What’s New and Gay To Stream in October 2022
Spooky season is descending upon us — a time for horror movie marathons, fall themed beverages, orange candles boasting autumnal scents and a whole new month of television programs and movies with lesbian, gay and bisexual characters on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Peacock, HBO Max, Showtime, Paramount Plus and Disney+. Unfortunately, this year our October is not the bounty I’d hoped it’d be, although I came across a bevy of new content for queer cis men, so that is nice for them. Furthermore, I feel like every time a queer show is cancelled, another one needs to be created. An eye for an eye, look it up!
Top Row: Derry Girls, Wendell & Wild, High School, One of Us is Lying
Bottom Row: Monster High, Matriarch, Reginald the Vampire, Sissy, Pennyworth, Hellraiser
Netflix’s LGBTQ+ Movies and TV Shows for October 2022
First of all I would like to say that I have spent an ungodly amount of time attempting to deduce if The Midnight Club or The School of Good & Evil have queer female and/or trans characters and I remain SADLY STILL unsure.
The Color Purple (1985) – October 1
This classic based on Alice Walker’s novel is set in rural Georgia and is a raw emotional account of pain, passion and survival told by Celie, who seizes your whole heart with letters that trace her coming of age, falling in love for the first time and breaking free. The film de-gayed the story significantly, but subtext remains loud enough for the queer eye.
Nailed It! Season 7 – October 5
Queer comic Nicole Byer celebrates Halloween hosting a new season of home bakers battling it out for the Netflix crown.
Derry Girls: Season 3 – October 7
Sadly it is our final season with the Girls of Derry and we can look forward to a little love interest for our dearest girl Clare in a show Heather described as “consistently one of the best surprises on TV.”
Sue Perkins: Perfectly Legal – October 13
The conceit of this program starring beloved Bake-Off co-host and comic Sue Perkins is apparently that Sue will be “learn[ing] about Latin American people and their attitude towards authority, love and life by doing things that she never could or would do at home… in adventurous, shockingly legal and sometimes dangerous ways.” Honestly I do not love this premise!!
Dead End: Paranormal Park Season 2 – October 13
This is what our TV Editor Heather told me about Dead End: Paranormal Park: “Barney Guttman is the jewish trans queer teen guy who lives in the haunted house and he has a crush on his best guy friend, Logs (Logan). Norma is autistic and probably the best portrayal of autism i’ve seen/read praise about. She’s very queer in the comics but not queer on the show yet. Lots of speculation she will be this season.
Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune – October 25
Comic Fortune Feimster is a lesbian and she will be sharing stories about her life including “getting engaged, getting iced and getting a mind-blowing butt massage.”
Big Mouth: Season 6 – October 28
This traditionally very queer-inclusive cartoon show will explore “a whole new slate of cringeworthy situations and heartwarming vulnerability” in its sixth season.
Wendell & Wild (2022) – October 28
Henry Selick and Jordan Peele’s stop-motion horror comedy film features two scheming demon brothers, Wendell and Wild, who get 13-year-old Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) on board to summon them right on back to the Land of the Living. Most importantly for our purposes here today: Wendell & Wild the first animated film to feature a trans male supporting character! Raul is played by trans actor Sam Zelaya and he’s the only boy at Kat’s Catholic School and Kat’s best friend. “This isn’t just inclusive children’s entertainment,” Drew wrote of the film. “It’s inclusive children’s entertainment that actually engages with the realities of the people it represents.”
Prime Video’s Offerings To the LGBTQ+ Audience In October 2022
Jennifer’s Body (2009) – October 1
“This film explores some of my favorite themes all in one glossy, campy, self-aware package: misandry, women being extremely gay together, principled revenge, and the triumph of aught culture.” – Erin Sullivan, “I Watched Lebianish Classic “Jennifer’s Body” and Now I Love Cinema!”
High School: Season One – October 14 (Freevee)
Queer Canadian TikTok twins Railey and Seazynn Gilliand star as Tegan and Sara Quinn in this adaptation of the legendary musical duo’s memoir, High School, set in ’90s Calgary, Alberta, and featuring Colbie Smulders as their Mom! It’s executive produced, co-written, directed, and co-showrun by Clea DuVall! It’s full of queer teen angst and awkwardness and first loves and heartbreaks and self-discovery! We are so excitant for this one!
The Peripheral: Season One Premiere – October 22
Based on William Gibson’s 2014 book, this series stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a young woman in a small forgotten town in future America, trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family while lacking a viable path for herself, until she comes in contact with a device that connects her to an alternate reality and a dark future of her own. Alexandra Billings has a recurring role as Detective Ainsely Lowbeer, who is transgender. Queer actor T’Nia Miller is also in it, and I don’t know what role she is playing, but I hope it’s a gay one!
Hulu’s Lesbian and Queer and Trans Characters for October 2022
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) – October 1
Bisexual hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) helps Journalist Mikael Blomkvist track down a woman who’s been missing for 40 years! This celebrated film is chock-full of trauma, dark mysteries and cold landscapes. It’s possible that Ronney Mara made you gay when you first saw this film, or perhaps you were already gay after seeing Noomi Rapace play Lisbeth in the Swedish film that came out in 2009.
Huluween Dragstravaganza (2022) – October 1
This little spooky drag variety show promises glitz, glamour, ghouls and a special performance by Ke$ha!
Hellraiser (2022) – October 7
Beloved trans actress Jamie Clayton will be the first woman to play the androgynous Pinhead in this re-imagining of the classic 1987 horror film, long considered “queer-coded.” In the new version, “a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.”
Matriarch (2022) – October 21
This unpleasant body horror film follows a lesbian with some sort of office job who does a lot of coke, overdoses, gets a mysterious disease and then heads to her childhood home to confront her personal demons, only to find that her mother is even more bananas than she remembered and the entire town is full of creeps and something terrible is happening to everybody!
Black Swan (2011) – October 31
This is an important film about a mother who yells at her tiny daughter Natalie Portman who grows wings maybe out of her shoulder-blades and has to turn around again and again and be a better ballerina, and at some point something sexual happens with MIla Kunis.
Shows Debuting on Hulu the day after their network premiere:
- Grey’s Anatomy: Season 19 – October 7
- Station 19: Season 6 – October 7
Peacock’s Queer Content for October 2022
Bombshell (2019) – October 1
Kate McKinnon plays a lesbian reporter stuck working at Fox News when a new staffer decides it’s time to fight back against CEO Roger Ailes’s rampant sexual harassment of the channel’s talent.
Reginald the Vampire: Season One Premiere – October 6
Reginald debuts on Syfy on October 5th, and will be available the next day on Peacock
Reginald Andres (Marvel’s Jacob Batalon) is an unlikely hero living a life of dreams deferred and about to find himself unprepared to navigate numerous obstacles as he enters the world of beautiful, thin, self-obsessed vampires in this “feel-good, heartfelt, kind of a bit stabby vampire bloody type of show.” Based on Johnny Truant’s Fat Vampire books, queer non-binary actor Marguerite Hanna plays queer non-binary character Ashley Weeks, who works with Reginald at Slushy Shack.
Chucky: Season Two Premiere – October 6
This show debuts on Syfy on October 5th, and will be available the next day on Peacock
There is a part in the trailer for Season Two of this campy horror flick where Tiffany Valentine’s daughters find Nica Pierce held captive in their house and Nica is like “your mother is a psychotic murderer, I think she’s in love with me and she chopped off all my limbs and she’s kept me trapped up here for over a year” and one of the daughters is like “Mom’s a murderer???” and the other is like “Mom’s a LESBIAN?!!!” and anyhow, so there you go on that. Non-binary actor Lachlan Watson (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) plays Glen and Glenda, the doll to which the Bride of Chucky gave birth. (I don’t know what that means, I’m just a vessel of information.)
One of Us Is Lying: Season 2 (Episodes 1-8) – October 20
Simon, who dropped dead in Season One, was best friends with Janae, who is a lesbian, and gradually became part of the “Murder Club” of kids who were in detention when Simon died. In Season Two, Janae and the other teens will fight “to protect their secret, themselves and each other.” Also she’s kissing Maeve in the trailer!
Paramount Plus+ October 2022 Homosexuals, Bisexuals & Etc
Monster High: The Movie (2022) – October 6
Non-binary actor Ceci Balagot plays non-binary character Frankie Stein in this film that follows Clawdeen Wolf, born half-human and half-werewolf, after she arrives at her new school, Monster High, and makes new friends including the aforementioned Frankie!
Star Trek: Prodigy: Returning October 27
The animated Star Trek series aimed at kiddos has been applauded for its non-binary character, Zero. Zero is a Medusan, an energy-based species that has no gender or corporeal form (living the dream, honestly).
LGBTQ+ Inclusive Shows Debuting on Paramount+ the day after their network premiere:
- The Equalizer: Season Three Premiere – October 2
- S.W.A.T: Season Six Premiere – October 7
Disney+ Programming for LGBTQ+ Population in October 2022
Big Shot: Season Two Premiere – October 12
In Season Two Marvyn (John Stamos) is hoping to recruit a new volleyball player to their basketball team after she was ousted from her own following an extreme public tantrum while tensions build when the Sirens lose their assistant coach to a rival team. In Season One, Carolyn “Mouse” Smith came out to her friend Harper and confessed her crush, so we’ll see how that all plays out in Season Two.
HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ Content for Gals, Gays and Theys in October 2022
Pennyworth: The Origins of Batman’s Butler: Season 3 – October 6
Season Three of this psychological thriller formerly housed at Epix “begins after a five-year time jump: the civil war is over, and a cultural revolution has changed the world for better or worse – ushering in a new age of Super Heroes and Supervillains.” Paloma Faith, who plays the “delightfully sadistic” queer foe-turned-friend Bet Sykes, confirmed that Season 3 will be “a bit more DC,” cartoony” and “quite fun.”
Showtime’s LGBTQ+ Characters for October 2022
Nothing Compares (2022) – October 2
A documentary that takes a look at the wild life and career of Sinead O’Connor, including the incredible fallout of her ripping-up-a-pic-of-the-pope appearance on Saturday Night Live. Yes we ARE going to redeem another emotionally intense ’90s woman who got unfairly maligned!
Shudder’s LGBTQ+ Horror For September/October 2022
Sissy (2022) – September 29
Cecelia (Aisha Dee) is a (queer) social media influencer who peddles promisees of wellness to independent millennial women when she runs into Emma (Hannah Barlow), her former BFF — they had a viscous friend breakup instigated by a third friend, bully Alex (Emily De Margheriti) — and is invited to her (gay) Hens weekend (she’s about to marry Fran (Lucy Barrett) in a remote cabin in the mountains. But it turns out to be Alex’s cabin, and Alex is there to make Cecelia’s life a living hell! The film will also hit cinema theaters in Australia on October 27th.
Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror: Documentary Series Premiere – September 30
This four-part documentary tells the story of LGBTQIA+ horror from its literary roots to 1920s Universal Monster Era to lavender scare alien invasion films to contemporary queer cinema. Talking heads include Jasmin Savoy Brown, Leslye Headland, Lea DeLaria, Liv Hewson and Briana Venskus.
What’s New and Gay To Stream in September 2022
The leaves are falling, children are rushing towards the first day of school with large backpacks weighing on their tender spinal cords, and you and me are wondering “what lesbian and bisexual characters are gonna show up on our television sets this September?” Well good news: there are in fact some programs and films to look forward to on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Disney+, Prime Video and more!
Netflix’s LGBTQ+ Movies and TV Shows for September 2022
Devil in Ohio: Limited Series – September 2
This absurd but engaging limited series about a girl who escapes a Satanic Cult stars Emily Deschanel as Suzanne, the suburban mother/doctor who takes her in, a decision which ends up impacting her, her three daughters and her husband in unexpected ways. Queer actor Djouliet Amara plays queer character Tatiana, the former best friend of Suzanne’s popular daughter Helen (Alisha Newton), who is also a little bit queer herself!
The Imperfects: Season One – September 8
In this sci-fi series, teenagers suffer intense consequences to illegal experiments performed on their bodies without their consent: Juan becomes a werewolf-esque creature, Abbi produces poison she can secrete through her body and Tilda, a punk band singer, gets a supersonic voice that makes performing impossible. Together they attempt to find out what happened to them and get their lives together. This show has been categorized as having “LGBTQ themes” on several platforms including Netflix itself but TBD on what that actually means!
Colette (2018) – September 13
“Certainly there’s a hint of salaciousness in the depiction of Colette’s early forays into lady-love,” writes Heather of this bipoic starring Keira Knightley as writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, “but the film treats her relationship with Missy with the utmost respect and tenderness. ”
In the Dark: Season Five – September 13
Heartbreak High – September 14
This Australian teen drama, a reboot of the 1994 Network Ten series, stars Ayesha Madon as Amerie, a “brash, working class girl who becomes a pariah at Hartley High” after “a discovery” (the preview suggests this “discovery” is a color-coded chart that reveals everybody’s hookups) (You know, A CHART), which causes “a mysterious and very public rift” with her best friend Harper (Asher Yasbincek). She befriends Darren (James Majoos), a South African queer and non-binary student. Sasha (Gemma Chua-Tran), the Shane of this chart, is “the coolest, sexiest, chiccest lesbian at the school” who is involved with Indigenous student Missy (Sherry-Lee Watson). There’s a lot of First Nation and queer representation in this show as well as an autistic character played by an autistic actor so I think we will all really enjoy ourselves!
Do Revenge (2022) – September 16
This film starring Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke aims to answer the question “what would it be like to take the fun, thrillery stakes of a Hitchcock movie and put it in high school?” Super-popular Drea wants to get back at her boyfriend for leaking her sex tape. Transfer student Eleanor has been outed by another girl. They decide to team up and help each other out by seeking vengeance on each other’s bullies. This could be a Glee plot but instead it’s this film and I am excited to see it!
The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone (2022) – Sep 22
This 29-minute documentary “reveals the memories of Georgia Stone, an Australian transgender teen as she helps change laws, affirms her gender, finds her voice and emerges into adulthood.”
Dynasty: Season Five – September 24
Rainbow (2022) – September 30
So this movie is called “Rainbow” and the lead is a alternateen girl with short hot-pink hair who wants to be a singer and Samantha Hudson is in it and the director is bisexual actor / producer / activist Paco León and it’s a modern re-telling of The Wizard of Oz soooooooooo
Peacock’s Offerings To the LGBTQ+ Gods In September 2022
Real Girlfriends In Paris: Season One Premiere (Bravo) – September 6
Victoria Zito, fresh out of a messy divorce from her ex-husband, will indeed be coming out as bisexual in the very first episode of the new Bravo reality series, Real Girlfriends in Paris, which follows six bold twentysomething women as they experience “wild adventures” and “romantic rendezvous” in Emily’s favorite city, Paris. Zito is a “small-town girl with big fashion dreams” raised in Texas and currently working as the head designer at fashion brand Chloe Colette.
Vampire Academy: Season One, Episodes 1-4 Premiere: September 15
Julie Plec’s latest vampire series follows two young women whose “friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society.” Pride dot com says the book upon which it was based was “subtextually queer” due to the “passionate and intimate” aforementioned friendship, but the adaptation should be more explicitly queer, as per a moment of two women kissing in the trailer that I painstakingly paused to evaluate as my service to the community.
Returning LGBTQ-inclusive NBC Shows Available on Hulu the Day After Their network premiere:
- New Amsterdam: Season 5 Premiere – September 21
- Law & Order SVU: Season 24 Premiere – September 23
Hulu’s Lesbian and Queer Characters for September 2022
Tell it to the Bees (2018) – September 1
Anna Paquin is Jean, a new doctor in a 1950s rural Scotland town who forms a special connection with Lydia, the mother of her patient Charlie, who is really obsessed with Jean’s bee colonies. The story was adapted by a straight person from a novel by a lesbian and The AV Club said that it “crushes a tender midcentury love story under the weight of melancholy,” so ymmv.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Season Five Two-episode premiere – September 14
Moira (Samira Wiley) and Luke will be helping June fight Gilead from a distance as they continue to pursue their ongoing interest of “rescuing Hannah” in a season that will find June facing consequences for killing Commander Waterford. Commander Lawrence is working with Nick and Aunt Lydia for some reason to reform Gilead while Serena’s working on raising her profile in Toronto, as one does.
Monarch: Series Premiere (Fox) – September 12
This “Texas-sized, multi-generational musical drama about America’s leading family of country music” stars Susan Sarandon as the queen of country music, Dottie Cantrell Roman. Beth Ditto is her daughter, Gigi Tucker-Roman, who has always felt like an outcast in her family despite her incredible singing voice, and also Gigi is GAY and married to Kayla Roman-Tucker (Meagan Holder), who is keeping a secret that could destroy her marriage to Gigi. This show was originally slated to debut on January 30, 2022, but then was delayed due to Covid-related issues.
