattle Grace is just asking to have your heart broken on the regular and Callie has lost more than anyone. A husband, a best friend, and now maybe even her wife. (We hope that last thing isn’t true!) But that has never stopped her from giving everything she has to save other people’s lives. Calliope Torres is a real deal hero who taught us that you’ve gotta keep believing. And also that you can’t pray away the gay.

Check out our Grey’s Anatomy recaps!

8. Lena, Ray Donovan

When Showtime revealed the premise of Ray Donovan, we confess to not being very impressed, until we found out Kate Moennig would play a “tough, no nonsense lesbian.” We didn’t even know what it meant, really, but we knew we’d be watching. Lena has a lot in common with Shane McCutcheon: She’s sexy, she’s suave, she’s a ladykiller, and her friends are her family. Also, she and Shane have in common that they’re not afraid to punch assholes on the face.

Check out our Ray Donovan coverage! 7. Bo Dennis, Lost Girl

Not since Buffy the Vampire Slayer has there been a female-fronted show with a woman as singularly badass as Bo Dennis on Lost Girl. And, lucky for us, she also happens to be unabashedly bisexual. Over three seasons we’ve watched her find herself, find her love, and save the world from total destruction a dozen times or two. We can’t wait to see what season four will bring for our favorite Canadian succubus.

Check out our Lost Girl recaps! 6. Arizona Robbins, Grey’s Anatomy

Has there ever been a lesbian TV character who has been through more than Arizona Robbins and lived to tell about it? She lost her leg in a tragic plane crash and ran the full spectrum of PTSD the following year. Her despair and her anger clouded her courage and her judgment for a time, but she got back up and got back up and got back up-and now she’s making herself whole again.

Check out our Grey’s Anatomy recaps! 5. Paige McCullers, Pretty Little Liars

What started out as a three-episode guest arc has turned into one of the most fully realized portrayals of teenage lesbianism in the history of TV. She appeared as a bully, revealed herself as a self-loathing gay gal, smashed a trash can or two, and then blossomed into a confident, tender, soft butch babe with kung fu skills and a plan for a puffy drape future with Emily Fields.

Check out our Pretty Little Liars recaps!

4. Santana Lopez, Glee

We’ve clocked nearly 100 episodes of loving Santana Lopez. Maybe it’s her incomparable ability to deliver the perfect zing or her hypnotic singing voice or those razor blades she keeps in her hair, maybe it’s the way that she saw Brittany for the unicorn she really was, or maybe it’s the fact that she’s just a straight up Girl on Fire. Actually, it’s probably all of those things that keep us coming back for more. Glee may do us wrong, but Santana Lopez ain’t nothin’ but right.

Check out our Glee recaps! 3. Alex Vause, Orange is the New Black For a convicted drug dealer who dimed out her former lover and landed her in prison, it didn’t take us long to fall in love with Alex Vause. Sure, she was the brains behind an international crime ring, but that doesn’t mean she’s incapable of deep, deep love and loyalty. She’s a survivor, is what she is. A sexy, sexy survivor. And damn, girl, those glasses.

Check out our Orange Is the New Black recaps! 2. Emily Fields, Pretty Little Liars

She started out as a timid, closeted lesbian lady who liked Beyonce a little too much, but by season four of Pretty Little Liars, you may have heard that Emily Fields killed a guy. Her swagger brings all the girls to the yard, her heroics keep her friends from getting run under by cars, and while we may not be able to relate to all of those things, we can certainly sympathize with her determination to live that U-Haul life with Paige McCullers.

Check out our Pretty Little Liars recaps! 1. Lauren Lewis, Lost Girl

Of all the life-saving lesbian characters we love-and oh, there are plenty!-Dr. Lauren Lewis stands alone. Not only is she is super-genius super-doctor, Dr. Lauren is also an Afghanistan vet, a volunteer healer in the Congo, and the one true love of our #7 favorite, Bo Dennis. And you know what else? She melts our ice cream as much as Bo melts hers.

Check out our Lost Girl recaps!

Thank you for helping us rank the top 25 lesbian/bi characters on TV. What do you think of the results?

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