67 important LGBTQ movies to stream this Satisfaction Month

Satisfaction is a time during which everybody beneath the LGBTQ umbrella is inspired to return out and wave their flag in spectacular parades. However for each wild evening out, we’d want a comfortable evening in, maybe with a film that retains the occasion going?

Many a streaming service will make a rainbow present of their LGBTQ titles in June. Allow us to be your information by means of the necessities, highlighting motion pictures throughout Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Max, Kanopy, and past.

Whether or not you are within the temper for a thigh-slapping comedy, a heart-wrenching drama, a pulse-pounding romance, a mind-expanding documentary, or spine-tingling horror, we have got you coated.

Here’s a sensational number of LGBTQ motion pictures to observe this Satisfaction and past.

1. The Queen (1968)

You will have seen Paris Is Burning, however have you ever seen The Queen? Frank Simon’s seminal 1968 documentary particulars the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Magnificence Pageant, a aggressive drag pageant put collectively by trans and drag icon Flawless Sabrina. Simon’s not too long ago restored doc is so many issues without delay: an archival treasure of early drag performances, an intimate have a look at the lives of queer males and trans girls offstage, and, most famously, a report of 1 notorious incident that will later give strategy to the beginning of home tradition and the ballroom scene: Crystal LaBeija’s scorching tirade to the digicam after dropping to a white queen. LaBeija later went on to discovered the seminal Home of LaBeija, which led to the very inception of ball tradition we see in Paris is Burning, and has been massively influential to Black queer tradition at this time. As an artifact of misplaced and, to many, largely unknown queer historical past, The Queen is important Satisfaction viewing, and actually, important each rattling day viewing. —Oliver Whitney, Contributing Author

How you can Watch: The Queen is obtainable to stream free of charge on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) or for lease or buy on Kino Now(opens in a brand new tab), Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), and iTunes.(opens in a brand new tab)

2. Rope (1948)

Rope could also be identified to most as Hitchcock’s experimental try to shoot a whole movie in what seems to be a single shot, nevertheless it’s additionally the filmmaker’s gayest. The traditional psychological thriller is a few homosexual couple who murders a person, then throws a cocktail party utilizing the lifeless physique’s trunk because the buffet — fairly actually “be homosexual, do crime,” Hitchcock-style. After all, this was 1948, and that queerness is all subtext, nevertheless it roars to the floor due to homosexual screenwriter Arthur Laurents’s script and performances by its notably homosexual leads, Farley Granger who performs Phillip Morgan with an anxious flamboyance, and John Dall, whose Brandon Shaw embodies a extra reserved, posh queerness. That is not even to say the oozing eroticism of the opening scene(opens in a new tab) — a closed curtain, a roaring scream, a shot of man sandwiched between two others, with a rope round his neck; oh, the abhorrent perversions two (or extra) males commit behind closed doorways!  —O.W.

How you can Watch: Rope is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), and Google Play(opens in a brand new tab).

3. The Residing Finish (1992)

Usually dubbed the homosexual Thelma & Louise, Gregg Araki’s The Residing Finish follows the reckless highway journey of two HIV-positive, anti-establishment homosexual males who go on the run after killing a homophobic cop. There’s Jon (Craig Gilmore), a slender, downbeat movie critic who simply discovered his HIV standing, and Luke (Mike Dytri), a hustler hunk who seems like he walked proper out of Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising(opens in a new tab). The 2 turn into lovers and shortly set out on a fuck-everything crime spree throughout California. A fixture of New Queer Cinema that put Araki on the map, this low-budget punk queer highway film is scorching with radical rage, and feels as contemporary as ever at this time. —O.W.

How you can Watch: The Residing Finish is streaming on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

4. The Stroll (2023)

There’s nothing extra highly effective and extra urgently wanted than trans individuals telling their very own tales. In The Stroll, filmmaker Kristen Lovell (making her directorial debut alongside co-director Zackary Drucker) does precisely that, gathering the trans of us she labored with in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District to recount the historical past of what was as soon as a hub for trans intercourse staff from the Seventies by means of the early 2000s. The ladies and nonbinary interviewees recount not solely the horrific police violence and neighborhood harassment they continually confronted, however, and maybe most importantly, they converse to how The Stroll helped them discover a resilient neighborhood that enabled them to outlive. 

By a mixture of interviews, collage-style animation, and archival footage — together with some presumably never-before-seen late footage of trans heroine Sylvia Rivera and an ultra-cringe clip from The RuPaul Present — Lovell and Drucker, who’re each trans, obtain one thing past the attain of most cis filmmakers. Rather than sorrowful trauma porn, the directing duo create a shocking ode to the ability and resilience of trans sisterhood. The Stroll is not solely a vital doc of trans historical past; it is a revitalizing reminder for trans of us that collectively we’ve got the ability to pave a path for a greater trans future. —O.W.

How you can Watch: The Stroll will premiere on Max(opens in a brand new tab) June 21.

5. Think about Me and You (2005)

There are two varieties of queers: ones who noticed beloved lesbian rom-com Think about Me and You early of their queerness and had been without end modified, and ones who’ve by no means heard of the undersung British film. Should you’re within the latter camp, I’m so thrilled to lastly introduce you to this foolish, charming romance. Rachel (Piper Perabo donning a British accent) is about to marry her finest pal, Heck (Matthew Goode), however as she’s strolling down the aisle, her eyes catch a girl named Luce (Lena Headey), and one thing indescribable occurs. It is love at first sight, as they are saying, and thus begins a candy love story between Rachel, who’s solely ever dated males, and Luce, an brazenly homosexual florist in essentially the most ’00s lesbian wardrobe you have ever seen. It is delightfully cheery and has an ending that may, shockingly, depart you teary-eyed with pleasure. A queer rom-com traditional by means of and thru. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Think about Me and You is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), and YouTube(opens in a brand new tab).

6. Wearing Blue (1983)

Watching Wearing Blue for the primary time looks like discovering a long-lost treasure, one you nearly cannot imagine exists and which you solely want you’d seen sooner. This docudrama from Antonio Giménez-Rico mixes docu-style interviews with narrative reenactments to inform the life tales of six Spanish trans girls dwelling in post-Franco Madrid. Josette, Loren, René, Eva, Nacha, and Tamara collect within the dazzling Palacio de Cristal in Madrid to commerce tales, gossip, bicker, giggle, and gossip some extra as Giménez-Rico jumps out and in of scripted moments of their pasts. The distinctive framing offers the movie one thing of an ethereal high quality, particularly paired with Teo Escamilla’s dreamy cinematography that imbues every lady with a glowy, nearly goddess-like high quality. Depictions of trans life have lengthy been sufferer to the gaze of cis creators, and although this movie from a cis male director is not any exception, Wearing Blue does really feel like one thing of an anomaly, particularly for its time, by permitting these girls extra company in recounting their most non-public reminiscences. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Dressed In Blue is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), and YouTube(opens in a brand new tab).

7. Born in Flames (1983)

For anybody in want of some radical-as-hell queer dystopian fiction throughout these more and more darkish and fascistic political occasions, Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames will show to be a most satisfying balm. Set in a futuristic New York Metropolis after a socialist revolution, the movie imagines America dwelling beneath democratic socialism, however the place the guarantees of that society are proving unfulfilled. Droves of girls are dropping their jobs, sexism and racism run rampant, and a queer Black revolutionary has simply been captured and murdered by the state. This kicks off a brand new fiery revolt the place feminist teams led by two radical radio hosts staff as much as take motion into their very own fingers, from plotting direct motion in underground conferences to educating squads of girls how you can shoot rifles. 

This seering anti-capitalist, anti-racist, pro-feminist treatise is as related at this time as ever. Listening to one queer radio DJ shout, “We’re being murdered on the market within the streets. Get up, it is time to struggle!” you’ll be able to’t assist however really feel the parallels to the present assaults on queer and trans life and bodily autonomy taking place on this nation at this time. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Born in Flames is streaming on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) and OVID.tv(opens in a new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab) and Fandor(opens in a brand new tab).

8. Certain (1996)

A lesbian neo-noir directed by two trans girls — there has by no means been a greater mixture of phrases. Certain, the debut characteristic from Lilly and Lana Wachowski, is a cult favourite for a cause, or perhaps 10. It options Gina Gershon taking part in a tough-as-nails butch lesbian named Corky (only a yr after Showgirls‘ Cristal Connors, thoughts you), who falls for her sultry femme fatale neighbor, Violet (Jennifer Tilly). That is no mere queer romance although, however a razor-sharp crime thriller the place two extraordinary girls resolve to tear off the mob. Violet’s abusive boyfriend (an ideal Joe Pantoliano) is about to return right into a load of money, so why not steal it, body him, and make a getaway for it? Any informal Wachowskis fan can see the sisters’ stylistic fingerprints throughout Certain, nevertheless it’s particularly a pleasure to see the methods the 2 boost traditional noir style conventions with queer intercourse, startling violence, and an entire lot of queer badassery. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Certain is streaming on Paramount+(opens in a brand new tab), Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), MGM+(opens in a brand new tab), and obtainable for lease or buy on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab). 

9. No Extraordinary Man (2020)

There are myriad methods to make a documentary about historic figures, however in No Extraordinary Man, Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee take a singular and even dangerous inventive strategy that lands superbly. To inform the story of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician whose stealth trans standing was outed after his demise and grossly mistreated for years within the press, No Extraordinary Man seems to at this time’s trans neighborhood to seek for the misplaced and ignored truths of his life. Joynt and Chin-Yee invite a set of transmasculine actors to learn scenes from a story script about Tipton’s life. This manifests into one thing profound, with every actor wrestling with how you can painting a person who lived at a time the place his transness needed to stay secret, and with near no fashions to form himself after. It is a captivating and extremely shifting inventive train that each makes an attempt to restore the painful historical past hooked up to Tipton’s legacy, and showcases the need for trans performers to embody the roles of trans characters. —O.W.

How you can Watch: No Extraordinary Man is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab).

10. All of the Magnificence and the Bloodshed (2022)

One of many best possible movies of 2022, Laura Poitras’s Oscar-nominated documentary All of the Magnificence and the Bloodshed manages to perform a number of issues: documenting the activism of acclaimed photographer Nan Goldin in a tireless pursuit to takedown the rich household accountable for the opioid epidemic, commemorating the huge cultural significance of Goldin’s artwork, and detailing the non-public lifetime of the girl behind the digicam. A outstanding title within the Nineteen Eighties New York Metropolis artwork scene, Goldin, who identifies as queer, is most identified for her visceral, probing images that captured a neighborhood ignored not simply by the artwork world however by the whole world — queer and trans of us, intercourse staff, and people dwelling with and dying from HIV/AIDS. All of the Magnificence and the Bloodshed fuses previous and current, the person and the collective, to inform a narrative that is achingly human, searing with urgency and rage but nonetheless simmering with hope. —O.W.

How you can Watch: All of the Magnificence and the Bloodshed is streaming on Max(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable to lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab).

11. By Hook or by Criminal (2001)

A openly punk, DIY, queer buddy dramedy about an unlikely pair of butch trans outcasts, By Hook or by Criminal is one thing of a miracle for present. This ultra-indie, ultra-low funds 2001 movie from Silas Howard and Harry Dodge is a uncommon narrative depiction of queerness and transness that refuses to label its characters in any specific means, as a substitute permitting them to exist as their very own wacky, genderqueer selves dwelling on their phrases on the fringes of society. After dealing with an eviction in Kansas, the suit-donning Shy (Howard) runs away to San Francisco the place they meet the eccentric Valentine (Dodge), who sports activities a braided beard. The 2 turn into quick mates and, in an effort to finally rob a financial institution, pull off a sequence of petty crimes to get fast money. By Hook or by Criminal is as buoyant and playful as it’s earnest, telling a heartfelt story about friendship, psychological sickness, and dwelling a lifetime of crime in a world that deems queerness felony from the bounce — and all with virtually no funds. —O.W.

How you can Watch: By Hook or by Criminal is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease on Prime Video.(opens in a brand new tab)

12. Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

Toshio Matsumoto’s Funeral Parade of Roses is an absolute journey, and it is perhaps some of the enthralling items of filmmaking about trans femininity. This 1969 Japanese New Wave movie fuses avant-garde modifying with meta-documentary model filmmaking and non-linear storytelling to observe Eddie (performed by androgynous cis actor Peter), a trans lady who works as a hostess as a homosexual bar — the strains between trans and homosexual id are messy at finest, given when this was made. With jarring modifying, we’re torn between Eddie’s love triangle with the bar’s proprietor and his different mistress, fragmented reminiscences of a traumatic childhood incident, and meta-interviews with the opposite trans bar hostesses. It is all fairly disturbing and disorienting, each aesthetically and thematically, and that is kinda of the purpose — as critic Willow Maclay has written(opens in a new tab), Matsumoto’s movie “mirrors the breaking down of gendered notion by means of the destruction of cinematic type.” It is the kinda factor you simply want to observe to get, and perhaps greater than as soon as. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Funeral Parade of Roses is streaming in Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) and Night time Flight+(opens in a brand new tab).

13. God’s Personal Nation (2017)

Typically homosexual romance dramas are tender, and generally they’re simply tremendous scorching. God’s Personal Nation holds the honour of being each, leaving you crying one second and indescribably turned on the following. Set on a farm within the Yorkshire countryside, Francis Lee’s movie traces the lonely and pained day-to-day lifetime of Johnny (Josh O’Connor), a younger homosexual man who buries his anger at his father with binge ingesting and nameless hookups. However when Gheorghe (Alec Secăreanu) arrives for a brief stint to work on the farm, one thing shifts, and the newcomer’s presence begins to soften Johnny’s hardened aggression. A candy gentleness blossoms, together with one of many hottest (and muddiest) intercourse scenes in latest reminiscence. If horny emotional homosexual farmcore was a film, this might be it. —O.W.

How you can Watch: God’s Personal Nation is streaming on Kanopy,(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

14. Shinjuku Boys (1995)

It’s the mid-’90s in Tokyo, and also you stroll into the New Marilyn nightclub. You are all of a sudden charmed by a flock of dapper studs in flashy fits with cool-as-ever haircuts. It is a paradise of transmasc cuties.

In Shinjuku Boys, a brief documentary from Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, we meet three transmasculine of us who work at a nightclub that caters to doting feminine prospects. Tatsu, Gaish, and Kazuki, who all use he/him pronouns, describe themselves as “onabe,” a broad Japanese time period that is been used to explain quite a lot of identities from trans man to butch lesbian. The doc captures a not often seen slice of transmasc life (together with some not-so-great poisonous masc habits), and gives a sequence of extremely uncooked interviews that talk to issues not typically proven in movie. From private disclosures about intercourse and dysphoria to a T4T couple lovingly gushing over how seen they really feel by each other, Shinjuku Boys is a snapshot of a singular and little-known piece of Japanese trans historical past. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Shinjuku Boys is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab).

15. Lingua Franca (2019)

Within the exceptional Lingua Franca, Isabel Sandoval performs Olivia, an undocumented Filipina trans caregiver who lives beneath a relentless wave of concern of being deported from her Brooklyn neighborhood. Sandoval, who additionally wrote, directed, produced, and edited the movie, brings a fragile contact to a superbly understated story that traces intimate moments in Olivia’s everyday as she makes an attempt to safe a inexperienced card. Drawing inspiration from filmmakers like Chantal Akerman, Wong Kar-wai, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Sandoval’s movie is a quietly mild examine of longing, tenderness, and need. It is also some of the superbly photographed tales a few trans lady, and properly price a look ahead to any religious cinephile. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Lingua Franca is streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)

16. Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

It is Katharine Hepburn in masc drag, what extra might you want? How about her wanting as dashing as ever in a fedora and popped collar, flirting with Cary Grant and Brian Aherne and complicated the hell out of them each? On this 1935 movie that marks the primary collaboration between Hollywood homosexual icons Hepburn, Grant, and director George Cukor, Hepburn performs Sylvia, the meek daughter of a bookkeeper who disguises herself as a boy to assist her father flee playing money owed. Now going by the title Sylvester, Hepburn’s character finds a swaggering confidence round different males whereas passing as one. Launched throughout the begin of the Hays Code, Sylvia Scarlett was a daring threat, and at this time stays a captivating exploration of gender play, queer need, and the inside empowerment one can uncover in distorting gender expectations. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Sylvia Scarlett is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), and VUDU(opens in a brand new tab).

17. Altering the Sport (2021)

When Altering the Sport was launched in 2021, it felt like a dire time for trans athletes in America — on the time, 17 anti-LGBTQ bills(opens in a new tab) had been handed. Right this moment, of the present proposed 530 anti-trans bills(opens in a new tab), 79 have passed(opens in a new tab) on the time of this writing. A big chunk of these particularly goal trans youngsters who simply wish to play sports activities, and greater than ever, Altering the Sport stays a vital movie that highlights the experiences of younger trans athletes. 