Reboot: Season One Premiere – September 20
This Hulu original stars Rachel Bloom as a lesbian TV writer, Hannah, who pitches a reboot of an early 2000s family sitcom to a network and everybody gets right on board, forcing this dysfunctional cast of kooky characters to face their demons (each other) amid today’s fast-changing world. Rachel Bloom looks very gay in her sweater vests.
Reasonable Doubt: Two-Episode Series Premiere (Onyx/Hulu) – September 27
Kerry Washington’s the EP of this new legal drama with an all-Black writers room starring Emayatzy Corinealdi as Jax Stewart, “the most brilliant and fearless defense attorney in Los Angeles who bucks the justice system at every chance she gets.” Tiffany Yvonne Cox (Good Trouble) has a recurring role as Autumn, “the listener and caretaker of Jax’s friends” who’s happily married to her wife and has been best friends with Jax since tenth grade.
Returning LGBTQ-inclusive Fox & ABC Shows Available on Hulu the Day After Their Network Premiere:
- 9-1-1: Season 6 Premiere (Fox) – September 20
- The Cleaning Lady: Season 2 Premiere (Fox) – September 23
- Home Economics: Season 3 Premiere (ABC) – September 23
- Big Sky: Season 3 Premiere (ABC) – September 23
Paramount Plus+ September 2022
The Good Fight Season 6 Premiere – September 8th
I do feel like if you pause this trailer at 1:47, that could be Carmen Mayo (played by queer actress Charmaine Bingwa) kissing a girl! Just a note!
The Amazing Race Season 34 Premiere (CBS) – September 21
FINALLY my dream is coming true — an out engaged lesbian couple with a real shot at the gold are competing! It’ll be the first-ever season of Amazing Race to open outside of the United States, the first season since Season 15 to feature twelve teams, and the first time the series will eschew non-elimination rounds.
Disney+ Programming for LGBTQ+ in September 2022
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Season 2 Premiere – September 22
Inspired by the beloved film, this family-friendly comedy finds The Mighty Ducks evolved from their once-scrappy origins into a super competitive youth hockey team. After 12-year-old Evan is cut from the team, he teams up with his Mom to start a new team of underdog misfits to challenge the reign of the ducks. One of the players, Nick, has two Moms.
Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) – September 30
The much anticipated sequel to the 90s camp classic Hocus Pocus reunites Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, who’ve come to Salem to cause chaos and have to face three teenage girls who will pull out all the stops to stop them from succeeding. Some of this chaos will hopefully be GAY because the novelization that was rumored to be the basis of the sequel includes a lesbian teen love story at its heart. Queer actress Belissa Escobedo is playing “Izzy,” a name that sounds a lot like Isabella, who was a lesbian in the book. Bisexual actress Lilia Buckingham plays the lead role of Cassie and there are also three drag queens involved.
HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ Content for Gals, Gays and Theys in September 2022
Tom Swift: Season One (The CW) – September 9
This sci-fi show follows Tom Swift, a Black gay man and “an exceptionally brilliant inventor with unlimited resources and unimaginable wealth” whose father’s disappearance thrusts him into a “breathtaking adventure full of mysterious conspiracies and unexplained phenomena.” His bodyguard, Isaac Vega, is trans and pansexual!
Los Espookys: Season 2 Premiere – September 16
Vulture describes Los Espookys as “Latinx and queer as hell.” The eccentric program comes from a team of creators that includes Latinx comedians Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres and follows a group of weirdos who start a business creating “custom horror events,” like exorcisms or hauntings, for people who need them. Torres’ plays Andrés, a gay chocolate empire heir estranged from his family. Goth dental assistant Ursula (Cassandra Ciangherotti), the older sister of Fabrega’s character Tati (who is allegedly straight but “has the androgynous goofiness of a clown“), is queer and in Season Two will be reuniting with a former acquaintance to shake up local politics. Trans pop star Kim Petras is joining the cast as Secretary of State Kimberly Reynolds.
Showtime Anytime Content for September 2022
Club Cumming Presents A Queer Comedy Extravaganza – Sep 2
Alan Cumming hosts a cabaret-style gathering of seven up-and-coming queer comics: Joe Castle Baker, Julia Shiplett, duo Zach Teague & Drew Lausch, Nori Reed, Pat Regan, and Larry Owens.
American Giglio: Season One Premiere – September 9
Rosie O’Donnell is the very butch Detective Sunday in this reimagining of the ’80s Richard Gere flick. This time around, Julian is fresh out of lockup where he’s been exonerated after serving 15 years for a murder he didn’t commit after he woke up to find his client stabbed to death. I don’t think there’s gonna be any actual gay stories in this but Detective Sunday sure does seem like a homosexual!
What’s New and Gay To Stream in August 2022
Take me out to the ballgame it’s August, the month in which A League of Their Own is coming out and not a whole lot else!! After a triumphant June and an uneven July, we head into this hot breath of extreme summer with our eyes peeled for lesbian, queer, bisexual and trans characters on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Disney+. Where will we find them? More importantly: where will they find us? The answer to these questions and more will become apparent as the days roll out before us.
Amazon Prime Video’s LGBTQ+ Movies and TV Shows for August 2022
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) – August 1
Recently divorced writer Frances (Diane Lane) buys a villa in Tuscany on a whim hoping for a big change in her life! Famously, Sandra Oh plays her lesbian best friend Patti who is expecting a baby with her partner, Grace (Kate Walsh), and thus gave Frances the Italian vacation ticket that started this whole charade. Later Patti comes to visit! Big Mommi energy.
The Outlaws: Season 2 – August 5
Seven lawbreakers unite to pursue the completion of their community payback sentences in this series starring Christopher Walken that involves humorous heists and an influencer who committed her crime during a bad breakup with her girlfriend.
A League Of Their Own: Season One – August 12
I am more excited for y’all to see this show than I’ve been for anything since Orange is the New Black’s first season! I got screeners last month and have already watched the entire season twice. Unlike the iconic 1992 film that managed to make us all into the homosexuals we are today without any explicitly homosexual content, the reboot, which stars Abbi Jacobson, D’Arcy Carden, Chante Adams and Roberta Colindrez; directly explores racism and lesbianism within and outside of the leagues. There are unforgettable queer characters at the epicenter of every scene, plot and story. The only thing wrong with this show is that Amazon Prime Video did not buy advertising on our website to promote it.
Netflix’s Queer Content for August 2022
Sandman: Season One – August 5
Non-binary actor Mason Alexander Park plays pansexual gender-fluid entity Desire and Daisy Head plays lesbian character Judy Talbot in this adaptation of the Neil Gaiman series described as “a rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven.” The entire series has plenty of lesbian and trans characters turn up throughout its full run, and promo photos suggest we’ll be seeing some of them in Season One, including Chantal (Daisy Badger) and Zelda (Cara Horgan).
Riverdale: Season 6 – August 7
Dope (2015) – August 11
Carmen describes Dope, a coming-of-age drug-heist comedy set in Inglewood, as “a complete love letter to nerdy ass black kids and the black communities we grew up in.” And while Kiersey Clemons’ queer character’s queerness isn’t at the center of the story, it doesn’t really matter because the movie is simply so good.
Never Have I Ever: Season 3 – August 12
Dev returns to school with a very popular boyfriend and everybody has feelings about it. I personally have feelings about a production still of non-binary actor Terry Hu looking absolutely fantastic in episode 308. What will happen with our lesbian character Fabiola? Good question, and it seems that watching the show is our best avenue to get an answer.
Echoes: Limited Series – August 19th
Can Karen Robinson, Ali Stroker, Rosanny Zayas and Matt Bomer all come together to be in a television show in which nothing gay happens? Let’s find out in this creepy limited series about twin sisters who’ve shared their life until one of them disappears, throwing their weird little existence into DISARRAY. Even though to be honest films where one person is playing both parts of a set of twins for some reason stress me out.
Disobedience (2017) – August 26
This lesbian romantic drama about the secret relationship between two Orthodox Jewish women, played by Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz, is iconic for the spitplay. You know what I mean.
