The 5 Best Shows To Watch During Pride Month

June — the month for sunshine, summer, and all of the queer energy you can get — is finally here. Pride month arrived, and it's time to celebrate while uplifting and supporting members of the LGBTQ+ community. This is a time to spread positivity, laughter, and good times. And there's no shortage of ways to get Pride-full all month long. 

While you'll likely delegate your Pride month festivities to getting out on the streets and joining in a parade in your finest rainbow attire, there's a lot more you can do to educate yourself and celebrate Pride — and we're not just talking about hitting up a drag brunch. Be an ally, show your support and love for one of the most loving communities out there, and find ways to incorporate LGBTQ+ stories into your life this month and every month after it, per Thomson Reuters. 

Representation is integral to the LGBTQ+ community. Thankfully, we live in a day and age where LGBTQ+ love and stories are celebrated and widely available. So, maybe instead of waiting for a Pride parade, you can get the festivities started from the comfort of your couch by watching some hilarious, touching, and hard-hitting TV shows that uplift and shine a spotlight on LGTBQ+ stories. 

Here are a few shows that are perfect to watch during Pride month and all year round.

It's only right to kick off this list with the most buzz-worthy queer love story that Netflix blessed us with this year. To call it "possibly the loveliest show on TV" — as The Guardian has — still feels like an understatement. Based on the graphic novels by Alice Osemen, "Heartstopper" follows the story of one precious angel of a 15-year-old who is the only openly gay student attending a British all-boys school. Things get all the more complicated when he begins to fall for the boy one of his friends deems "the straightest person I've ever seen." 

Riddled with the ups and downs of confronting sexuality and attempting to figure feelings out, the show offers some of the most touching moments and heartwarming scenes Netflix has arguably ever produced. The young cast put on a compelling performance; each side character and friend has their own complexities and journeys as they open up about their sexuality. 

USA Today put it best when they said, "It is a distillation of happiness so complete it is hard not to fall in love with it."  

The countless "Glee" cover songs aren't the only things that have stuck around with fans of the show. The truth is, for today's generation "Glee" was a monumental show that showcased relatable and adorable LGTBQ+ high school stories. From Kurt Hummel to Brittany Pierce and Santana Lopez's unexpected love story that everyone was rooting for, the talented cast of "Glee" covered an array of hard-hitting coming-out storylines as well as some iconically gay musical numbers, per Pink News.

"Glee" was way ahead of the curve in terms of representation. The show managed to highlight everything from disability to people of color, and it seemed liket there was a cast member who represented just about every letter within the LGBTQ+ acronym. The best part is they shed some light on more serious storylines and difficulties the characters went through with their sexuality, but they still managed to keep things light and funny.  

After coming off Netflix earlier this year, "Glee" just returned to streaming platforms this month, according to Deadline.

While FX's "Pose" doesn't skimp on glamour and hilarious reads, it serves a much more important role as one of the more serious shows on this list. "Pose" is in a league of its own in terms of representation as it follows the lives of Black and Latinx members of the LGBTQ+ community in the midst of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City. The diverse cast actually has the distinction of featuring the most trans actors in scripted-TV history, per The Guardian.

Co-creator Ryan Murphy nailed it yet again with this hard-hitting show that doesn't dally around with the usual coming-out storylines that LGBTQ+ TV shows typically explore. Rather, it tackles a serious, dark time in LGBTQ+ history while highlighting how the AIDs crisis affected the community and the lack of government response to it. Of course, this doesn't mean the show doesn't have its own flair for amazing musical performances, drag glamour, and looks that will leave you in awe.

Is this an odd title to find listed in this article? It may seem like it, but if you're craving a throwback rewatch during Pride month then nothing quite matches the power that "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" had. Not only has it become an LGBTQ+ fan-favorite TV show, but the impact of Willow falling in love with another witch named Tara earns this show a spot on our list. 

Some fans have even gone so far as to theorize that Buffy's journey herself is an ode to having to hide your identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, per Digital Spy. Regardless of the why, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" is undeniably a treasure trove of iconic queerness.

Of course, this list wouldn't be complete without the iconic and ultimate TV show to watch during Pride month: "RuPaul's Drag Race." If the parade of memes and quotable moments haven't been enough to get you to tune in to watch RuPaul and her fellow queens in action, then heed this article as your sign to watch it ASAP. There's a reason the show is as iconically legendary as it is. 

After all, "RPDR" highlights the art-form behind drag and sends a group of unmatched legends (each sassier than the last) into a heated competition filled with the most hilarious challenges you'll ever come across. Ah, to be able to experience the magic that is "The Snatch Game" for the first time again. As Vanity Fair put it, "There has never been a show like it." 

You don't have to be into the drag scene to get into this gold. "RuPaul's Drag Race" isn't all biting reads and hilarious feuds; you also get to watch a group of unique and empowering individuals share their stories and struggles. It manages to pull at your heartstrings as well as leave you in stitches.