ONTD Original: Best (and worst) Lesbian and Bi TV Kisses
We've all been there. You NEED a cute lady romance to brighten your tragic day, but you're pretty sure you've already watched all six of them. You ask yourself 'Should I give Jenny's Wedding a shot?' And that answer is no. But don't worry ONTD. We've selected the best (and worst because we don't know what you're into) TV lesbian kisses to help brighten your day or make your next viewing decision easier.
Best “Yess, bait us!!” kiss: Gal Gadot and Kate McKinnon on SNL
We all knew what this kiss was when it aired, and we were here for it. Gal went on SNL like
and we were very appreciative. Kate is living the dream.
Best ‘Awful People’ kiss: Alex and Piper shower kiss
Alex and Piper are #questionable people at best, but you can't deny they're cute together. The 'girlfriends' kiss scene from Season 3 proves it (although we didn't link that scene because the kiss kinda sucked we'll be honest). And maybe they are awful, but isn't that what we should be rooting for? For all the awful people to find love with other awfuls, sparing the rest of us. So let's remember our terrible exes who tried to make us jealous on instagram and wish they find terrible love like Alex and Piper.
[NSFW]
Best “Wow, um, okay, is she hot now?” kiss: Kstew and Vanessa Bayer Totinos kiss
It feels like just yesterday KStew was off licking armpits with Robert Pattinson and awkwardly pulling on her hair. Well now the hair is gone and Kristen is...hot? This is hotly debated on ONTD, but we'll just say that *hot or not* this SNL skit worked. Like with Gal, SNL knew their audience. Is SNL still garbage? Yes. But did we re-watch this a few times? That's our business!
Best "don't get too comfortable I have issues" kiss: Any Carmen and Shane kiss
Some people hate Shane even though deep down she's a nice person who tries her best and comparing her to people we know irl can be hurtful. But feelings about Shane aside, this literal hot mess had some 'best moments' with Carmen, even though we all knew they were doomed.
(no wonder every lesbian we know wants to be a DJ)
Best kiss your lesbian aunt stans but you’re not super into: Callie and Arizona bathroom kiss
If you're a 30 year-old lesbian/bi girl you probably stan Calzona. While Callie's romance with George was tragic, and her romance with Erica was tragic adjacent, Calzona was the best lesbian couple on TV for a few years before Shonda ruined them, and it all started here in this bathroom. Neither character has truly recovered since Peyton from OTH broke them up, but let's revisit the good times.
Best kiss Tumblr dot com will never let you forget: Clexa
I've never seen The 100, but I follow women's soccer fans so obviously that means I've seen the Clexa love scene about 8000x times on tumblr. So out of solidarity for our fellow Pinoe fans let's pour one out for Clexa and #CancelThe100.
Best kiss Tumblr dot com (adults with water bills edition) will never let you forget: Root and Shaw
The fact that Person of Interest was on CBS meant one thing for most of us: “I ain’t watching that”. The allure of Sarah Shahi wasn’t enough. The allure of nerdgasm inducing Amy Acker wasn’t enough. It wasn’t until I heard they’re gay for each other that I tuned in. The L.B. gals(tm) everywhere were simultaneously shooketh when what we thought was a total bait “they’re both straight” flirty friendship turned into true love with their first kiss. The writers then proved they know their audience when Shaw dreamed up the hottest reunion the old white men watching CBS will ever see.
[NSFW]
Best "How dare you Netflix" kiss: Jean-Diane and Sidney jaywalker kiss
We're all still too furious to write this section. But Naomi's career did not die for this.
Best kiss that redeemed a show from the fiery pits of lesbian hell: everything Max and Anne
Lezbi honest, season 1 of Black Sails was messy as hell. For a while we were skeptical about whether the lesbian sex was supposed to serve as anything other than titillation for the men, especially since the show was produced by Michael Bay. (It didn't help that Eleanor had the bad sense to go from Max to V*ne.) The show's one gay woc character also faced a ton of sexualized violence in season 1. So overall it was not a fun time for Black Sails' LB fans. Fortunately the showrunners listened to the criticism and redeemed themselves in the later seasons, giving us Maxanne and letting their kisses make us momentarily forget that V**e existed. Michael Bay can still go [redacted], though, hopefully the way V*** did.
