The inclusion ofLGBTQ+characters has become more prevalent in media as time goes on, and while some see this as a quickening race of inclusion, others look at it as making up for time lost to Will Hays' Hollywood Production Code. This code would last for over 30 years, and while some of the rules it had placed on cinema could be argued as appropriate, restrictions were placed on any form of same-sex relationships and signs of non-gender-conforming behavior.
Update June 09, 2025: In honor of Halloween, this article has been updated with even more horror films with great LGBTQ+ representation.
While filmmakers were able to sneak some LGBTQ+ characters into their films, it would usually come at the cost of demonizing the characters or killing them off swiftly. This would prove to be especially true inhorror films. For this list, we will focus on more modern characters that stand as icons for the modern-day audience and help show how much the representation of LGBTQ+ characters in the horror genre has changed.
11Jordan Lewis - They/Them (2022)
John Logan’s 2022 slasherThey/Themcertainly isn’t one of the best horror films you’re likely to see. However, with its positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters, its heart is certainly in the right place. The Peacock Original revolves around a group of members from the LGBTQ+ community attending a conversion camp, where they undergo several rounds of psychological therapy while being killed off one by one. The film is essentially a satire of such harsh conversion techniques and a critique of the attitude that gayness can be cured.
The movie’s protagonist is Jordan Lewis, a trans person who identifies as non-binary and is played by Theo Germaine. Jordan calls out the camp’s lack of accommodation for people who identify as neither male nor female and are only at the camp to follow through on a deal they made with their parents before they legally emancipated themselves. Strong and self-assured, despite the film’s tone and messaging being rather muddled, Jordan is a positive representation of a trans/non-binary person.
10May Dove Canady - May (2002)
Directed by Lucky McKee, 2002 psychological horrorMayfollows the titular character, a socially awkward and emotionally tormented woman, as she endeavors to connect with the people in her life. However, her idea of making new friends turns out to be very literal.
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May is a lost and traumatized soul, having been ostracized as a child for having a lazy eye. For most of her life, her only true friend was a doll named Suzie, which she still possesses. After breaking up with the boy she has been dating, and after catching the lesbian colleague she has feelings for in bed with another woman, May begins to develop delusions that Suzie is talking to her. She then sets about making a new friend from the body parts of the people in her life. Sure, May is creepy, violent, and overall not a great person. Nevertheless, it’s easy to empathize with her loneliness and her struggles to be accepted by people, both things many LGBTQ+ people will relate to.
9Mitch - ParaNorman (2012)
ParaNorman(2012) follows the story of Norman, a young medium ostracized from the town for his behavior. During the following misadventures, audiences are introduced to Mitch, a young man to whom Norman’s older sister Courtney is attracted. The viewer gets to watch as Courtney’s attraction grows, seeing Mitch as the archetypal jock, working out and being fascinated with his car.
By the movie’s end, Courtney asks Mitch to see a movie, where Mitch reveals that Courtney would love his boyfriend. This small reveal would show that the filmmakers weren’t interested in portraying a gay male character with the stereotypes that had often been used in films past. Fans of the film would often praise the team for making Mitch’s sexuality just a tiny story beat and not using it as a plot hook or a reason for Mitch to be disliked. Mitch was allowed to develop as a character who happened to be gay.
8Eric and Andrew - Knock at the Cabin (2023)
Like other titles that have come out in recent years,M. Night Shyamalan’s2023 psychological horrorKnock at the Cabinputs its queer characters front and center. The plot of the film sees a family held hostage by a group of strangers while on vacation in a cabin in the woods and asked to make a choice that will determine the future of the human race.
Like inthe book it’s based onPaul G Tremblay’sThe Cabin at the End of the World, the family is comprised of 7-year-old Wen and her fathers, Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge). Owing to the makeup of the family, both Eric and Andrew initially assume that the visit from the strangers carrying weapons is a homophobic attack, which allows the film to explore subjects and themes that it wouldn’t have been able to, had the two men been straight. Both men’s love for their family, especially their daughter, and their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure her future is a bright one makes them both heroes.
7Mindy Meeks-Martin - Scream (2022) & Scream VI (2023)
Being introduced inScream(2022), Mindy Meeks-Martin, the niece of Randy Meeks, would prove to be as much of a horror nerd as her uncle. Mindy’s time in the franchise would mostly be spent breaking down the new rules for the characters to survive. However, Mindy would also be willing to ignore the danger around her if it meant getting high and enjoying the company of another lady.
