If you’re a gay man of a certain age, you probably remember the first time you saw two men kiss on TV. It happened so rarely that you could have marked it on the calendar.
We’ve come a long way since then. In 1987, a kiss on the forehead had British tabloids in an uproar. In 2025, a hockey romance about two secret lovers became one of the biggest shows on HBO Max.
These are the 15 best gay kiss scenes on TV: the ones that made history, broke our hearts, or made us hit rewind. Wherever the network or studio has posted the scene on YouTube, it’s right here in the list, so you can watch the kiss without going hunting for it.
We’re sticking to TV. The movies fought their own battles, from the night Superman kissed a man to Ryan Phillippe’s vanishing kiss.
1. Will & Grace (2000): The Kiss That Crashed The Today Show
Before Dawson’s Creek made history, Jack McFarland made a scene.
In “Acting Out,” which aired on NBC on February 22, 2000, Jack (Sean Hayes) is glued to his favorite sitcom, waiting for its first kiss between two men. At the big moment, the camera cuts to the fireplace.
Jack and Will (Eric McCormack) storm NBC to complain, and a network executive tells them, “you will never see two gay men kissing on network television.” Jack’s response is pure Jack: “It’s a gay network! For god’s sake, the symbol is a peacock!”
So they take their protest to the Today show crowd at Rockefeller Plaza. With Al Roker standing right there and the cameras rolling, Will kisses Jack on live TV.
It’s played for laughs, and it’s a kiss between friends, not lovers. It was also a jab at NBC that aired on NBC, three months before the kiss most people remember as TV’s first. As Eric later put it, “It was Will and Jack, on purpose, kissing each other in order to make a point.”
Where to watch: Hulu, or buy it on Prime Video.
2. Fellow Travelers (2023): A Kiss Behind A Broken Lock
Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey had their chemistry read over Zoom. Creator Ron Nyswaner says their chemistry read happened with Jonathan in London and Matt in the US, “continents apart on Zoom pretending to be sitting on a park bench next to each other.”
Clearly, it worked.
In Showtime’s limited series, based on Thomas Mallon‘s novel, Matt plays Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller, a smooth State Department operator. Jonathan is Tim Laughlin, a devout young idealist who falls for him in 1950s Washington, at the height of the Lavender Scare, when gay men were being purged from government jobs.
Their first kiss, in Episode 1, comes after Tim admits he’s scared of Hawk, and then tells him the lock on his door is broken. In 1950s Washington, two men behind a door that doesn’t lock could lose everything.
The series picked up three Emmy nominations, a Peabody and the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The two leads came away close friends. “We are bonded for life, for sure, as friends after having gone through this together,” Matt said.
The clip below is Showtime’s 14-minute cut of Hawk and Tim’s love story; the kiss arrives a little over four minutes in.
Where to watch: Paramount+ (the Premium plan with Showtime), or buy it on Prime Video.
3. Heartstopper (2022): The Kiss In The Rain
You knew this one was coming.
Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) actually have two famous first-season kisses, and people mix them up all the time. The first comes at the end of Episode 3, in a quiet room at a party: “Would you kiss me?” “Yeah.”
The second, the one on every fan edit, comes early in Episode 4, when Charlie runs out into the rain to kiss Nick under an umbrella. Fun fact: because the series was filmed out of order, the rain kiss was the first kiss the two actors shot. Netflix used about eight rain machines on a real residential street, with an intimacy coordinator on set.
For many of us who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, watching Nick and Charlie comes with a bittersweet twinge. Where was this show when we were 16? Better late than never.
The story wrapped up in July 2026 with the movie Heartstopper Forever, so you can now watch it from the first “Hi” to the very end. Here’s that first kiss from Episode 3, which was shortlisted for TV Moment of the Year at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Awards:
Where to watch: Netflix (all three seasons and the movie).
4. EastEnders (1987 And 1989): The Forehead Kiss That Shocked Britain
In November 1987, Colin Russell (Michael Cashman) kissed his boyfriend Barry (Gary Hailes) on the forehead.
That’s it. A forehead.
It drew a then-record number of complaints. The tabloids nicknamed the show “EastBenders,” and questions were asked in Parliament.
The show didn’t back down. In January 1989, Colin and his new boyfriend Guido (Nicholas Donovan) shared the first mouth-to-mouth gay kiss on a British soap, watched by an estimated 20 million people. A young Piers Morgan attacked it in The Sun, in a piece he publicly apologized for many years later.
Michael, meanwhile, co-founded the LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall while he was still on the show, and went on to the European Parliament and the House of Lords. Not bad for the man behind the most controversial forehead kiss in British history.
Where to watch: the 1980s episodes aren’t streaming in the US (BritBox only carries recent seasons), so the BBC’s own clip above is your best bet.
5. Elite (2018): Omar And Ander
Netflix’s Spanish teen drama is about murder, money and impossibly good-looking students. In the middle of all that sits one of TV’s sweetest gay romances.
