Queer as American Folk

The groundbreaking British TV series Queer as Folk (1999) and its US rewriting by the same title (2000) have played a prominent role in redefining the boundaries of queer visibility in mainstream television at the turn of the millennium. Aiming at giving a sophisticated and mature portrayal of the LGBT community, the narrative arcs of the two series reflect however divergent views on the practical viability of queer-affirmative political action, and ultimately result in different takes on the meaning of queerness itself. Both Queer as Folk-UK and Queer as Folk-USidentify the question of futurity as a crucial one for the elaboration of queer subjectivities that powerfully advocate for the possibility of reshaping society around principles of inclusiveness (or the rejection of inclusion as a desirable goal), new models of affections, and a radical re-thinking of family itself in western societies. Yet, a comparative reading of significant moments from the two series highlights how the American version tackles the debate about futurity alongside a close examination of the defining principles behind the shared notion of national identity that is mobilized by mainstream US culture to contain the dissenting politics of sexual minorities. This probing and negotiation of the newly defined boundaries of acceptability mark therefore a decisive shift from the utopian, transnational oppositionality of Queer Nation to the pragmatic horizon of US politics, a shift that can be fully appreciated by comparing the remake to the British original.