Many Scream fans were happy to see Mindy because she is a legacy character (and carries more similarities to her uncle than her twin brother, Chad) and was the first openly gay character to debut in the film franchise. Her relationship with Anikawould make Anika’s deathinScream VI(2023) emotional, as Mindy would plead with Anika to cross the ladder before being forced to watch as Ghostface causes Anika’s fatal fall.
6Thelma - Thelma (2017)
Thelma(2017) follows a young girl who has been raised by a Christian family and, along with discovering she has extremely powerful abilities of manifestation, learns that she has a romantic attraction to another young woman in Anja. Feeling guilty over her same-sex attraction, Thelma accidentally wipes Anja from existence.
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After her family tells Thelma about her powers and how they led to the death of her little brother and, indirectly, her mother’s disability, Thelma would soon learn that her powers can give life as well as take it. As Thelma learns to accept herself, she begins to control her powers, giving her mother the ability to walk and restoring Anja. Many have considered this film a powerful statement about the potential of youth being suppressed as they are raised to feel ashamed of themselves. Thelma is regarded as a powerful figure due to herjourney of self-acceptance and love.
5Glen/Glenda - Seed of Chucky (2004)
Chucky and his bride Tiffany would have a child, and when this child resurrects their evil spirits, there is a question as to the gender of their child. Their child would state that they sometimes felt like a boy and sometimes a girl, much to Chucky’s initial disgust. It would later be revealed that this was due to Glen’s twin sister Glenda inhabiting the same body as Glen, only taking over in times of stress.
After the two are able to separate and inhabit their own bodies, it would be revealed that both thetwins identified as gender fluidand remained close to one another, sharing a boyfriend in a polyamorous relationship. While Chucky is a crass and ignorant man-doll, he comes to love his children, even telling Jake (a human teen who is homosexual) that Chucky wouldn’t judge Jake for being gay as his children have taught him that while he may be a murderer, he doesn’t have to be a bigoted monster.
4Jennifer Check - Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Megan Fox’s performance as Jennifer Check has been lauded by members of the LGBTQ community as theirawakening to their sexuality. Jennifer Check is a high school girl set to be sacrificed, only for her sex positivity to cause her to become a succubus instead. Using this empowerment, Jennifer would feed off of anyone she could seduce, coming close to feeding on her best friend and love interest, Anita “Needy” Lesnicki, before deciding she cared for her too much to kill her.
The film also carried themes of vengeance, with Jennifer wishing to murder the band that changed her. Though Jennifer would murder Needy’s boyfriend (whether this was motivated by jealousy or hunger), she is still hesitant to kill her best friend, giving Needy the opening she needed to stop Jennifer for good. Though Jennifer’s bite on her friend would also leave her with powers, and Needy would decide to continue her friend and potential crush’s mission of killing the band that had ruined their lives.
3Bee - Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Upon its release in 2022, A24 comedy horrorBodies Bodies Bodiesgarnered acclaim for its intelligent writing, morbid humor, performances of its ensemble cast, and the way it deals with its LGBTQ+ characters. The film is a whodunit slasher that revolves around a group of wealthy young people playing a wink murder-style game while at a hurricane party. The central focus of the film is the character of Bee, an outsider to the group who has traveled the party with her much richer girlfriend, Sophie.
As the new member of the group, Bee effectively acts as the audience surrogate; she learns about the various members of the group, their attitudes, their relationships, and their general messiness, as we do. Played by Maria Bakalova, she is largely the most functional one of the wildly dysfunctional group and is treated differently by the others, who even go as far as to kick her out into the storm at one point. The film doesn’t shy away from portraying both Bee and Sophie’s queerness, showing them kissing throughout and flirting with other members of the same sex. Particularly in the case of Bee,Bodies Bodies Bodiesis an example of how to create a likable, related bale, and fully-rounded LGBTQ+ character.
2Deena - Fear Street Trilogy (2021)
TheFear Streetfranchise would become one of the most popular Netflix originals, withthe three films releasingwithin one month of each other, giving audiences plenty of reason to become immersed in the horrifying tale that spans decades. At the center of this tale is Deena, a young girl who becomes the target of bullying after her girlfriend changes schools.
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Deena and her friends engage in a war with undead horrors and terrifying killers as a curse sends these creatures their way. After deceiving the killers by killing Sam (Deena’s girlfriend) and reviving her, the group goes down a rabbit hole of horror, finding Sam to be possessed into becoming the next killer. This curse dates back to 1666 when a lesbian couple would be named witches and set to die, only for Sarah Fier to place the entire blame on herself to save her love. The whole story being the tale of horrors hunting down those who are deemed different, simply so a family would be well off from the sacrifices, makes for an intriguing tale, and Deena’s confidence in being who she is despite what everyone else says makes her one of the most impressive final girls in modern horror today.