Omar (Omar Ayuso) is the closeted son of a strict Muslim family, and Ander (Arón Piper) is one of the rich kids at the exclusive Las Encinas school. They first kiss in Episode 2, and by Episode 4 they’re caught making out at a winery during a school charity event.
Fans named them “Omander,” and one of their best-known scenes plays out on a bridge over Madrid’s Valmayor Reservoir. In 2018, i-D took the two actors back to that same bridge for a reunion photo shoot.
Under all the glossy chaos, Omar’s story is the one that lands: a gay son terrified of what his strict father will do if he finds out. And yes, it doesn’t hurt that both actors are ridiculously handsome.
Where to watch: Netflix.
6. Dawson’s Creek (2000): The Kiss A Network Fought
On May 24, 2000, in the Season 3 finale “True Love,” Jack McPhee (Kerr Smith) kissed Ethan (Adam Kaufman). Yes, the same episode that gave the world the “Crying Dawson” meme.
It’s widely cited as the first romantic, or “passionate,” kiss between two men on US primetime TV, and it almost didn’t happen.
Writer Greg Berlanti, who had just taken over the show, had to fight The WB for it. The network reportedly wanted the kiss “filmed across the street from a very, very wide shot,” and Greg reportedly threatened to quit. In his own words, he told the executives: “If I run this show, you have to let me do this.”
He got his kiss. Greg went on to become one of TV’s most powerful producers and to direct Love, Simon.
Kerr has recalled filming while protesters gathered outside: “There was a brick wall that separated me, eating my lunch, from a crowd of people that were angry as hell.”
For plenty of us who were teenagers in 2000, Jack was it: the only gay kid on our TV screens.
Where to watch: Hulu, or free with ads on Tubi. You can also buy it on Prime Video.
7. The Wire (2002): Omar’s Unscripted Kiss
Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) was the most feared man in Baltimore: a shotgun-carrying stick-up artist who robbed drug dealers for a living. He was also openly gay, and the show never treated it as a twist.
His kiss with his boyfriend Brandon (Michael Kevin Darnall) in Season 1 wasn’t in the script. Williams improvised it.
He later wrote in his memoir that when he went in for the kiss, “everyone stopped what they were doing and went slack-jawed. Twenty years ago, men – especially men of color – were not kissing on television. I don’t mean it was rare; I mean it did not happen.” The director asked them to do it again.
He told NPR why he did it: two men kiss, then Omar loads his shotgun to go hunting. “It just was the ultimate contrast to me.”
HBO hasn’t posted this scene on YouTube, so you’ll need the show itself, which is worth watching anyway.
Where to watch: HBO Max, or buy it on Prime Video.
8. Young Royals (2021): The Prince And The Scholarship Boy
A Swedish prince falls for a scholarship student at his elite boarding school. It sounds like fan fiction, and it became one of the best gay love stories Netflix ever made.
Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding) and Simon (Omar Rudberg) first kiss in Episode 2, slipping away from movie night while everyone else is distracted. “The first kiss is iconic,” Omar Rudberg has said. “I love the first kiss, it is so intimate and so beautiful.”
Over three seasons (2021-2024), the show kept asking one question: can a future king be openly in love with a boy? The final episode gives an answer that was worth the wait.
Keep an eye on Edvin: he joins Heated Rivalry season 2 as Luca Haas. The clip below is Netflix’s own upload of the show’s final scene, so skip it if you haven’t finished the show yet.
Where to watch: Netflix.
9. As The World Turns (2007): Daytime’s First Gay Male Kiss
Soap operas used to be where gay storylines went to die. In 1989, As the World Turns itself wrote out a gay character after protests from religious groups.
Then came Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) and Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann). On August 17, 2007, Luke was helping Noah with his tie before a lunch with Noah’s father and Noah’s girlfriend, and Noah kissed him.
It was the first gay male kiss on American daytime TV. Fans called the couple “Nuke,” and the kiss became a YouTube hit, with more than a million views within months, back when that was a very big deal.
“There aren’t many gay characters on daytime,” Jake said at the time. “It means a lot to know that this story is part of something.”
Think about who watched daytime soaps in 2007: moms, grandmothers, people home in the afternoon. This kiss went straight into their living rooms.
Where to watch: As the World Turns isn’t streaming in the US, so CBS’s own clip above is the way to see it.
10. Glee (2011): Kurt And Blaine
Glee gave Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) his first kiss in the worst possible way: from his closeted bully, Dave Karofsky (Max Adler), in the November 2010 episode “Never Been Kissed.”
So when his real first kiss came, it felt like justice. In “Original Song” (March 15, 2011), Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) falls for Kurt after hearing him sing Blackbird as a tribute to the Warblers’ late canary, and kisses him.
Chris kept it cheeky at the time: “I don’t kiss and tell, unless it’s on camera.”
For a generation of teenagers, “Klaine” was the first gay couple they rooted for on network TV. For the rest of us, it was the high school romance we never got, complete with show tunes.