The doc from Michael Barnett follows Mack, a trans boy who’s the Texas state wrestling champion…of ladies’ wrestling; Andraya, a Connecticut monitor star who, although capable of compete on her faculty’s women staff, is met with harassment from mother and father; and Sarah, an alpine skier who splits her free time between activism and a make-up vlog. Whereas circumstances have solely gotten horrifically worse for trans youth, Altering the Sport is a reminder that the resilience and diehard activism of youthful trans generations hasn’t and will not be dying down anytime quickly. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Altering the Sport is streaming on Hulu(opens in a brand new tab).

18. Desert Hearts (1985)

Set in 1959, Donna Deitch’s indie traditional Desert Hearts finds Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), a straight-laced English professor wearing pearls and a skirt swimsuit, arriving in dusty Reno to file for a fast divorce. The primary time she meets Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), an brazenly queer, free-wheeling native, Cay’s riotously racing down the freeway backwards, like one thing of a lesbian James Dean straight out of Insurgent With out A Trigger. It is a traditional story of opposites attracting as Cay begins to pursue the hesitant and old style Vivian. Brimming with quiet ardour and craving, and lit stunningly by grasp cinematographer Robert Elswit, Desert Hearts is a must-watch for any lover of queer cinema.  —O.W.

How you can Watch: Desert Hearts is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and Max(opens in a brand new tab).

19. Adam (2019)

Filmmaker Rhys Ernst’s directorial debut does one thing surprising and controversial: It portrays an genuine transmasculine expertise, however with no trans character because the lead. In Adam, Nicholas Alexander (a cis male actor) performs Adam, a cis male character who, after stumbling into New York Metropolis’s queer scene, winds up pretending to be a trans man. It sounds horrible, I do know! However hear me out — Adam makes use of this state of affairs to flip expectations and, within the course of, middle transness whereas placing cis views on the sidelines. Ernst (a trans man) does this by means of the friendship between Adam and trans man Ethan (The L Phrase: Gen Q‘s Leo Sheng). Their relationship proposes an alternative choice to a world the place trans males develop up studying about masculinity (fairly often poisonous) and sexuality (additionally typically poisonous) from a cis-centric perspective. Right here, Adam comes of age by means of the knowledge of a person who has deeply investigated his relationship to traditional masculinity. Although a divisive movie, Adam’s price seeing for the complicated conversations it’s going to give strategy to. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Adam is streaming on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

20. Colette (2018)

The one factor higher than a Keira Knightley interval piece? An unabashedly queer one. In Colette, Knightley portrays the titular well-known French novelist finest identified for her 1944 work Gigi, however who for years was the ghostwriter of novels her husband took credit score for. Wash Westmoreland’s movie is not most fascinating as a literary biopic although, however for the best way it spotlights how Colette was brazenly and radically queer, particularly for the early Twentieth century. Knightley’s Colette has affairs with girls, together with an extended relationship with Mathilde De Morny, a French trans man and aristocrat known as Max and Missy all through historical past (although performed right here by cis actress Denise Gough). Their onstage kiss on the Moulin Rouge in 1907 famously sparked a riot. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Colette is streaming on Netflix(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

21. The Aggressives (2005)

In Daniel Peddle’s documentary, there’s one factor that every of his 5 topics has in frequent: All of them establish as “Aggressives,” or “AG.” That time period can imply vastly various things from one individual to the following. For Octavia, they’re only a one that clothes like a dude with dude methods, whereas to Tiffany, it means carrying a femme-aggressive angle and appearing extra like a homosexual man. Rjai, alternatively, is a ballroom champ with rows of trophies for strolling in each masc and butch classes. After which there’s Marquise Vilson, who binds his chest and describes himself as a trans lesbian; he is gone on to turn into a notable trans actor. Peddle’s movie is a uncommon doc of Black and brown butch, transmasc, and gender nonconforming of us in early aughts New York Metropolis that is still a good looking showcase of the expansiveness of gender id and expression exterior the binary.  —O.W.

How you can Watch: The Aggressives is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

22. Caravaggio (1986)

Should you like your historic dramas ripe with unabashed queerness, look no additional than the work of grasp British filmmaker Derek Jarman. In Caravaggio, Jarman queers the historical past of the Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio by taking the extremely homoerotic subtext of his work (together with age-old suspicions about his sexuality) and injecting it proper into the textual content, reimagining the artist in brazenly homosexual affairs. This dazzling and layered meditation, with a mise en scène that evokes the compositions of a Caravaggio portray, finds the artist (performed by Nigel Terry) engaged in romances with a road fighter (Sean Bean) and his girlfriend (Tilda Swinton). Even with no information of Caravaggio or artwork historical past, Jarman’s movie is kind of a visit, and one effervescent with queer need. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Caravaggio is streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab), Metrograph at Dwelling(opens in a brand new tab), and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Kino Now(opens in a brand new tab).

23. Something’s Potential (2022)

A candy coming-of-age romantic comedy the place a younger trans lady will get to be charmed and cherished and swept off her ft like each different lady of rom-coms’ previous? Sure, please! Something’s Potential is the directorial debut from Billy Porter, with a script by trans screenwriter Ximena García Lecuona. Eva Reign stars as Kelsa, a highschool senior who begins crushing on Khal (Abubakr Ali). The 2 flirt, go on a cute first date, and romance begins to brew. However jealousy and backlash from Kelsa’s pal group will get ignited, and for the primary time, Kelsa’s transness turns into a subject of fiery consideration at her faculty — and in her relationship. Something’s Potential has all of the attraction of a teen rom-com like To All of the Boys I’ve Liked Earlier than, however facilities the story on a trans lady with out making her id the only focus of her character. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Something’s Potential is streaming on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab).

