While the big streamings still suffer with the lack of productions with sapphic protagonism, YouTube has plenty of webseries that portrait love between women. Available for free, the productions are a great alternative for those who wish to follow more complex and well developed stories with lesbians and bissexual caracthers.
With the shortage of representation on traditional mainstream channels, independent producers, such as the brazilian Ponto Ação, have been seeking to produce and distribute LGBTQIA+ content exclusively for the internet. To cover the costs, they organize crowdfunding campaigns and offer rewards to fans, like Meet and Greets – in which they are able to have a closer contact with the cast.
Besides the lean budget, the webseries bring well-built stories about sapphic love, while escaping stereotypes and sexualizations. In the narratives, the lesbian and bissexual characters are really the protagonists, with conflicts, dramas and experiences putted in the spotlight.
Thinking about that, here are 5 webseries with sapphic protagonists that are available on YouTube for everyone to stream with no fee. There are options for every taste, ideal for whom is done with the mainstream channels’ censorship and cancellations.
Magenta (2018, Brazil)
After six years of relationship, Nina (Giul Abreu) and Manuela (Priscila Buiar) are surprised by a third woman in their lives: Raphaela (Rebeca Figueiredo). Chats, jokes and intimate moments shared only by the two of them are now shared with this new person, what confuses the feelings of all the parts involved in this plot.
Among poetic memories of the main characters, two storylines get mixed up in the webseries: past, when Nina and Manu were still a couple, and future, when the both of them hurt for being apart. Over time, letters and drawings are presented on-screen, offering clues to understand how the relationship between Nina and Manu was shaken.
Magenta, produced by the brazilian “Linha Produções”, has two seasons uploaded to YouTube, with ten episodes each.
Where to watch: Linha Produções Channel on YouTube
The Stripper (2019, Brazil)
With more than 70 million views in its first ten episodes, the brazilian webseries The Stripper is one of the biggest successes of the production company “Ponto Ação”. The plot follows Camila (Natalie Smith), who works in a big corporation, but has a secret life: by night, she abandons her social outfits and becomes Karla, a stripper.
One day, a famous businesswoman makes a visit to the nightclub where Karla works and gets completely fascinated by the erotic dancer. In the morning, Camila arrives for her daylight work and is introduced to the new president of the company: Lauren (Priscilla Pugliese), the same woman who was enchanted by her the night before. With help from her friends, the stripper will face many situations to hide from the new boss her real identity, while the lust toward one another just increases. By their names, you can tell the webseries is based on a “Fifth Harmony” (Camila Cabello and Lauren Jauregui) fanfiction.
Where to watch: Ponto Ação Channel on YouTube
Stupid Wife (2022, Brazil)
Also brazilian, this webseries gained fame on social media, with numerous fans rooting for the “Valu” couple. Freely based on the book Stupid Wife: Lembre-se de Nós, from Nathália Sodré, the production tells the story of Luiza (Priscila Reis), a dancer who faces a mental trauma that made her forget the last years of her life.
She wakes up someday with no memory and finds out she is now married to Valentina (Priscila Buiar), a woman she used to hate in college and, not only, they have a son together. With all the challenges, Luiza tries to understand what led her to get amnesia, while Valentina tries to win back her wife’s heart.
Stupid Wife has two seasons, with eight episodes each, and also the “Christmas” and “College” specials, that shows more romance scenes between the protagonists, complementing their story for the fans. After all the success, the last released season left an open ending, raising expectations for a third season.
Where to watch: Ponto Ação Channel on YouTube
Gap: The Series (2022, Tailand)
Gap: The Series is the first Girls Love (GL) — an asian genre that addresses romance between women — from Thailand, reaching fans not only in the country, but in different places around the world. There are twelve episodes available on the YouTube channel “Idol Factory” with Portuguese and English subtitles.
The plot accompanies Mon (Becky Armstrong), a young recently graduated woman who receives an opportunity to work on the company owned by a lady who she admires since childhood: Lady Sam (Freen Sarocha). What she didn’t expect was that Sam turned out pretty different from her past self.
Strict and demanding with her employees, the businesswoman, at first, doesn’t give Mon much opening. However, everything changes once the characters get closer and realize their feelings go beyond the professional relationship. To the fans of a good and old cliche, this webseries is a must-watch, with several scenes of affection and care between the protagonists.
Where to watch: Idol Factory Channel on YouTube
Os Signos das Minhas Ex (2023, Brazil)
Sapphic productions do not live solely on drama. Recently released, Os Signos das Minhas Ex (“the zoddiac signs of my exes”, on free translation), from the “Ventarola Filmes” production, is a comedy webseries for all the astrology fans out there.
The narrative follows Vitória (Andrezza Czech), who has a love life based on twelve ex-girlfriends and twelve dumps. To understand the reasons for her breakups, she decides to meet once again all her exes and find out what zodiac signs they are. After all, is there a pattern that justifies the fact that Vitória’s love life is a massive failure?
In each one of the seven available episodes, one of her exes is introduced. Besides ripping out of the expectators good laughs and showing scenes with sapphic romances, the webseries makes the watcher curious and leads them to find out which is each sign of Vitória’s former girlfriends.
Where to watch: Ventarola Filmes on YouTube
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This article was edited and translated from Portuguese to English by Giulia Howard.
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