Happy LGBTQ Shows and Movies to Stream for Pride Month
These happy LGBTQ shows and movies will help you celebrate Pride. Photo by Isi Parente on Unsplash.
By Marnie Kunz
If you’re ready to celebrate Pride month but also feel like staying in, check out these happy LGBTQ shows and movies. Whether you want to binge a whole show or watch a movie to recover from Pride weekend, we’ve got you covered. These happy LGBTQ shows and movies are inspiring and funny and will leave you feeling uplifted. Also, check out our post on Pride murals for more ways to celebrate.
Booksmart
Pride mural by Lauren Pierce at Industry City in Brooklyn.
Booksmart is a 2019 coming-of-age comedy directed by Olivia Wilde that follows the lives of two girls, played by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever. The over-achieving duo set out to make up for four years of studying hard with one night of partying before they graduate from high school. The LQBTQ scenes come from Amy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, who has plenty of awkward and exciting scenes with her crush, her classmate Hope. The movie’s a funny, smart, and realistic look at coming of age as a queer teen as well as a fun girl power movie about friendship. In a world of so many coming-of-age comedies directed by men, this one offers a refreshing view from the female perspective.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV
Fire Island Movie
Fire Island is a quirky new LGBTQ comedy movie (2022) starring Margaret Cho and Bowen Yang and Conrad Ricamora among her cast of adult gay men “children,” as she calls them. The movie serves up a fun, gay twist on Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. It takes place on New York City’s gay mecca of Fire Island, a destination hot spot for the queer community since the mid-20th century. In addition to chronicling the gay party scene on the island, the movie also offers commentary on racial and socio-economic divisions within the LGBTQ community. And of course, in true Jane Austen style, there is a love story blooming throughout the film. Sometimes the movie seems to force the Jane Austen plot, but other than that, this is a really good, entertaining, and sometimes thought-provoking movie.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Hulu
Four More Shots Please!
Four More Shots Please! is an Indian streaming television series that follows the lives of four millennial women living the city life in Mumbai. One of the main characters, played by Bani J (Gurbani Judge), is a lesbian and a trainer, and her love story plays a prominent role in the series. This is a fun, hip look at life in Mumbai and ultimately illustrates the power of friendship. A great binge-worthy LGBTQ show.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Love, Simon
Love, Simon is a 2018 romantic comedy-drama starring Nick Robinson as Simon, a closeted gay high school student juggling school, friends, and home life while trying to keep an anonymous blackmailer from disclosing his sexual orientation. Simon also falls for a secretive classmate who he is trying to identify as the movie unfolds. The movie is an inspiring, feel-good coming-of-age drama based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV
Gentleman Jack
Gentleman Jack is a historic drama series set in England in the 1830s documenting the life of lesbian landowner and industrialist Anne Lister, played by Suranne Jones. Lister kept extensive diaries in her lifetime documenting her love life, and the show is based on her diaries. This popular LGBTQ show demonstrates the lives of queer characters in a time when there was no general acknowledgment of queer people in society.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: HBO
The Book of Queer
No list of happy LGBTQ shows and movies would be complete without drag queens. The Book of Queer is a new show (2022) that gives a kitschy yet well-researched look at famous queer people in history. The show’s drag queens bring the historic re-enactments to life and make history much more fun — and less straight — than what we were taught in school. With characters ranging from Abraham Lincoln to Eleanor Roosevelt, the show includes records and accounts from the historic figures’ diaries and personal letters detailing their same-sex relationships. The show reminds us that queer people have often been “straight washed” in history books and presents evidence that some very prominent historic figures may indeed have been queer. If you’re a fan of drag, the puns and re-enactments do not disappoint.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Discovery+
Vida
Vida is a TV drama series about two Mexican-American sisters who inherit their mother’s bar in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, bringing them both home to deal with old demons and create new lives. One of the sisters, Emma, played by Mishel Prada, is queer, and they find out after her death that their mother was also queer, leaving her longtime partner in mourning. Vida includes more serious undertones than the other LGBTQ shows on this list but the show gives a realistic slice of life of LA life, including gentrification, and relationships. The complex family relationships and hip vibe make the show stand out.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Starz
Ru Paul’s Drag Race
Ru Paul’s Drag Race is one of the most well-known LGBTQ shows of all time, and for good reason — the show serves up endless laughs, amazing drag, and a side of drama. Led by the hilariously witty drag icon Ru Paul, this drag show reality series is always good for a laugh and perfect for Pride costume inspiration.
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Hulu, Paramount+
The Owl House
The Owl House is a Disney animated fantasy series that is the first Disney production to feature a same-sex couple in a leading role. Luz, the heroine, is a Dominican-American teenager who finds a portal to another world and enters a magical realm. In the show, Luz falls into a romantic relationship with Amity Blight, another female character. Disney has come a long way from the days of the helpless princess needing to be saved from Prince Charming. Welcome to this century, Disney!
Rating (out of 5): 🦄🦄🦄🦄
Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV
I hope you find some suggestions from these happy LGBTQ shows and movies to help celebrate Pride, this month and year-round. What are your fave queer shows and movies?
Related Posts: Pride Murals Celebrate Pride’s 50th Anniversary, Inspiring Podcasts for a Better Life
Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified Brooklyn trainer, USATF, and RRCA-certified running coach, and the creator of Body by Runstreet training and Runstreet Art Runs, which bring together communities through running and street art. She is a Brooklyn resident, trainer, Akita mom, and writer. She enjoys running coaching, traveling, art, and eating messily. You can follow her running and events at @Runstreet Instagram and Runstreet Facebook and follow her on Twitter for more on her running adventures.
