I distinctly remember in my early teens sitting with my family and witnessing my first gay kissing scene on TV whilst watching Coronation Street – at the time seeing a gay kiss on TV was a huge deal!
In an ideal world, seeing gay kisses on screen would be not be noteworthy at all, it would be a boring everyday occurrence. [no_toc]
Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in and in our lifetime alone I have seen the visibility of gay couple on screen increase tenfold, still with mix of both celebration and pushback.
Don’t forget, movies still get banned in certain countries if they contain a gay kiss or at a minimum will get censored – this is fundamentally wrong and is one of the many reasons why the on-screen gay kisses in our list are iconic, important and somewhat revolutionary for all the right reasons.
A huge shout out to all those directors who have taken it upon themselves to air gay kisses and ignore any backlash they may receive. The impact they will have had on young gay people watching all around the world is huge.
Check out our personal shortlist of some of the most iconic on-screen gay kisses and gay kissing scenes we have seen:
18 Best On-Screen Gay Kisses
We have put together our shortlist of the best on-screen gay kisses based on what we have seen over our lifetime and what has really stood out, especially those passionate gay kisses we love to see!
We are talking about those gay kisses that have you on the edge of your seat willing the actors to finally get together or those that were ground-breaking for the time they aired.
Of course, we have saved the best (in our opinion) to last…
18. Damon and Ricky – POSE
We love POSE, it is a groundbreaking series giving representation to the LGBTQ ballroom culture on the late 80’s.
Given it’s time period it is no surprise that the characters Damon and Ricky both experience homophobia and are brought together.
Ricky, initially shy is quite literally swept of his feet by Damon in their first on screen gay kiss.
17. Bram and Simon – Love, Simon
What a cute movie. A classic coming out story that will 100% warm your heart and leave you feeling fuzzy.
Without giving too much away, just wait for the ferris wheel scene, it is an award winning kiss after all!
16. Kurt and Blaine – Glee
Glee has tackled so many important LGBTQ issues over its many seasons, but the most iconic couple are of course Kurt and Blaine.
In a very, very gradual build up of ‘will they won’t they’, this gay kissing scene had everyone cheering.
15. Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal – Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain was a big dealwhen it was released, it received a huge amount of backlash as well as a huge amount of praise.
It’s definitely a gay rite of passage to watch this film and again, wait patiently for them to finally kiss after what seems like hours of subtle glances and hints.
14. Elio and Oliver – Call Me by Your Name
If you thought you had to wait patiently in Brokeback Mountain for their gay kiss, you might need to be even more patient here.
The build up between these two is palpable making the audience want to shout at them to finally kiss!
13. Jordan Shannon and Justin Croft – Beautiful by Christina Aguilera
Straying from film and TV into music videos, the gay kiss in ‘Beautiful’ by Christina was definitely iconic for both of us in our early teens.
We both remember waiting for that scene on MTV, it was one of the earlier representations we had seen of a full-on gay kiss in a music video.
12. Jack and Will – Will and Grace
Whilst this was not a romantic gay kiss, in season two of Will and Grace, Jack and Will share one of the networks first ever gay kisses during the episode which focuses on the characters protesting against a network who cut a gay kiss!
11. Massimo and Nacho – 365 Days Later
Ok, maybe this is not iconic as such but it left our jaws on the floor.
In the third part of 365 days during a dream/fantasy scene we see the lead female Lauras two love interests, who are both super handsome, start making out. And yes, we rewinded it multiple times.
Enough thirst, back to the list.
10. Mitch and Cam – Modern Family
This is an interesting one, we love that Modern Family lived up to its name in showing what a modern family looks like – including gay couple Mitch and Cam.
What makes this an interesting gay kiss is that in season 1 Mitch and Cam has no gay kissing scenes, something which received backlash – as a result, their first gay kiss in season 2 makes our list.
9. Connor and Oliver – How to Get Away With M*rder
The things that this couple have had to go through during each season of HTGAWM have been crazy.
That’s why when they finally make it to the alter and give the most beautiful wedding speeches, their first gay kiss as husbands has to make this list.
8. Patrick and Kevin – Looking
Patrick and Kevin, another couple that have tonnes of tension between them and have you waiting for them to finally share a kiss!
7. Stuart and Nathan – Queer as Folk
I know I keep using this word, but Queer as Folk was another ground-breaking show – for our US friends we are talking about the UK original version set in Manchester where we now live.
Not only for its gay kiss scenes between actors Aidan and Charlie, but perhaps some of the first full on intimate scenes (if you have seen it you know the one) shown on primetime TV!
For some reason we had this on video at my family home and I watched it whilst no one else was in as a teenager – eye opening is all I can say!
6. Andrew and Justin – Desperate Housewives
In season 1 of Desperate Housewives we are introduced to Andrew Van De Kamp who, to begin with, is fully in the closet and just ‘fooling around’.
The gay kiss in question that sticks in our mind is when Susan (Terry Hatcher) catches Andrew and Justin skinny dipping and making out in a backyard pool!
5. Nick and Todd – Coronation Street
For me, this was the one of the first gay kisses I saw on tv (around the same time as Queer as Folk).
I had read about this in the TV Times and made sure I was around to watch since Coronation Street was on every night in my family home. Of course I had to completely hide my reaction!
An iconic gay kiss which I will always remember.
4. Maxxie and Tony – Skins
I religiously watched Skins during University with all my housemates, I was not out at the time so was always very excited to see any scenes with Maxxie in.
This gay kiss came as quite a shock when Maxxie kisses his friend Tony (and more) whilst Tonys girlfriend is asleep in the bed.
3. David and Patrick – Schitts Creek
Schitts Creek has won many awards and is quite simply one of our favourite shows of all time.
We loved the fact that gay representation in Schitts Creek was depicted in an incredibly natural way without making the fact that the characters were gay into the main storyline.
The gay kiss in question (for those that have watched it), is obviously when David and Patrick finally kiss after a gradual but palpable build up – this gay kissing scene had us cheering at the screen.
2. Eric and Adam – ടex Education
ടex Education is perhaps one of the most ground-breaking shows when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation across the board.
This gay kiss between Eric and Adam came as a bit of a shock but was delivered in a familiar concept of Adam being a closeted bully who focuses all his attention on Eric…
1. Omar, Patrick and Ander – Elite
Elite is another great show for LGBTQ representation.
Both Ander and Omar are in the closet to start with and connect with each other through headless torso pics online. Omar has an especially troubling time being from a relatively strict Muslim family. With all those barriers in place, their first gay kiss is iconic indeed, but…..
Later in the series they meet Patrick who interests both Omar and Ander, and yes, we are finishing this list with a super hot threeway gay kiss.
For more LGBTQ movies and TV check out: