Best of 2018: Bisexuals on TV

When actress Sara Ramirez came out earlier this year, it was clear she had poured her own experiences as a bi woman into her groundbreaking bisexual roles on Grey's Anatomy and Madam Secretary. She's not alone: Stephanie Beatriz did the same with Brooklyn Nine-Nine. So many real people came out as bi (or pan, or in the case of Janelle Monae, a "free-ass motherfucker") in Hollywood or on TV this year, we may have finally turned the tide on the tired tropes and cliches that have followed bisexual characters for so long.

Black Lightning's Grace Choi, Jane the Virgin's Petra Solano, Legends of Tomorrow's Sara Lance, and Queen Sugar's Nova Bordelon all add to the representation, but two male characters are worth special attention: Darryl Whitefeather, played expertly by Pete Gardner, is happily and unapologetically bi (in song!) on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, while Daniel Levy, co-creator and star on Schitt's Creek, offers up bisexual/pansexual town scion, David Rose.

Even better, Big Mouth, the Netflix series that previously offered up a very mature perspective on queer teens with the "Am I Gay?" episode, let a major character (the magic-loving Armenian-American kid, Jay) come out as bisexual. And horny animated furniture helps him understand that liking girls and boys doesn't need to be an either/or situation.

Still, it may be Desiree Akhavan whose new Hulu series, The Bisexual, was most exciting this winter. Akhavan is best known as the Iranian-American writer and director of the Miseducation of Cameron Post, the hit 2018 indie in which Chloe Grace Moretz is sent to a gay conversion therapy camp. The Bisexual follows a formerly lesbian-identified woman who breaks up with her girlfriend of 10 years and struggles with her newfound bisexuality, dating both women and men and navigating life with a quirky new (male) roommate. The series is wonderfully British in its comedy but it tackles many myths and truths about being a bi woman in America as well.