Peacock’s Offerings To the LGBTQ+ Gods In August 2022
They/Them (2022) – August 5
The title of this horror film struck fear in everybody’s hearts before anybody even had a chance to watch it, but now it has closed Outfest and is popping up on Peacock. Kevin Bacon and Carrie Preston are a couple running a Christian “gay conversion therapy” camp in a remote area, where a group of LGBTQ+ kids, including characters played by queer and trans actors like Theo Germaine, Quei Tann, Noëlle Cameron, Monique Kim and Destiny Freeman; find themselves facing off with a mysterious killer. “Audiences can expect a frightening, thrilling movie,” writer John Logan told Deadline, “but even more so, it’s a story about queer empowerment and about seven queer kids who are heroes, which is something we don’t see a lot and we really don’t see a lot in the horror genre.”
The Undeclared War: Season One – August 18
This British thriller, set in a post-pandemic 2024 in the run-up to a general election, finds a leading team of analysts working to fend off a cyberattack on the country’s electoral system. Saara Parvan (Hannah Khalique), a student working in the malware department, ends up at the center of this escalating data war with Russia and also at the center of a LESBIAN SUBPLOT
Hulu’s Lesbian and Queer Characters for August 2022
Black Swan (2010) – August 1
This is an important film about a mother who yells at her tiny daughter Natalie Portman who grows wings maybe out of her shoulder-blades and has to turn around again and again and be a better ballerina, and at some point something sexual happens with MIla Kunis.
Reservation Dogs: Season 2 Premiere – August 3
When Season One of this series created by an incredible team of Indigenous people including lots of queer people ended, Jackie (queer actor Elva Guerra) and Elora (queer activist Devery Jacobs) ended up heading out to California on their own, leaving Willie Jack, Cheese and Bear behind on the reservation, and it picks up with the crew separated on these divergent paths. Devery Jacobs joined the writing team this season and told Entertainment Weekly that she sees “an inherent queerness in Reservation Dogs that she’s noticed the LGBTQ community picking up on.” TBD if anything explicitly queer will happen, but Willie Jack being asked if she has a boyfriend or a girlfriend in the trailer is promising.
Hotties: Season One – August 16
This dating competition drops a bunch of hot singles on blind dates in food trucks? In the middle of the desert? While Jade Catta-Preta watches them on an iPad from a trailer and makes comments? And then the couples battle to cook up “date night worthy dishes” while also being subjected to “extreme spicy food challenges.” Some of these couples will indeed be queer, I saw it with my own eyes in the trailer. I just want to say, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall of this pitch meeting.
Disobedience (2017) – August 25
Netflix gets Disobedience, Hulu gets Disobedience, we all get Disobedience!
Paramount Plus+ July 2022
Star Trek Lower Decks: Season 3 Premiere – August 25
This animated comedy follows the characters aboard the least important ship in the galaxy, with a special focus on “lower-deckers.” Amongst these characters are Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), a pansexual rebel who serves as Ensign on the Cerritos and gets romantically involved with her former frenemy Jen Sh’reyan (Lauren Lapkus). Heather wrote of the show: “It’s smart, but most importantly: it’s hilarious.”
Apple TV LGBTQ+ Content for August 2022
See: Season 3 Premiere – August 26
See is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia in a distant future where, after a virus wiped out almost the entire population several centuries ago, those remaining alive lost their sense of sight. But then!!! A tribe believes that two of its children have the mythical power to see! Now we are at Season Three, and I know the exact same amount of information about this program as I did in Season One (nothing). There are two queer characters: Haniwa (Nesta Cooper) and Wren (Eden Epstein).
Disney+ Programming for LGBTQ+ in August 2022
Lightyear (2022) – August 3
In Toy Story, Andy gets a toy, Buzz Lightyear, from his favorite movie. Lightyear is that movie, and there sure is a queer family in it! “It’s so refreshing to feel energized by queer representation in mainstream animation, particularly Disney and Pixar,” wrote Em in her review. “Instead of writing a critique or piece about only seeing a few seconds of one couple in passing, I’m able to write about an entire universe of people loving and looking up to people like me.”
AMC+ Pulling Out the Gay Spots in August 2022
Kevin Can F**ck Himself: Season 2 – August 22
Heather described season one of Kevin Can F**ck Himself like this: “What if Thelma and Louise fell in big canonical bisexual love while engaging in a misandrist bender with all roads leading to a murdered husband? Now you have my full and undivided attention!” In its second and final season, the gals need a new plan now that the original plan to murder
HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ Content for Gals, Gays and Theys in August 2022
Industry: Season Two – August 1
This show about the dramatic finance world as seen through the eyes of newcomer Harper (Myha’la Herrold) had like one minute of a predatory lesbian in its first season, and now it returns with a trailer that really seems to present a highly homoerotic situation between Yasmin (Marisa Abela) and her new mentor, Celeste Pacquet (Katrine de Candole). How will this pan out? I likely will find the answer to this question eventually and then either delete or reinforce this blurb.
What’s New and Gay To Stream in July 2022
Well my friends it is now July, when all the corporations can finally deactivate their rainbow gradients and move forward with heterosexual revelry. Yet we remain thirsty every month of the year for lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans characters on our streaming television screams — but will Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Disney+ deliver? Or did they exhaust their gay wings flapping so hard in June? Let’s find out!
HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ Content for Gals, Gays and Theys in July 2022
Rap Sh*t: Season One Premiere – July 21
Following two estranged best friends who reunite and deicide to form a rap group, this new show from Issa Rae is co-stars queer non-binary actor Aida Osman, who’s also the Executive Story Editor! Bisexual actress Jonica Blu Booth plays Chastity, a character who I am certain is as gay as the day is long or I will quit my job??? But officially all we know about her character is that Chastity is a “sex work manager” who calls herself “The Duke of Miami.”
Harley Quinn: Season 3 – July 28
Harley and Poison Ivy are finally GFFs and BFFs forever in the only animated series I have watched in full as an adult! In Season 3, Harley and Poison Ivy wrap up their ‘Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour” and return to Gotham as the new DC villany power couple. Together they aim to become the best Harlivy possible and work towards Ivy’s goal of turning Gotham into an Eden.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Season One – July 28
The latest entry in the PLL franchise takes place in the blue-collar town of Milwood, where twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the town apart. Now, a new set of Liars are being tormented by an A-ish figure to pay for their parents’ secret sins and their own. Trans actor Jordan Gonzalez plays trans character Ash, the head of the school’s LGBTQIA+ group and the love interest of main character Minnie (Maria Pyles), a queer teen who escapes her childhood trauma by engaging in virtual worlds. Lea Salonga plays Minne’s gay Mom and Kim Berrios Lin plays her other Mom!
Amazon Prime Video’s LGBTQ+ Movies and TV Shows for July 2022
Jennifer’s Body (2009) – July 1
“This film explores some of my favorite themes all in one glossy, campy, self-aware package: misandry, women being extremely gay together, principled revenge, and the triumph of aught culture,” wrote Erin Sullivan in her favorable review of this vaguely queer Megan Fox / Amanda Seyfriend vehicle.
1UP (2022) – July 15
In this effort from Buzzfeed Studios, Vivian “V” Lee (Paris Berelc) is a competitive gamer on video game scholarship (?!) to Barrett University, where, frustrated by the overconfident men on her gaming team (?!) The Betas, she makes the bold choice to quit and start her own girl power squad, joined by her best friend Sloane (Hari Nef) and with a little help from coach Parker (Ruby Rose). Ruby Rose has a shaved head, a motorcycle jacket and a sassy young son in the trailer. (Fun fact: their role was originally cast with Elliot Page, who stepped back from the project after coming out as a trans man because the role was written as a queer woman character.)
Anything’s Possible (2022) – July 22
Billy Porter’s exuberant LGBTQ+ rom-com follows Kelsa (newcomer Eva Reign), a confident Black trans high school student, through her senior year and her first big romance with her cutie classmate Khal. Amazon Prime describes it as a “romance that showcases the joy, tenderness, and pain of young love” and I am inclined to believe them in this instance!!!
Paper Girls: Season One – July 29
Paper Girls, based on the wildly popular critically acclaimed comic book series that debuted in 2015 (YES I OWN A COPY OF ISSUE #1), opens in 1988 when a group of 12-year-old girls discover a time machine on their paper route and are thrust into the future to confront their future selves (and in two cases, their queerness). I AM SO EXCITED 4 THIS TO HAPPEN
Hulu’s Lesbian and Queer Characters for July 2022
Milk (2008) – July 1
This biopic telling the story of the legendary gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk has a queer female character, Anne Kronenberg, played by Allison Pill. I saw this film in the theater and cried like a baby!