24. Disclosure (2020)

Ask anybody over 20 to call the primary time they noticed a trans character portrayed on display screen, and it will doubtless fall into one of many following classes: a villainous monster, a mocked shame, or a tragic tragedy ending in demise. Sam Feder’s documentary Disclosure charts the historical past of transness depicted throughout movie and TV, displaying that from cinema’s silent origins to the trendy sequence of at this time, trans individuals have at all times been current, however largely solely to be derided, misrepresented, and gawked at. With a mixture of archival footage and speaking head interviews with dozens of trans actors, administrators, and authors, Disclosure gives a uncommon glimpse of a trans perspective on the painful historical past of illustration in media. It is vital instructional viewing for cis audiences. For trans of us, it gives a cathartic look again on an unpleasant historical past, however with a hopeful promise of what visibility can seem like. —O.W.

How you can Watch: Disclosure is streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)

25. The Matrix (1999)

What higher strategy to have a good time Satisfaction than by watching essentially the most well-known trans film of all time, The Matrix? (It’s canon(opens in a new tab), take care of it.) The sci-fi motion epic will not be explicitly trans on the floor, however as trans critics and audiences(opens in a new tab) over the years(opens in a new tab) have noticed, Neo’s story down the rabbit gap is plagued by subtextual allusions to trans id. There’s the pink/blue capsule “splinter in your thoughts” metaphor for hormone remedy, the “waking up” and “unplugging” from the Matrix as a realization of 1’s gender when the egg shell cracks(opens in a new tab), the truth that Neo retains getting deadnamed by Agent Smith, the entire essence of Trinity — you’ll be able to go on and on. Learn this sci-fi traditional how you’ll, however when you begin recognizing all of the trans symbolism, within the phrases of Morpheus, “There isn’t any turning again.” —O.W.

How you can watch: The Matrix is streaming on Max(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

26. Earlier than Stonewall (1984)

Filmmakers Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg did a public service of their creation of the seminal documentary Earlier than Stonewall. An academic but humorous work that gives important context to the LGBTQ neighborhood’s long-fought marketing campaign for civil rights, this can be a nice beginning place for anybody keen to higher recognize simply how far acceptance has come and the way far it nonetheless has to go. —Alison Foreman, Leisure Reporter

How you can watch: Earlier than Stonewall is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

27. Swan Track (2021)

Impressed by the real-life “Liberace of Sandusky, [Ohio],” Swan Track stars heralded character actor Udo Kier as a Mr. Pat, a retired and unapologetically flamboyant hairdresser out to safe his legacy with one final hurrah of a hairdo. Striding again into his outdated haunts to reconcile along with his previous, this wickedly humorous hero finds new mates, outdated foes, and the glory of a mint-green classic swimsuit. With a nice wit, daring model, and a giant coronary heart, author/director Todd Stephens’s movie pays dazzling tribute to a era of homosexual males who had been decimated by AIDS and societal indifference. Swirling collectively rage and gratitude into an intoxicating cocktail, Kier offers the perfect efficiency of his lengthy and storied profession.* —Kristy Puchko, Movie Reporter

How you can watch: Swan Track (opens in a brand new tab)is now streaming on Hulu.(opens in a brand new tab)

28. Moonlight (2016)

Director Barry Jenkins’s Academy Award-winning Finest Image might use a number of the formulaic elements seen in different coming-of-age tales, nevertheless it imbues them with such immense inventiveness and originality that to match Moonlight to the rest looks like an insult. This movie has rightly been referred to as a number of the most impactful filmmaking in historical past, a perennial meditation on abuse, remorse, ache, and acceptance. —A.F.

How you can watch: Moonlight is streaming on Max(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

29. Hedwig and the Offended Inch (2001)

Hedwig and the Offended Inch is at all times finest loved on the stage. However when a go to to the theater is not an choice, director and star John Cameron Mitchell’s display screen adaptation greater than does the trick. On this musical dramedy, Stephen Trask’s spectacular songs as soon as once more come to life because the titular and iconic East German rock singer explores revenge, betrayal, and acceptance. —A.F.

How you can watch: Hedwig and the Offended Inch is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

30-32. The Concern Road Trilogy (2021)

A stellar instance of queer horror hit in three components in 2021, when R.L. Stine’s beloved YA e book sequence impressed a slasher trilogy centered on a lesbian couple. Kiana Madeira and Olivia Scott Welch are struggling the usual torments of teendom when the native legend of a vicious witch upends their lives — and will finish them! Director Leigh Janiak ushers audiences by means of three eras of terror, chasing her heroes by means of purchasing malls, summer season camps, and colonial forests to unearth the darkish reality of Shadyside. —Okay.P.

How you can watch: Concern Road: Half One: 1994 is streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)

How you can watch: Concern Road: Half Two: 1978 is streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)

How you can watch: Concern Road: Half Three: 1666 is streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)

33. The Watermelon Girl (1996)

Director Cheryl Dunye’s cinematic debut brings utter fearlessness to righting wrongs. On this romantic comedy, Dunye performs a pseudo-autobiographical model of herself intent on giving credit score to the Black actors and filmmakers that got here earlier than her however had been too typically left unnamed of their works. Extensively thought to be the primary feature-length movie directed by an brazenly lesbian Black lady, The Watermelon Girl stays a triumph nearly 30 years later. —A.F.

How you can watch: The Watermelon Girl is streaming on Showtime(opens in a brand new tab), Paramount+,(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

34. My Stunning Laundrette (1985)

On this charming, horny, and foolish comedy from Stephen Frears, Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day-Lewis play childhood friends-turned-lovers struggling to take advantage of their meager means. When the pair take over a laundromat collectively, they have to face the conventional pitfalls of working a enterprise in addition to battle the political local weather surrounding immigrants in ’80s Nice Britain. —A.F.

