We all love a good lesbian love story. Whether it’s sweet, steamy, or devastating, sapphic stories keep us coming back to our screens again and again. But let’s be honest—sometimes the girlfriends in these stories aren’t exactly angels. They lie, cheat, gaslight, and sometimes straight-up try to kill their partners.
And you know what? We still can’t look away. Because not every queer character has to be perfect. Sometimes, bad representation is also real representation. And as flawed as they are, these characters often reflect the messiness of real-life relationships. So, with the help of Out we take a moment to honor the absolute worst lesbian girlfriends in TV and movie history. Not because we approve of their behavior—but because they made us feel something.
Harper from The Happiest Season tops many lists for how she treated Abby. Then there’s Shane from The L Word, who has left more broken hearts in her wake than we can count. Lauren from Lost Girl wasn’t exactly a dream partner either. In the animated world, Caitlyn from Arcane made some questionable moves. And Paige from Pretty Little Liars? Yikes! Love Lies Bleeding gives us not one but three terrible girlfriends—Daisy, Lou, and Jackie. Out Magazine says,
“Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov) and Lou (Kristen Stewart) are both kind of shitty girlfriends, but Jackie (Katy O’Brian) might just take the cake.”
Jack from Ted Lasso and Jackie from Whatever Keeps You Alive both stirred serious drama, too. And don’t even get us started on the two Alexes—from Jagged Mind and Orange Is the New Black. Tonya from The L Word, Silver from Ginny & Georgia, and Taissa from Yellowjackets round out the chaos. And then there’s Kitty from Tipping the Velvet and Lydia from Tár—manipulative, magnetic, and memorable. Because let’s face it: sometimes the worst girlfriends make for the best television, and bad lesbian representation matters, too.