Killing Eve: Season Four – July 10
The final season of Killing Eve had a very controversial ending, perhaps you heard??? Anyhow, Season Four also provided additional opportunities to witness the erotic cat-and-mouse game played by Eve and Villanelle set against the background of some international spy assassin government situation that nobody cares about anymore.
Not Okay (2022) – July 29
Not Okay, written and directed by multi-talented queer Quinn Shephard, stars Zoey Deutch as Danni Sanders, an aspiring influencer who pretends to have lived through a Paris terrorist attack to earn a social media following. Shephard’s girlfriend, Nadia Alexander, is playing “Harper,” which I am confident is a gay character because if you’re in your girlfriend’s movie and the character is named Harper then surprise, you’re gay!
Paramount Plus+ July 2022
The Only (2022) – July 12
This documentary about Black gay goalkeeper legend Briana Scurry honors her legacy and her impact on women’s sports and gives a glimpse at what she was silently enduring behind the scenes.
Peacock’s Offerings To the LGBTQ+ Gods In July 2022
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) – July 1
This de-gayed adaptation of the Fannie Flagg novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is the story of iconic tomboy Idgie Threadgoode who develops a “close friendship” with her dead brother’s ex-girlfirend Ruth, who Idgie extracts from her abusive relationship and brings into a life together running the Whistle Stop Cafe.
A Simple Favor (2018) – July 1
When I walked out of the theater after seeing A Simple Favor I declared it the most significant cinematic experience of my life and although I was being hyperbolic and I’m not even sure if it’s technically a good movie, I will defend it with my life!!!! Anyhow Blake Lively wears a 7-piece suit and is bisexual and Anna Kendrick is a mommy vlogger and there is a MYSTERY with lots of TWISTS!!!!
Disney+ LGBTQ+ Content for July 2022
High School Musical: Season Three Premiere – July 27
High School Musical: The Series is transporting the whole gang to Camp Shallow Lake for two weeks of fun in the sun and a big summer musical production of “Frozen.” Relevant to all of us here is that gay icon / former bowtie enthusiast JoJo Siwa will be joining the cast and is holding hands with a girl in the preview.
Netflix’s Queer Content for July 2022
Stranger Things 4 – July 1
Stranger Things 4 is nearly twice the runtime of any previous season, which means that it had to be broken into two parts — the first dropped over Memorial Day Weekend, and the second part comes out over July 4th Weekend. We’ll see noted 80s teen lesbian Robin team up with the rest of the nerds of Hawkins to battle the Upside Down and hopefully make a little time for her band crush, Vickie, while she’s at it.
The Best Straight Movies of the Past 10 Years
It’s Pride Month which means every straight publication is publishing or republishing a list of queer movies to help you celebrate. “16 LGBTQ Movies to Watch This Pride Month,” Time Magazine suggests. “LGBT Film List for Pride Month,” Harpers Bazaar adds. But while they’re winning SEO battles recommending Brokeback Mountain, whomst is thinking of the straights??
Here at Autostraddle, we cover queer movies all year-round. Whether in our exhaustive 200 Lesbian+ Movies list or more esoteric guides, we don’t need Pride Month to inspire enthusiasm for gay cinema. That’s why this month, I thought we’d fill in the straight gap while our hetero friends are busy with the queers. I present to you: The Top 10 Straight Movies of the Past 10 Years.
Author’s Note: Since straight-made queer lists include films with minor queer characters, my generous rule here is if a film has at least one straight protagonist it’s eligible. This is not a joke. These are genuinely my ten favorite straight movies of the past ten years.
Honorable Mentions:
Certain Women (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)
Happy Hour (dir. Ryūsuke Hamaguchi)
If Beale Street Could Talk (dir. Barry Jenkins)
Mad Max: Fury Road (dir. George Miller)
Minari (dir. Lee Isaac Chung)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (dir. Eliza Hittman)
The Pink Cloud (dir. Iuli Gerbase)
Shoplifters (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Toni Erdmann (dir. Maren Ade)
Uncut Gems (dir. Josh & Benny Safdie)
Us (dir. Jordan Peele)
10. Before Midnight (dir. Richard Linklater)
One of the greatest straight love stories in cinema history, Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy found melancholy in its conclusion. While Before Sunrise portrayed two straight strangers falling in love and Before Sunset found romance in second chances, this last entry is more concerned with the challenges that arise after the magic. Before Midnight may not appear as romantic, but it ultimately reaches a sweet acceptance. Not all love is meant to last forever. Sometimes love that does last is still hard. But even amidst the greatest challenges, there’s still beauty in straight love.
9. Widows (dir. Steve McQueen)
A reoccurring theme in straight cinema is hetero women cleaning up the messes of hetero men. Never was this done better than in Steve McQueen’s post-Oscar win feature Widows. Viola Davis leads a truly iconic cast in this heist movie about a group of women joining forces to pay off the debt left by their thief husbands. A remake of a British miniseries, McQueen transports the story to Chicago where he infuses the tale with explorations of race and local politics. While many of the cast members are not straight themselves, they do an excellent job portraying their characters — finding humanity beyond their sexuality.
8. As I Open My Eyes (dir. Leyla Bouzid)
This French-Tunisian co-production begins like so many France-set political coming-of-age tales. Farah is a singer in a secret relationship with a male member of her band. She’s feisty, stubborn, horny, and defies her parents who want her to study medicine. But this film takes place in Tunisia in the summer of 2010 and as it continues, director and co-writer Leyla Bouzid gives that familiar arthouse tale a postcolonial edge. Through Farah’s straight coming-of-age, Bouzid shows the difference between navel-gazing teen rebellion and real social rebellion. It’s a difficult film that finds beauty in music and in the youthful ability to fight for lost causes. Anchored by a stellar lead performance from Baya Medhaffar, As I Open My Eyes is one of the most under-celebrated films — straight or gay — in recent cinema.
7. Lemonade (dir. Beyoncé and others)
While undoubtedly one of the most accomplished contemporary straight musicians and businesswomen, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter deserves just as much praise as a filmmaker. Building on the achievements of her self-titled visual album, Lemonade is a cohesive, collaborative music film that explores Black heterosexual womanhood and Black heterosexual relationships. The famously private artist uses the challenges of her public marriage in a work centered on betrayal, anger, hurt, and, ultimately, forgiveness. With the words of Warsan Shire and artistic references ranging from Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust to the video art of Pipilotti Rist, Beyoncé showcases the variety of great art made by straight women who are married to or have been married to men.
6. Señoritas (dir. Lina Rodríguez)
Lina Rodríguez has been dismissively referred to as the Colombian Lena Dunham. But while they may share a focus on straight characters, it’d be more accurate to compare her to the non-straight Chantal Akerman. With long takes and a grounded setting, Lina Rodríguez lets her characters live in real time. Her debut feature, Señoritas, follows a young woman named Alejandra as she goes about her daily life in Bogota. She helps her mom cook, she makes out with boys, and, of course, she masturbates. It’s normal to want to find comparisons for cinema this formally unique, but the fact is Rodríguez’s cinema is entirely her own. There is no film — straight or gay — quite like Señoritas.
5. Mudbound (dir. Dee Rees)
While some people may take issue with a queer filmmaker telling a straight story, Dee Rees’ masterpiece epic Mudbound is proof that sometimes it’s possible. Based on the book by Hilary Jordan, Rees’ film follows two heterosexual male veterans — one Black and one white — returning to their families in rural Mississippi after World War II. With a talented ensemble cast, including an Oscar nominated turn from Mary J. Blige, Rees creates a painful and powerful American story. And while I’m here to discuss straight achievements, I still have to mention the truly incredible cinematography from Rachel Morrison. (While nominated for an Oscar, she ultimately lost to Roger Deakins, only the 119th man to win the award.)
4. Magic Mike XXL (dir. Gregory Jacobs)
Many stories of heterosexual masculinity show it to be a toxic pursuit, but this surprising sequel demonstrates the ways it can be used for good. A road movie, a love story, a tale of friendship, a modern day Old Hollywood musical, Magic Mike XXL is the film we hoped the first one would be and more. While passing off directing duties to his fellow straight man and long-time AD Gregory Jacobs, heterosexual auteur Steven Soderbergh stayed on the project as DP and editor splashing his style all over the affair. Jada Pinkett Smith, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Glover, and Amber Heard join our main cast of dancer bros and the result is a smart and delightful burst of sex and charm. By the time the film builds to its big final number, even the gayest audience member might wonder if they’re a little bit straight.