Fox hasn’t posted the kiss scene on its official channel, so you’ll have to stream the episode (Season 2, Episode 16).
Where to watch: Disney+ and Hulu, or buy it on Prime Video.
11. Queer As Folk (2001): Brian At The Prom
Brian Kinney (Gale Harold) didn’t do romance. That’s exactly why the Season 1 finale still stings.
Brian turns up at Justin Taylor’s (Randy Harrison) high school prom, dances with him in front of everyone, and kisses him. It’s the most openly romantic thing Brian has done all season.
Then, in the parking garage, a homophobic classmate attacks Justin with a baseball bat. One minute we’re watching pure joy, the next we’re watching every gay man’s nightmare. Twenty-five years later, it still hits like a punch to the gut.
Wondering what Brian, Justin and the rest of the gang look like today? Here’s where the men of Queer as Folk are now.
Where to watch: Paramount+ (Premium plan), or free with ads on Pluto TV. You can also buy it on Prime Video.
12. Our Flag Means Death (2022): Pirates In Love
Who knew 18th-century pirates could be so romantic?
Gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Ed, better known as Blackbeard (Taika Waititi), finally kiss in Episode 9, “Act of Grace,” after Ed admits, “I reckon what makes Ed happy is you.”
Creator David Jenkins saw the love story in the history books almost immediately: “I first started reading about Stede and how he befriended Blackbeard and we don’t know why. Very quickly, it was like, ‘Oh, it’s a romance’.”
Two grown men falling softly, awkwardly in love is still rare on TV, and fans loved it fiercely. When Max canceled the show after two seasons in January 2024, they answered with a Times Square billboard and a petition signed by more than 85,000 people.
Max hasn’t posted the kiss itself on YouTube, so you’ll need Season 1, Episode 9 for this one.
Where to watch: HBO Max.
13. The Last Of Us (2023): Bill And Frank
I don’t usually cry during post-apocalyptic zombie shows. This episode got me anyway.
In Episode 3, “Long, Long Time” (January 29, 2023), lone survivalist Bill (Nick Offerman) lets a stranger, Frank (Murray Bartlett), into his fortified town. Frank sits down at Bill’s piano, Bill sings Linda Ronstadt‘s Long Long Time, and Frank kisses him.
In the video game, their relationship is only hinted at. The show turned it into a love story spanning 16 years, told in a single episode.
“There was chemistry there, which was sort of charged with what we knew we were about to do,” Murray said. Offerman won an Emmy for the role.
Where to watch: HBO Max, or buy it on Prime Video.
14. Schitt’s Creek (2020): David And Patrick’s Wedding
David Rose (Dan Levy) and Patrick Brewer (Noah Reid) first kissed in a parked car on David’s birthday, in the Season 3 episode “Grad Night” (April 2017). Patrick, a little dazed: “I’ve never done that before with a guy.”
Three seasons later, in the series finale “Happy Ending” (April 7, 2020), Moira (Catherine O’Hara, in a look we won’t spoil) married them: “I now pronounce you husband and husband.”
Nobody in Schitt’s Creek ever gives David and Patrick grief for being gay. For a lot of viewers, that was the fantasy. When the final season’s billboard showed David and Patrick kissing, Dan’s response was: “F*ck yes we did.”
That season then swept all seven major comedy categories at the 2020 Emmys, the first comedy ever to do so.
The clip below is the show’s own 21-minute cut of their love story. The first kiss is at 3:51 and the wedding kiss at 20:33.
Where to watch: Hulu and HBO Max, or buy it on Prime Video.
15. Heated Rivalry (2025): The Kiss On The Ice
And then came Heated Rivalry.
Crave’s hockey romance, streaming on HBO Max in the US since November 28, 2025, follows rival stars Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) through years of secret hookups. Their first kiss comes in the very first episode, in a hotel room, and it only gets more complicated from there.
But the kiss everybody talks about isn’t theirs.
In Episode 5, “I’ll Believe in Anything,” veteran star Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) wins the cup, waves his boyfriend Kip (Robbie G.K.) down onto the ice, and kisses him in front of the whole arena and a live TV audience. Watching from home, Ilya picks up the phone and tells Shane: “I’m coming to the cottage.”
“He can’t believe it himself, and yet he falls into it,” François said of Scott. Ironically, he’s also said a streamer that had the project earlier wanted “No kissing until episode five.” Creator Jacob Tierney made the show in Canada instead, and the kissing starts long before episode five. (While you’re here, fans keep finding François’s bi love triangle video, too.)
After the finale, HBO Max said more than 10.6 million US viewers had watched, making it the most-watched acquired scripted series in its history. It also won a Peabody, and season 2 is due in spring 2027.
In 1987, a kiss on the forehead got questions asked in Parliament. Thirty-eight years later, TV’s most-talked-about gay kiss happened in the middle of a hockey rink.
Where to watch: HBO Max, or buy it on Prime Video.