How you can watch: My Stunning Laundrette is streaming on Hulu(opens in a brand new tab), Max(opens in a brand new tab), and Pluto TV(opens in a brand new tab), and obtainable to lease or buy on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

35. Rift (2017)

Need one thing uniquely chilling? Then try this 2017 Icelandic thriller set in a frigid and frightful panorama. Written and directed by Erlingur Thoroddsen, Rift follows a person (Björn Stefánsson) to a distant cabin, the place he hopes to assist his distraught ex-boyfriend (Sigurður Þór Óskarsson) and perhaps discover some closure over their breakup. Nevertheless, their reunion is rattled by a sequence of unusual occasions that counsel they don’t seem to be alone. One thing is within the darkness, watching and ready. This implausible movie lures you in with lovely vistas and a slow-burn tempo, then spirals into scares certain to linger like a chilly shiver down your backbone.* —Okay.P.

How you can watch: Rift is streaming on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) and Shudder(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable to lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab).

36. Carol (2016)

Primarily based on Patricia Highsmith’s groundbreaking 1952 novel, Todd Haynes’s Carol brings the lives of Carol Aird and Therese Belivet to the display screen by means of actors Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. This masterful rendition of a Christmas-set romance will pull at your heartstrings in all the proper methods, completely nestling right into a nook of your soul. —A.F.

How you can watch: Carol is streaming on Netflix(opens in a brand new tab) and obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

37. Benedetta (2021)

If you hear that the director of Showgirls made a film about lesbian nuns, you may suspect Benedetta to be outlandishly raunchy and ferociously campy, reveling within the trashy tropes. Nevertheless, Paul Verhoeven brings beautiful artistry to this stranger-than-fiction story, delivering a biopic filled with outrageous moments with a classy but depraved wit. Virginie Efira stars as Seventeenth-century Italian nun Benedetta Carlini, who rose eyebrows in her convent not solely due to the miracles she appeared to carry out but in addition due to her romance with a fellow sister (Daphne Patakia). —Okay.P.

How you can watch: Benedetta is streaming on Hulu(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

38. Weekend (2011)

Tom Cullen and Chris New redefine the prospect encounter in director Andrew Haigh’s Weekend. Advised over the course of a 48-hour interval, this stirring, passionate romance considers the impacts strangers can have on each other — even when their time collectively is minimize all too quick. —A.F.

How you can watch: Weekend is streaming on The (opens in a brand new tab)Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

39. Tongues Untied (1989)

Artist Marlon Riggs’s experimental movie Tongues Untied addresses the onslaught of racist and homophobic prejudices Black homosexual males have been compelled to endure and navigate for many years. Combining documentary footage with scripted private accounts, this 55-minute movie stays an impactful and related level of reference in intersectional LGBTQ activism. —A.F.

How you can watch: Tongues Untied is streaming on Kanopy.(opens in a brand new tab)

40. Love, Simon (2018)

Of us searching for a heartwarming, candy, and goofy romp to accompany the right at-home Satisfaction celebration can cease their search. Love, Simon, starring the at all times charming Nick Robinson, broke floor as the primary main studio movie to deal with a homosexual teen romance. Pleasant as it’s important, this film combines the perfect of rom-coms and popping out tales to verify each field on a film lover’s record. —A.F.

How you can watch: Love, Simon is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), YouTube(opens in a brand new tab), and Google Play(opens in a brand new tab).

41. Shiva Child (2021)

Here is a nightmare state of affairs: You are a younger, bi Jewish lady (Rachel Sennott) who simply completed hooking up with one among your sex-work shoppers — he is wealthy and cute and, hey, perhaps you kinda like him. You present up on the shiva your mother and father dragged you to, and oh fuck, Sugar Daddy walks in…with a scorching spouse…holding a new child child. And he is aware of your mother and father. Oh, and your ex-girlfriend, who’s been a complete flake these days, is there too. Emma Seligman’s debut characteristic is just like the Jewish comedic model of Trey Edward Schults’s Krisha, solely it finds the humor (and the suffocating anxiousness) within the chaos. Even higher, it’s solely an hour and 17 minutes.* — O.W.

How you can watch: Shiva Child is streaming on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) and Max(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable to lease or purchase on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

42. Comfortable Collectively (1997)

Directed by Wong Kar-wai, this nail-biting romantic saga depicts a tumultuous relationship on the point of collapse. The movie’s leads, Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, discover ardour and its limitations as Comfortable Collectively gives a singular, if not jarring, glimpse into affairs of the guts. —A.F.

How you can watch: Comfortable Collectively is streaming on Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab) and Max(opens in a brand new tab).

43. However I am a Cheerleader (2000)

Natasha Lyonne stars as a cheerleader compelled to attend a conversion remedy camp in what might very properly be the best lesbian fairytale of all time. Directed by Jamie Babbit, However I am a Cheerleader was met with lukewarm evaluations in 2000 however has since garnered a well-deserved cult following. Come for the promise of RuPaul making an attempt to faux he is straight; keep for a primary kiss scene that includes Clea DuVall that may knock your pom-poms off. —A.F.

How you can watch: However I am a Cheerleader is streaming on Tubi(opens in a brand new tab), and Pluto TV(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

44. Wig (2019)

Probably the most iconic occasions of New York Metropolis Satisfaction, Wigstock has taken many types through the years. Watch as director Chris Moukarbel follows present-day queens as they try to revitalize the competition made fashionable by legends, like Girl Bunny, in 2018. —A.F.