Most heartwarming kiss: Kat and Adena
Let be real, when you’re not straight you scrape the bottom of the barrel for representation. This is coming from someone who watched Jenny’s Wedding for gayness, twice! Needless to say, when we heard the ABC Family was getting a new Lesbian romance in The Bold Type WE WERE THERE. And we weren’t left disappointed because this corny ass show melts our hearts and so does perpetual mess Kadena. When Kat admitted she was into Adena, and Adena went for it...phew, bless this mess tbh. SPOILER: Confusion about sexuality, a boring girlfriend in the way, long distance, sex in airport lounges- this is a normal Lesbian Tuesday. Yes, we can! (ship it). #ImWithKadena.
Best “I’m so desperate for lesbians I’m watching Youtube shows” kiss: Carmilla aka the Lesbian Vampire
Let's be real, we lesbians and bi’s alike are so desperate for something new we’ve resorted to watching Z-list actors on Youtube. Surprisingly, this little webseries that could touched our gay hearts and Carmilla & Co rode the coat tails of this budget production into 3 seasons AND a literal movie. Yeah, we lesbians work hard for our money and we'll spend it on whatever we want! And if that means making our own flop movies we pay for twice then so be it. Check your Twilight privilege.
Kiss we give a pass because it was like 2004: Ashley and the blonde from South of Nowhere 'Praying Mantis' kiss
They tried their best so we'll keep it cute. Great nightgowns, beautiful nightgowns.
Worst kiss we're obligated to include here out of respect to lesbian tv history: Willow and Tara
Any list about lesbian television kisses has to give a shout-out to Willow and Tara on Buffy. Willow was kind of really a horrible person, but even though she sucked and this kiss was A CHOICE, this was also one of the first lesbian main characters/kiss on a primetime teen show and for a while she was all we had. Many babydykes cut their teeth on Willow/Tara...why does hindsight ruin everything? #freetara #killjoss #killxandereventhothishasnothingtodowhim #season6doesntexist
Worst Bait: Betty and Veronica (R*verdale)
Piggybacking off Zyruranger’s expose of the face pressing of kevin/joaquin on Riverdale, let’s talk about the first gay kiss they showed on Riverdale. Betty/Veronica shared a titillating first and last kiss soon after meeting to shock and awe the audience at cheerleading tryouts. It’s never been mentioned again and there are no lesbian characters on the show, because as has been proven over and over, THE CW THINKS LESBIANS ARE A JOKE. Haha 😭
We don't care what anyone says Betty was into it! And now we're stuck with bughead?!
Worst kiss: Emily and Alison confined to bedrest kiss
This young couple kisses in bed like they’re in Michael Haneke’s Amour. Crazy, unhealthy history aside, this ‘hold me one last time Martha’ kiss just about put us to sleep. This is Shay Mitchell, sis! You don't just lie like a dead fish when Shay kisses you. LGBT card revoked. Expect your straight membership to come in the mail in 7-10 business days. We cannot endorse this.
Best "longterm #goals for the youth to look up to" kiss (aka Best Kiss runner up): Lena and Stef
Let's face it, Stef and Lena would be everyone's OTP and the #1 lesbian couple of all time if it weren't for the fact they have some of the most annoying kids on the planet and for whatever reason the tweens who watch ABC family love them. The show might be bearable if they killed Brandon off but in the meantime we will all have to settle for subjecting ourselves to whiny brats with no common sense for one of the few depictions on television of a loving, (mostly) stable married lesbian couple.
Best "Turn in your gay card if you dont stan" kiss (aka Best Kiss): Yorkie and Kelly
Yorkie and Kelly are the hands down best couple in TV history. When Yorkie said "You have to show me" to Kelly we all needed to be resuscitated. The passion, the adorableness, the art- you should already want to re-watch. If you don't support them...I just don't know. Honestly turn in your Subaru, flannel and cats because we are just done here.
