In many ways, 2025 was a dumpster fire. Our political landscape was a nightmare, we lost several Hollywood greats, and even the Pantone color of the year was a mundane, soulless shade of… white.
We did manage to eke out a few nice moments, though. It was a great year for gay television, for one thing: Breakout shows like Boots and Heated Rivalry put LGBTQ+ stories front and center on major streamers, proving for the umpteenth time that gay characters can attract large and global audiences. Let’s celebrate that.
And yet, in a very 2025 move, Netflix announced this morning that it is not renewing Boots for a second season. Pardon? The series—which follows a young gay man (Miles Heizer) who joins the United States Marine Corps in the 1990s—gained critical acclaim upon release earlier this year, and its leading stars (including Liam Oh and Jack Cameron Kay) were instantly catapulted to heartthrob status.
“I’m sad about it,” said Kay in a TikTok this morning. “What makes me the most sad is reading everyone’s messages. Everyone in my DMs is absolutely shocked.”
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie in Heated RivalryPhoto: Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max