3. Lady Bird (dir. Greta Gerwig)
A dazzling portrait of a white heterosexual girl’s coming-of-age, Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut gave us a straight character anyone can root for. Quoted, memed, written about, and referenced to death, Gerwig’s film continues to charm due to its relatable nesting doll of love stories.
Saoirse Ronan’s Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson has two romances — one with Lucas Hedges and the other with straight actor Timothée Chalamet. But the real love story is between her and her best friend Julie played by Beanie Feldstein. Except the actual real love story is between her and her mother — a standout performance from Laurie Metcalf in a film full of standout performances. Except ultimately it’s not that either. Ultimately, it’s a love story between Lady Bird and her hometown of Sacramento, a place she can’t wait to leave yet can’t help but love. It is all of these love stories, each told with nuance and attention to detail. To quote the film, “Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing? Love and attention?”
2. American Honey (dir. Andrea Arnold)
Her recent television work may have focused on people with more privilege — I Love Dick, Transparent, Big Little Lies — but Andrea Arnold’s films have long centered tales of lower and lower-middle class heterosexuals. In an industry that’s nearly impossible to enter without economic privilege, Arnold is one of the few auteurs to share the background of her characters. This is felt in work that’s grounded in economic struggle but disinterested in the trauma porn of more voyeuristic artists. Never is this more true than in the beautiful masterpiece, American Honey.
In her debut performance, Sasha Lane bravely explores the psyche of a heterosexual character, portraying Star, a teenage girl who gets involved with a traveling magazine sales crew. Not only is American Honey an audacious work of cinema, it also understands that rumored heterosexual Rihanna’s “We Found Love” is the greatest song of all time.
1. In Between (dir. Maysaloun Hamoud)
While Maysaloun Hamoud’s masterful debut tells the story of a lesbian DJ we can all relate to, its straight storylines hold equal power. Leila, Nour, and the aforementioned DJ, Salma, are three very different Palestinian women navigating life in occupied Tel Aviv. Leila is progressive and Nour is traditional, but they both face oppression in their heterosexual relationships. Layer this on top of the oppression they face as Palestinians, and they are both experiencing untenable situations. As the years pass since In Between’s release, its relevance only grows. Not only does the occupation of Palestine continue to result in inequity and violence by Israel, but, more broadly, so many of us are facing increased — and intersecting — oppression from our own fascist governments and conservative societies. This is not a hopeful film, but I find hope within it all the same. There may not be easy answers for any of us, but there is community and solidarity. These three women support one another — religious or not religious, straight or gay. They take care of each other in an impossible world.
The best heterosexual cinema is not heterosexual at all. The year is 2022 and our best films understand that queerness is everywhere, even in straight stories. Most of us — no matter our gender or sexuality — have some identity that’s currently under attack. Now more than ever we need solidarity. Now more than ever we need straight films like In Between. [#64 on our All-Time Lesbian Movie List 😉]
What’s New and Gay To Stream in June 2022
It’s June, aka Pride Month, and that means it’s time for corporations to show us some RESPECT as a PEOPLE by delivering queer, bisexual, lesbian and otherwise interesting content to our televisions! Many networks are celebrating by re-organizing their websites to remind us that they have some queer movies available while others are debuting brand new gay content! What will the gays find on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, IFC+, AMC+, Discovery+ and more?
Netflix’s LGBT Pride 2022 Collection:
Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration – June 9
Hosted by Bob the Drag Queen and Billy Eichner and studded with surprise stars introducing their funny friends (e.g., Lily Tomlin, Sarah Paulson and Lena Waithe), this comedy show featured queer women and trans comics like Tig Notaro, Patti Harrison, Gina Yashere, Margaret Cho, Judy Gold, Patti Harrison, Mae Martin, River Butcher and Sandra Bernhard. I was at this show so I can attest it was indeed very good and did indeed feel like the largest-ever gathering of LGBTQ+ comics! In fact, so many people gathered for it that it ran super long and the final talent of the night — Rosie O’Donnell and Wanda Sykes — only got a few minutes each. Anyhow it was funny you should watch it!
First Kill: Season One – June 10
This Pride Month we are invited to celebrate lesbian vampires in this drama in which teenager vampire Juliette must make her first kill to take her place among a powerful vampire family and sets her sights on a new girl in town, Calliope — but then Calliope turns out to be a vampire hunter from a celebrated slayer family and then also Juliette gets a crush!
Vice (2018) – June 10
This story about how Dick Cheney pulled all the strings in the Bush administration features Lily Rabe as Cheney’s lesbian daughter Liz.
Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin: Ladies Night Live – June 14th
Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda introduce an all-female lineup of comedians.
Iron Chef: Quest For An Iron Legend – June 15
Wow! The legendary Iron Chef series promises a REBIRTH with a “supersized approach to the ground-breaking culinary competition that started it all.” Promising to be the toughest culinary challenge a chef will ever experience, we will be assisted in this game by the co-hosting presence of our beloved Kristen Kish.
Dead End: Paranormal Park (Season 1) – June 16
Based on the horror-comedy graphic novels Deadendia, this animated series follows the adventures of Barney, a trans teen who, along with his queer friend Norma and Pugsley the magical demon-possessed talking dog, must “balance their summer jobs at the local theme park haunted house while battling the totally real supernatural forces that dwell within it.”
Umbrella Academy: Season 3 – June 22
The networks’ biggest superhero series has promised its biggest season yet as our heroes face off against the Sparrows. Elliot Page’s character will be coming out as trans with the name Viktor Hargreeves.
Charmed (Season 4) – June 18
Grey’s Anatomy (Season 18) – June 25
Beauty (2022) – June 29
Set in 1980s New Jersey and written and co-produced by Lena Waithe, Beauty follows a young Black singer (Gracie Marie Bradley) on the brink of a promising career who finds herself torn between a domineering family, industry pressures and her love for her girlfriend, Jasmine. Niecy Nash is in it!
Peacock’s June 2022 Shows and Movies For Girls, Gays and Theys
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) – June 1
If you haven’t seen the #1 lesbian movie of all time, which tells the story of a lesbian cheerleader sent to campy gay conversion camp where she is confronted with the temptation of Clea Duvall and the leadership of RuPaul, then this is your big chance!
The Kids Are All Right (2010) – June 1
The kids of these lesbian Moms are alright but the Moms are not because one of them has a little affair with her child’s donor, sending everything into tumult.
Pitch Perfect (2012) – June 1
There is in fact a lesbian character in this film about a competitive college a-capella group that aggressively recruits Anna Kendrick to improve their team and then there is a sing-off.
Pride (2014) – June 1
Based on the true story of a group of U.K. gay activists who work to help miners during the summer 1984 strike of the National Union of Mineworkers.
Queer as Folk UK (Seasons 1-2) – June 1
If you want to catch up on the original original Queer as Folk — the U.K. edition — it appears you can do so!
Queer as Folk: Season 1, Episodes 1-8 – June 9
I am SO VERY EXCITED for this program because I’m a huge fan of the original U.S. series and the cast of the reboot is just fantastic! Set in New Orleans, most of the characters are gay men, but the story also includes nonbinary actor CG as non-binary character Shar, a professor “navigating the rocky transition from punk to parenthood” and trans actress Jesse James Keitel as Ruthie, CG’s partner and a “semi-reformed party girl who is struggling to grow up.” Juliette Lewis appears as the supportive Mom.
Rutherford Falls: Season 2 – June 16
As Season 2 opens we find Reagan (Jana Schmieding) struggling with a heavy workload at the Heritage Museum, Minishonka casino CEO Terry (Michael Greyeyes) facing new challenges as his town is revamped into a Colonial-themed tourist experience and Nathan (Ed Helms) considering a run for mayor. Non-binary actor Jesse Leigh returns as Nathan’s non-binary assistant Bobbie Yang. “We never get to be funny and explore character in their specific situations—Native characters and their specific experiences,” the showrunner told Sunset about the critically acclaimed series. “It was really fun to just see where these characters wanted to go.”
HBO Max’s Offerings to the Homosexuals, Bisexuals, Pansexuals Etc in the Month of June 2022
Pride-Themed Shortform Content Series – June 1
Produced by Human by Orientation, this series will include custom short-form content that amplifies the voices of HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ talent, such as Hacks’ Hannah Einbinder, “Somebody Somewhere’s” Murray Hill and and “We’re Here’s” Bob the Drag Queen, Shangela, and Eureka. The featured content will include: Queerness in Conversation, “Culture Closeups,” “Serving Lewks,” and “Get Ready With Me.”