Honorary runner up because it transcends all media: Carol
SOURCES: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
This post was made possible by kimsungkyu, imnotasquirrel, lyricalharmony, and lolbye. Remember we are unpaid volunteers so put any fave TV kisses we missed in the comments!
Best “Yess, bait us!!” kiss: Gal Gadot and Kate McKinnon on SNL
We all knew what this kiss was when it aired, and we were here for it. Gal went on SNL like

and we were very appreciative. Kate is living the dream.
Click to viewBest ‘Awful People’ kiss: Alex and Piper shower kiss
Alex and Piper are #questionable people at best, but you can't deny they're cute together. The 'girlfriends' kiss scene from Season 3 proves it (although we didn't link that scene because the kiss kinda sucked we'll be honest). And maybe they are awful, but isn't that what we should be rooting for? For all the awful people to find love with other awfuls, sparing the rest of us. So let's remember our terrible exes who tried to make us jealous on instagram and wish they find terrible love like Alex and Piper.
[NSFW]
Best “Wow, um, okay, is she hot now?” kiss: Kstew and Vanessa Bayer Totinos kiss
It feels like just yesterday KStew was off licking armpits with Robert Pattinson and awkwardly pulling on her hair. Well now the hair is gone and Kristen is...hot? This is hotly debated on ONTD, but we'll just say that *hot or not* this SNL skit worked. Like with Gal, SNL knew their audience. Is SNL still garbage? Yes. But did we re-watch this a few times? That's our business!
Best "don't get too comfortable I have issues" kiss: Any Carmen and Shane kiss
Some people hate Shane even though deep down she's a nice person who tries her best and comparing her to people we know irl can be hurtful. But feelings about Shane aside, this literal hot mess had some 'best moments' with Carmen, even though we all knew they were doomed.
(no wonder every lesbian we know wants to be a DJ)
Best kiss your lesbian aunt stans but you’re not super into: Callie and Arizona bathroom kiss
If you're a 30 year-old lesbian/bi girl you probably stan Calzona. While Callie's romance with George was tragic, and her romance with Erica was tragic adjacent, Calzona was the best lesbian couple on TV for a few years before Shonda ruined them, and it all started here in this bathroom. Neither character has truly recovered since Peyton from OTH broke them up, but let's revisit the good times.
Best kiss Tumblr dot com will never let you forget: Clexa
I've never seen The 100, but I follow women's soccer fans so obviously that means I've seen the Clexa love scene about 8000x times on tumblr. So out of solidarity for our fellow Pinoe fans let's pour one out for Clexa and #CancelThe100.
Best kiss Tumblr dot com (adults with water bills edition) will never let you forget: Root and Shaw
The fact that Person of Interest was on CBS meant one thing for most of us: “I ain’t watching that”. The allure of Sarah Shahi wasn’t enough. The allure of nerdgasm inducing Amy Acker wasn’t enough. It wasn’t until I heard they’re gay for each other that I tuned in. The L.B. gals(tm) everywhere were simultaneously shooketh when what we thought was a total bait “they’re both straight” flirty friendship turned into true love with their first kiss. The writers then proved they know their audience when Shaw dreamed up the hottest reunion the old white men watching CBS will ever see.
[NSFW]
Best "How dare you Netflix" kiss: Jean-Diane and Sidney jaywalker kiss
We're all still too furious to write this section. But Naomi's career did not die for this.
Best kiss that redeemed a show from the fiery pits of lesbian hell: everything Max and Anne
Lezbi honest, season 1 of Black Sails was messy as hell. For a while we were skeptical about whether the lesbian sex was supposed to serve as anything other than titillation for the men, especially since the show was produced by Michael Bay. (It didn't help that Eleanor had the bad sense to go from Max to V*ne.) The show's one gay woc character also faced a ton of sexualized violence in season 1. So overall it was not a fun time for Black Sails' LB fans. Fortunately the showrunners listened to the criticism and redeemed themselves in the later seasons, giving us Maxanne and letting their kisses make us momentarily forget that V**e existed. Michael Bay can still go [redacted], though, hopefully the way V*** did.