How you can watch: Wig is obtainable to stream on Max.(opens in a brand new tab)

45. Velvet Goldmine (1998)

One other glittering present from Todd Haynes, this ’70s-set drama performs like fan fiction, penned about queer icons like David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Oscar Wilde. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as a glam rock star who wins the guts of a headstrong American punk (Ewan McGregor), a glitzy occasion lady (Toni Collette), and the devotion of a younger teen coming into his personal (Christian Bale). Full of unimaginable music, scintillating spectacle, and unapologetically queer lust, Velvet Goldmine is gorgeous and daring even earlier than you understand Haynes mopped its narrative construction from Citizen Kane. —Okay.P.

How you can watch: Velvet Goldmine is now obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video.(opens in a brand new tab)

46. Paris Is Burning (1990)

It is the movie you knew needed to be on this record. Director Jennie Livingston’s unparalleled documentary Paris Is Burning captures the New York Metropolis drag ball tradition of the late ’80s with model, grace, and intelligence. It is a highly effective reflection on wealth disparity, race discrimination, and stigma surrounding the LGBTQ neighborhood — a must-see if there’s ever been one. —A.F.

How you can watch: Paris Is Burning is now streaming on The Criterion Channel(opens in a brand new tab) and on Max(opens in a brand new tab), and obtainable for lease or buy on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

47. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger shepherd a nuanced narrative of ardour, concern, romance, and disgrace in director Ang Lee’s story of star-crossed lovers in rural Wyoming and Texas. A timeless reflection on what it takes to unite who you’re anticipated to be with who you actually are, Brokeback Mountain is usually a little sappy — however its faultless message at all times lands. —A.F.

How you can watch: Brokeback Mountain is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

48. How you can Survive a Plague (2012)

Reporter David France seems again on the HIV/AIDS epidemic on this riveting, complete documentary. Weaving a whole bunch of hours of archival footage right into a cohesive narrative on the LGBTQ neighborhood’s struggle in opposition to biased healthcare practices, How you can Survive a Plague bottles what it means to make societal change occur earlier than it is too late. —A.F.

How you can watch: How you can Survive a Plague is streaming on Pluto.television(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

49. Portrait of a Girl on Fireplace (2019)

Author-director Céline Sciamma will blow you away with this historic French drama. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel lead as a painter and her unwilling topic whose intimate time collectively begins a secret romance that threatens to unravel them each. Painful and poetic, Portrait of a Girl on Fireplace is the under-appreciated watch it is advisable to find time for. —A.F.

How you can watch: Portrait of a Girl on Fireplace is streaming on Hulu,(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

50. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Few issues are as unspeakably enjoyable as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, and Man Pearce star as drag performers touring the Australian outback on this heartfelt comedy filled with iconic one-liners and costume adjustments. (It ought to be famous that this movie accommodates some outdated, racist portrayals of non-white characters. Many argue the movie stays a historic text(opens in a new tab) for the adjustments it caused in mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ artwork.) —A.F.

How you can watch: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), YouTube(opens in a brand new tab), and Google Play(opens in a brand new tab).

51. Upstairs Inferno (2015)

Documentarian Robert L. Camina remembers the catastrophic fireplace that took the lives of 32 individuals at New Orleans homosexual bar UpStairs Lounge on June 24, 1973. Witnesses to the tragedy replicate on the lives misplaced, the anticipated arsonist behind the assault, and town’s missing response to neighborhood devastation. It is a heartbreaking however important chapter in any LGBTQ historical past e book. —A.F.

How you can watch: Upstairs Inferno is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

52. Kiki (2016)

There has by no means been a greater time to revisit Sara Jordenö’s breathtaking Kiki. Centered on the drag and ballroom scene of New York Metropolis and people communities’ roles in rebuffing systemic intersectional bias, this documentary is an inspiring reminder that pleasure and love can result in lasting change — however not with out profound battle. —A.F.

How you can watch: Kiki is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

53. Pariah (2011)

Adepero Oduye devastates on this coming-of-age story. A cinematic journey that leaps from the display screen straight to your soul, Pariah follows a 17-year-old Black lady as she fights to just accept her lesbian id and reconcile her sexual orientation together with her household’s imaginative and prescient of the long run. —A.F.

How you can watch: Pariah is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

54. Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Road (2019)

Queer horror is a style filled with cringeworthy strikes. However followers of the much-maligned A Nightmare on Elm Road 2: Freddy’s Revenge got here to embrace its quirky dance quantity and its groundbreaking scream queen, Mark Patton. Teaming with documentarians Tyler Jensen and Roman Chimienti, this fascinating main man steps again into the highlight to share his story as a closeted homosexual actor who survived public mockery and the AIDS disaster to discover a love and neighborhood that takes pleasure in him. —Okay.P.

How you can watch: Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Road is streaming on Shudder(opens in a brand new tab) and AMC+,(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

55. The Favorite (2018)

Solely star Olivia Colman walked away with an Oscar for her work on The Favorite, however the 2018 historic black comedy greater than earned its justifiable share of reward. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, this Finest Image nominee tells the story of two courtiers, performed by Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, vying for the favor of Queen Anne (Colman). A superb argument in opposition to aristocracies — and proudly owning too many rabbits — this darkly hilarious and queer romp is properly price a watch. —A.F.

How you can watch: The Favorite is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), YouTube(opens in a brand new tab), and Google Play(opens in a brand new tab).

56. We Have been Right here (2011)

Director David Weissman’s documentary We Have been Right here transports viewers again to the San Francisco LGBTQ scene of the ’80s and ’90s as interview topics relive their battle to take care of the unfathomable HIV/AIDS disaster. A testomony to the energy of the human spirit and the ability of neighborhood, this can be a historical past lesson price taking note of. —A.F.