How to Survive a Plague (2012) – June 1
This award-winning documentary traces the evolution of HIV/AIDS activist group ACT UP, using interviews and culling from hours of footage captured by activists during the organization’s most vital years.
Life Partners (2014) – June 1
This very cute little film stars Leighton Meester as Sasha, the lesbian in a co-dependent relationship with her best friend Paige (Gillian Jacobs) who begins to feel a little adrift when Paige gets a serious boyfriend. Also worth noting are Beth Dover and Gabourey Sidibe as Sasha’s lesbian friends and a little cameo by Kate McKinnon.
Naomi (Season 1) – June 1
Irma Vep: Limited Series Premiere – June 6
Okay so; Oliver Assayas (he of “Clouds of Sils Maria” and “Personal Shopper”) fame made Irma Vep in 1996, a film about a French director remaking Les Vampires. Now in 2022 he has made Irma Vep, a limited series about a French director remaking Les Vampires. This one stars Alicia Vikander as Mira, a Hollywood star on a promotional tour for her latest superhero movie who’s got her heart set on this Les Vampires project and is seeking a distraction from the understandably preoccupying situation of her ex-girlfriend/ex-assistant recently daring to get married to somebody else. Carrie Brownstein plays Mira’s agent!
The Janes (2022) – June 9
This incredibly timely documentary tells the story of a group of college-age activists who created a secret underground network to provide abortion access to those who needed it in Chicago, eventually becoming the subject of a widely publicized raid. I am just assuming that there were lesbians involved in this somehow.
Summer Camp Island: Season 6 Premiere – June 9
Oscar & Hedgehock navigate the mysteries and wonders of a magic sleep-away camp “where camp counselors are popular girl witches, horses become unicorns, and monsters live under the bed.” Alia Shawkat voices Blanche and Fortune Feimster voices Ava. Blanche and Ava are girlfriends!
Westworld: Season 4 Premiere – June 26
We don’t know much about the fourth season of Westworld because they don’t want us to, but they really seem to be a HOTSPOT for queer actresses! This year Ariana DeBose is joining Evan Rachel Wood and Tessa Thompson. It will be a “dark odyssey about the fate of sentient life on earth” and will include an amusement park modeled after a concept of the 1930s American mafia.
LGBTQ+ Shows and Movies on Hulu for June 2022
Glee (Complete Series) – June 1
Fire Island (2022) – June 3
This modern riff on Pride & Prejudice brings a stellar cast of gay actors to Fire Island, most notably our beloved Bowen Yang, who plays Howie, the best friend of lead character Noah (Joel Kim Booster) with whom they are spending a week at the beach house owned by Erin (Margaret Cho), the film’s token queer woman. So far it’s gotten great reviews and looks really fun!
Vida: Seasons 1-2: June 7
If you never saw this show ’cause you had Starz, now’s your chance! It’s absolutely one of the best queer shows of all time and it burned so brightly before ending far too soon.
The Los Angeles Pride Parade – June 12
KABC’s Ellen Leyva, Karl Schmid, Christiane Cordero and Eric Resendiz will host a livestream of the parade on Sunday, which’ll feature CELEBRITY GUESTS, 130 parade floats, marchers, trucks, exotic cars, twirlers, performers and more. The livestream will be available to all subscribers for 30 days.
Love, Victor: Season 3 Complete Series – June 15th
The final season of Love, Victor, also available on Disney+, and in the preview we see Lake revealing to Felix and Pilar that she is dating Lucy now. The cliffhanger upon which Victor left us hanging — will he choose Benji or Rahim??! — will be revealed.
NYC Pride March Livestream – June 26
WABC’s Ken Rosato, Lauren Glassberg and Sam Champion will host this livestream of the NYC Pride Parade, Grand Marshalled by Punkie Johnson, Ts Madison, trans athlete Schuyler Bailar, ACLU attorney Chase Strangio and Okra Project Executive Director Dominique Morgan. The show will also be available to all subscribers for 30 days after the livestream.
Wildhood (2021) – June 24
Set in a rural east-coast trailer park, two-spirit Mi’kmaw teenager Link (Phillip Lewitski) lives with his abusive father and younger half-brother Travis (Avery Winters-Anthony). They hit the road after discovering Link’s Mi’kmaw mother could still be alive, along the way meeting Pasmay (Joshua Odjick), a pow-wow dancer who is immediately attracted to Link.
Only Murders in the Building: Season 2 Premiere – June 28
One of last year’s most surprisingly delightful and compelling new programs returns after a cliffhanger that saw our beloved Mabel, Charles and Oliver framed for murder. Noted menace to society / queer lothario Cara Delevingne will be joining the cast as Alice, “a sophisticated art world insider who becomes enmeshed in the mystery” and, most relevant to our interests here,
Lesbian, Queer and Bisexual Content on Amazon Prime Video in June 2022
Black Swan (2010) – June 1
This is a ballet movie and it is very intense and a lot of psychological things happen and then there is this Natalie Portman / Mila Kunis situation that I think made a real impact on us all as a culture.
The Boys: Season 3 – June 3
In Season 2, The Boys got meta about lesbian and bisexual representation, with bisexual superhero Queen Maeve finding her sexuality used by her crew as something to capitalize on when her superhero squad was under fire for a lack of diversity. In Season Three, they learn of a new Anti-Supe weapon that sends them crashing into the Seven, thus starting a war.
Fairfax: Season 2 – June 10
This adult animated comedy follows four middle schoolers seeking popularity, clout and individuality within the Hypebeast culture of Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, where there are daily lines of sneakerheads coveting new releases. One of the four is a queer woman played by Kiersey Clemons!
Apple TV’s June Items For Lesbians and Bisexuals
For All Mankind: Season 3 Premiere – June 10
Every season of For All Mankind does at time jump, and Season 3 will land us in the 1990s with a charismatic visionary determined to pioneer a multi-national mission to Mars. Lesbian character Ellen Waverly (Jodi Balfour) will find herself running for Senate in Texas.
Loot: Season One Premiere – June 24
A billionaire (played by Maya Rudolph) is betrayed by her husband and responds by acting out in public, and the tabloid coverage that ensues leads her to realize she’s got a charity in her name and her decisions are giving her good work a bad name, thus inspiring her to reform herself and give back! The supervisor of her charity, Sofia Salinas, is played by queer trans actress MJ Rodriguez and her devoted assistant Nicholas is played by gay actor Joel Kim Booster.
Discovery+ Getting Into the Gay Game in June 2022
The Book of Queer: Limited Series Premiere – June 1
This five-episode series celebrates and recognizes the history of the LGBTQ+ community, hosted by queer faves like Dominique Jackson, Alex Newell and Margaret Cho, supported by an entirely queer ensemble cast recreating some of history’s most notable moments.
Starz Original Queer Offerings for June 2022
P-Valley: Season 2 Premiere – June 3
Five months after P-Valley was threatened with the possibility of having to close its doors, Season Two explores the tense partnership between Autumn and non-binary character Uncle Clifford, who bought The Pynk from Autumn. This saved the dancers’ jobs, but new leadership brings new drama!
Showtime’s LGBTQ+ Plan for June 2022
The Chi: Season 5 Premiere – June 24th
Season Five will “delve deeply into the many joys and complications of Black love: relationships, children, career, community and self,” and we’ll find Nina and Dre working at rebuilding their union while also figuring out how best to support Lynae,
IFC+ and AMC+ Coming Together in a Gay Way for June 2022
Slo Pitch: Season 2 Premiere – June 1
This Canadian queer mockumentary webseries from a majority LGBTQ+ cast and creative team tells the story of The Brovaries, an underachieving, beer league softball team of queer and/or non-binary athletes, and debuted on OUTtvgo in Canada in 2020. You can stream Season One online on IFC+ and AMC+ and catch the premiere of Season 2 on June 1st!
What’s New and Gay To Stream in May 2022
It’s gonna be May and that means there will be new programming featuring queer women and otherwise identified LGBTQ+ people relevant to your interests all over the television!!! If you’re wondering what television shows and movies about queer, lesbian and bisexual people are coming to Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Showtime and Peacock then you are in the exactly correct location to find out!
Netflix’s New LGBTQ+ Content of May 2022
Summertime: Season 3 – May 4th
Lesbian character Sofia will be back for the final season of this Italian drama in which everybody has beautiful clear skin and it’s always sunny and there’s the beach and music!