Most heartwarming kiss: Kat and Adena
Let be real, when you’re not straight you scrape the bottom of the barrel for representation. This is coming from someone who watched Jenny’s Wedding for gayness, twice! Needless to say, when we heard the ABC Family was getting a new Lesbian romance in The Bold Type WE WERE THERE. And we weren’t left disappointed because this corny ass show melts our hearts and so does perpetual mess Kadena. When Kat admitted she was into Adena, and Adena went for it...phew, bless this mess tbh. SPOILER: Confusion about sexuality, a boring girlfriend in the way, long distance, sex in airport lounges- this is a normal Lesbian Tuesday. Yes, we can! (ship it). #ImWithKadena.
Best “I’m so desperate for lesbians I’m watching Youtube shows” kiss: Carmilla aka the Lesbian Vampire
Let's be real, we lesbians and bi’s alike are so desperate for something new we’ve resorted to watching Z-list actors on Youtube. Surprisingly, this little webseries that could touched our gay hearts and Carmilla & Co rode the coat tails of this budget production into 3 seasons AND a literal movie. Yeah, we lesbians work hard for our money and we'll spend it on whatever we want! And if that means making our own flop movies we pay for twice then so be it. Check your Twilight privilege.
Kiss we give a pass because it was like 2004: Ashley and the blonde from South of Nowhere 'Praying Mantis' kiss
They tried their best so we'll keep it cute. Great nightgowns, beautiful nightgowns.
Worst kiss we're obligated to include here out of respect to lesbian tv history: Willow and Tara
Any list about lesbian television kisses has to give a shout-out to Willow and Tara on Buffy. Willow was kind of really a horrible person, but even though she sucked and this kiss was A CHOICE, this was also one of the first lesbian main characters/kiss on a primetime teen show and for a while she was all we had. Many babydykes cut their teeth on Willow/Tara...why does hindsight ruin everything? #freetara #killjoss #killxandereventhothishasnothingtodowhim #season6doesntexist
Worst Bait: Betty and Veronica (R*verdale)
Piggybacking off Zyruranger’s expose of the face pressing of kevin/joaquin on Riverdale, let’s talk about the first gay kiss they showed on Riverdale. Betty/Veronica shared a titillating first and last kiss soon after meeting to shock and awe the audience at cheerleading tryouts. It’s never been mentioned again and there are no lesbian characters on the show, because as has been proven over and over, THE CW THINKS LESBIANS ARE A JOKE. Haha 😭
We don't care what anyone says Betty was into it! And now we're stuck with bughead?!
Worst kiss: Emily and Alison confined to bedrest kiss
This young couple kisses in bed like they’re in Michael Haneke’s Amour. Crazy, unhealthy history aside, this ‘hold me one last time Martha’ kiss just about put us to sleep. This is Shay Mitchell, sis! You don't just lie like a dead fish when Shay kisses you. LGBT card revoked. Expect your straight membership to come in the mail in 7-10 business days. We cannot endorse this.
Best "longterm #goals for the youth to look up to" kiss (aka Best Kiss runner up): Lena and Stef
Let's face it, Stef and Lena would be everyone's OTP and the #1 lesbian couple of all time if it weren't for the fact they have some of the most annoying kids on the planet and for whatever reason the tweens who watch ABC family love them. The show might be bearable if they killed Brandon off but in the meantime we will all have to settle for subjecting ourselves to whiny brats with no common sense for one of the few depictions on television of a loving, (mostly) stable married lesbian couple.
Best "Turn in your gay card if you dont stan" kiss (aka Best Kiss): Yorkie and Kelly
Yorkie and Kelly are the hands down best couple in TV history. When Yorkie said "You have to show me" to Kelly we all needed to be resuscitated. The passion, the adorableness, the art- you should already want to re-watch. If you don't support them...I just don't know. Honestly turn in your Subaru, flannel and cats because we are just done here.
Honorary runner up because it transcends all media: Carol
SOURCES: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
This post was made possible by kimsungkyu, imnotasquirrel, lyricalharmony, and lolbye. Remember we are unpaid volunteers so put any fave TV kisses we missed in the comments!