How you can watch: We Have been Right here is streaming Kanopy(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

57. Name Me By Your Identify (2017)

Timothée Chalamet leads in director Luca Guadagnino’s gorgeous coming-of-age romance. Winner of Finest Tailored Screenplay on the ninetieth Academy Awards, Name Me By Your Identify approaches its starring couple with tenderness, understanding, and unshakable heat. That is the right decide for a cozy-yet-ethereal evening in. —A.F.

How you can watch: Name Me By Your Identify is streaming on Netflix(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

58. Tomboy (2011)

One other installment from writer-director Céline Sciamma. Tomboy paints a staggering portrait of a gender non-conforming little one grappling with societal expectations in a brand new surroundings. Stuffed with hope however grounded in its true-to-life performances, this movie exists as a testomony to changing into who you actually are at any age. Then-10-year-old Zoé Héran positively dazzles together with her lead function. —A.F.

How you can watch: Tomboy is streaming on The Criterion Channel.(opens in a brand new tab)

59. A Unbelievable Girl (2017)

Winner of Finest International Language Movie on the ninetieth Academy Awards, director Sebastián Lelio’s A Unbelievable Girl is a tragedy and triumph for the ages. Daniela Vega performs a girl who loses her associate unexpectedly. Amidst her grief, she should contend together with her late associate’s household and their transphobia. This movie gives beautiful cognizance of the ache prejudice can add to present loss. —A.F.

How you can watch: A Unbelievable Girl is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

60. My Personal Personal Idaho (1991)

Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix star on this Twentieth-century retelling of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V. Director Gus Van Sant guides his leads by means of a tense, melancholy exploration of intimacy, energy, and uncertainty that by no means fails to ship poignant reflection regardless of its adventure-fueled storyline. Oh, and the pair’s chemistry is…searing. —A.F.

How you can watch: My Personal Personal Idaho is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab), iTunes(opens in a brand new tab), and Google Play(opens in a brand new tab).

61. The Half of It (2020)

Since arriving on Netflix final yr, The Half of It has quietly constructed a following of younger queer individuals enchanted by its presentation of popping out. Starring Leah Lewis as Ellie Chu, an introverted Chinese language-American excessive schooler, this romantic comedy is one more retelling of the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, however with an intense honesty to its topic that makes it stand out. —A.F.

How you can watch: The Half of It (opens in a brand new tab)is streaming on Netflix.(opens in a brand new tab)

62. A(sexual) (2011)

Director Angela Tucker’s debut documentary gives a radical, albeit imperfect, examination of what it means to be asexual in our typically sex- and romance-obsessed tradition. A(sexual) gives profound perception into what it means for asexual individuals to struggle for his or her proper to not partake in normalized relationship rituals and outline their very own areas throughout the LGBTQ neighborhood. —A.F.

How you can watch: A(sexual) is now streaming on Plex. (opens in a brand new tab)

63. Milk (2008)

In director Gus Van Sant’s astounding biopic, Sean Penn stars as activist and politician Harvey Milk. The primary brazenly homosexual man to be elected to public workplace in California, Milk progressed the rights of LGBTQ Individuals by unprecedented leaps and bounds. Milk honors that legacy with its heartfelt imagining of an icon. Penn received Finest Actor for his portrayal of Milk on the 81st Academy Awards. —A.F.

How you can watch: Milk is streaming on Max(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

64. Tangerine (2015)

Director Sean Baker’s low-budget tour de pressure follows transgender intercourse employee Sin-Dee Rella (performed by the bubbling Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) as she seeks to enact revenge on the person who cheated on her and the cisgender lady he cheated with. Bittersweet and hysterical, Tangerine is a one-of-a-kind viewing expertise you will cherish without end. —A.F.

How you can watch: Tangerine is streaming on Max(opens in a brand new tab) and Kanopy,(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

65. The Birdcage (1996)

Within the wake of an surprising wedding ceremony, The Birdcage chronicles the chaotic mixing of two very completely different households. Alongside the best way, Nathan Lane dons full drag, Robin Williams dances his pleated pants off, and Gene Hackman brings exceptional depth to his straight-man function. That is the right decide if you would like one thing mild and enjoyable to observe together with your chosen household. —A.F.

How you can watch: The Birdcage is streaming on Paramount+(opens in a brand new tab), and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

66. Rafiki (2018)

Starring Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva as burgeoning lovers, Rafiki was banned in Kenya(opens in a new tab) “on account of its gay theme and clear intent to advertise lesbianism in Kenya opposite to the legislation.” In consequence, after all, a lot of the remainder of the queer world embraced it as a logo in opposition to censorship. Director Wanuri Kahiu treats these viewers to a positively enchanting romance, one which solely emphasizes the necessity for LGBTQ equality in all places. —A.F.

How you can watch: Rafiki is streaming on Kanopy,(opens in a brand new tab) and is obtainable for lease or buy on Prime Video(opens in a brand new tab) and iTunes(opens in a brand new tab).

67. Welcome to Chechnya (2020)

The third movie from Academy Award-nominated documentarian David France, Welcome to Chechnya takes viewers on a guerilla-style investigation into the anti-gay purges that also plague the constituent republic of Russia. 

Not solely does the explosive venture element the abhorrent insurance policies created by Vladimir Putin and Chechen chief Ramzan Kadyrov to criminalize homosexuality, it additionally delves into the insidious tradition the federal government has instilled in its residents to encourage hate crimes. It’s a painful watch that calls for consideration from viewers, focusing largely on the brave efforts of underground networks working to assist LGBTQ individuals escape the area.*  —A.F.

How you can watch: Welcome to Chechnya is streaming on Max(opens in a brand new tab), or is obtainable to buy on iTunes(opens in a brand new tab)

Asterisks (*) point out the write-up comes from a earlier Mashable record.

UPDATE: Jun. 1, 2023, 2:57 p.m. EDT This record has been up to date with lively hyperlinks and extra film suggestions.