However, having found the show nearly two decades after it was first released, I was able to recognize the ways in which it hadn't aged perfectly. It was a dream come true (and I watched as many episodes as I could that night before passing out from exhaustion). So, you could imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this turn-of-the-millennium Showtime series that focused on a group of unapologetically queer men and women in Pittsburgh, PA, who were clubbing, doing hard drugs and having graphic sex in nearly every episode. I grew up in the era of Glee and Pretty Little Liars, a unique moment in television where mainstream networks slowly started to accept queer stories, albeit always relegating them to the side.
The first time I discovered the American version of Queer as Folk (2000), I was in college, desperately scrolling through every streaming service I had, hoping to find something to satiate my hunger for gay TV.