Netflix’s new series The Residence brings history to streaming screens—introducing America’s first gay president, at least in fiction. The show follows Detective Cordelia Cupp, played by Uzo Aduba, as she unravels a murder mystery in the White House. Among the suspects? President Perry Morgan and his husband, First Gentleman Elliot Morgan. Actors Paul Fitzgerald and Barrett Foa, who play the presidential couple, recently spoke about the show’s significance for the queer community.
Their roles take on extra weight under the current administration, where queer rights are under attack. Fitzgerald emphasized the power of representation: “TV plays a really important role in helping people see a future that they may not have otherwise seen. If Barrett and I representing this can enlarge the culture of imagination by seeing it mirrored in real life, it would be the proudest moment of my entire career.”