The Circle: Season 4 Premiere – May 4th
This season promises more twists and turns and also hints strongly at the possibility of an appearance by the actual Spice Girls?? More importantly, we have at least one confirmed gay woman — influencer / Harlem Globetrotter Crissa Jackson is in the cast.
Welcome to Eden: Season One – May 6th
This Spanish thriller sees four hot, young and “social media active” people tempted to attend an exclusive party on a secret island wherein things do not turn out as they expected — they find themselves involved in some kind of cultish, highly surveilled human living experiment is being played out. Also, there are girls in bikinis making out in the trailer, so…
New Heights: Season One – May 13th
This Swiss TV show (original title: Neumat) is billed as an “LGBT series” but I don’t speak any of the languages that trailers are available in, so besides knowing that the lead man is definitely gay I am not sure about any lady gays! One of the women in the trailer is a farmer, which seems gay, and the other has very short hair and is putting on makeup in a sad mirror while experiencing some kind of mental breakdown, which also seems gay?
Tully (2018) – May 16th
Following the developing friendship between a pregnat mother of two and her night nanny (played by Mackenzie Davis), Diablo Cody’s Tully stars Charlize Theron as the aforementioned mother who is bisexual although her bisexuality isn’t focal to the film’s plot, she is bisexual.
Stranger Things Volume 4: Part One – May 27th
There will be a big time jump into Season 4 of Netflix’s most robust investment, Stranger Things, which will also revive the team-up of Steve, lesbian character Robin, and Dustin.
Hulu’s Queer and Lesbian Items For May 2022
Grandma (2015) – May 1
Lily Tomlin is Elle, a lesbian poet who gets a visit from her granddaughter who is a teenager and needs an abortion but can’t afford it, thus sending the duo on an all-day hunt for the funds through Elle’s friends and exes.
Saving Face (2004) – May 1
Only one of the best lesbian movies of all time, this sweet romantic comedy from Alice Wu follows a Chines-American surgeon and a ballerina who are very different and yet, if you can believe it, fall in love!
Daytime Divas (Vh1): Complete Series – May 2
This little series only lasted one full season back in 2017 and was based on Star Jones’ memoir of her time on The View — we enjoyed it for its bisexual character Kibby (who was clearly inspired by Lindsay Lohan) and eventually for the Elisabeth Hassleback of the group, Heather, grappling with her child coming out as a trans girl.
Conversations With Friends: Complete Limited Series – May 15
The Hulu series based on the Sally Rooney novel “ follows a set of angsty Irish millennials drawn into complicated romantic and class dynamics.” It’s centered on 21-year-old college student Frances, whose ex-girlfriend Bobbi (Sasha Lane) is still her very best friend with whom she shares all her feelings and performs poetry. At a show they meet Melissa (Jemima Kirke) and her husband Nick — Bobbi gets an open crush on Melissa while Frances’s feelings for Nick lead to an intense secret affair — her first with a man.
Queen Sugar: Complete Season 6 (OWN)
The penultimate season of Queen Sugar addressed the impact COVID had on its community as Nova continued dealing with harassment and abuse from the police as she continues to speak out against political corruption in her community.
LGBTQ Content of Interest From HBO Max in May 2022
The Color Purple (1985) – May 1
Alice Walker’s epistolary novel was de-gayed for this wildly successful Steven Spielberg adaptation starring Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Rae Dawn Chong and Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg plays Celie, a teenager in rural Georgia with an abusive family who falls for showgirl Shug Avery, her husband’s mistress who Celie nurses back into health.
Frida (2022) – May 1
Salma Hayek got an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of surrealist Mexica artist Frida Kahlo in this biopic mainly focused on her relationship with husband Diego Rivera. Bisexual Kahlo has many affairs with women including Josephine Baker (Karine Plantadit-Bageot) and Tina Modotti (Ashley Judd), who also had an affair with Diego!
Hacks, Max Original Season 2 Premiere – May 12
Deborah Vance and her bisexual accomplice Ava Daniels are heading out on the road with Deborah’s new stand-up act. This was one of the best shows of last year and we simply cannot WAIT for more!! And yes this time we are going to write about it because I finally got everybody else to watch it.
Legendary: Season 3 Premiere – May 19
Beloved bisexual Keke Palmer is taking over for Megan Thee Stallion as a judge for this ballroom competition series, alongside Jameela Jamil, Leiomy Maladonado and Law Roach.
Amazon Prime Video Queer Women of May 2022
Tangerine (2015) – May 1
The legendarily shot-on-an-iPhone film tells the story of a trans sex worker who gets out of jail, immediately meets up with her friend (and fellow sex worker) Alexandra and then discovers her boyfriend / pimp has been cheating on her. They set out to track him down on Christmas Eve.
The Wilds: Season Two – May 6
This program made a choice for its second season that does zap some of its initial appeal — they added boys to a cast that was just girls! Another group of teens (boys) will also find themselves stranded on an island after passing out on a plane that was allegedly taking them to a special retreat. But our girls will still be there and also crossing paths with the fellows, including our OTP Toni and Shelby!
Lovestruck High: Season One – May 18th
This reality television show narrated by esteemed bicon Lindsay Lohan is throwing together a bunch of single adults in a fake high school situation for “a full term of love, lust and drama.” It appears to contain a healthy portion of queer people so I am really excited for this one ’cause not since Are You The One Season 8 have we gotten something like this! Somehow categorizations like jocks, queen bees, nerds, etc will be … involved? IDK, I’m genuinely excited.
Kick Like Tayla (2022) – May 27th
This documentary focuses on Tayla Harris, an Australian athlete who is both a successful boxer and a player in the NAB AFL Women’s Competition for the Carlton Football Club — looking at “what makes Tayla tick, her love of all sports including boxing and football, the impacts of social media, cyber-bullying, and sexism.” Perhaps also at some point they will mention that she is gay!
Peacock’s Queer, Lesbian and Bisexual Content May 2022
Milk (2008) – May 1
This biopic about the life of activist Harvey Milk that made me cry like a baby features Alison Pill as bisexual activist Anne Kronenberg
Girls5Eva: Season 2 Premiere – May 5
In Season 2 the ladies will be attempting to record a full ablum together on their own terms. Paula Pell is returning as Gloria and she is making out with another woman on a sofa in the trailer, so. The first three episodes debut on May 5th.
Showtime’s Queer Women of May 2022
Couples Therapy Season 3 Premiere – May 13th
A lesbian couple is amongst those getting therapized this season when a mother of two must learn to hear her partner’s cries for help or risk losing her altogether.
Disney/Pixar Movies, Ranked by Mommy Issues
The weekend Pixar’s Turning Red was released, Drew dropped by Autostraddle’s TV Team Slack to give her official review: “Turning Red is such good mommy issues cinema 😭!” Which of course made us really acknowledge the fact that — while Disney continues to drop the ball in basically every way when it comes to LGBTQ representation and fans — they’ve created SO MANY mommy issues movies. Which is pretty gay, actually. And so our whole team got together to rank 25 Disney/Pixar movies by Mommy Issues. We’d love to hear more about your own personal rankings in the comments!
25. Maleficent
Heather: I guess this is less “mommy issues” and more like “did Angelina Jolie turn you gay despite your own personal mom’s heterosexual pleadings?” Because that’s exactly what happened to basically every lesbian I know from the 90s.
24. Moana
Valerie: Moana’s mother is perfect how dare you.
Christina Tucker: Quite literally all the women of Moana are perfect!!!
Heather: And most of the men too, which is the only time I have ever said that, I think.
Christina Tucker: We must consider the coconut.
Drew Gregory: I think Moana’s issues are more with Mother Nature.
Christina: Who some call the ultimate mommy (citation needed).
Meg Jones Wall: The ocean is definitely Mommi.
23. The Lion King
Natalie: I’m not sure Simba has Mommy issues but he has Daddy issues galore.
22. The Little Mermaid
Christina Tucker: Classic Daddy issues girl.
Heather: You know who does have mommy issues though? Ariel’s daughter who trades in her legs and lungs and goes BACK TO THE SEA.
21. The Lizzie McGuire Movie
Drew: This is Jo McGuire slander. She has only her daughter’s best interests at heart!!
Em: When I first watched the scene when Lizzie says bye to her mom I, too, was secretly tearing up. I’m giving this a hard three out of five for her mommy issues and also my own.
20. The Princess and the Frog
Natalie: Tiana clearly has daddy issues not mommy issues.
Em: Tiana is my queen and gets 10s across the board always. She has that whole restaurant with her mom in “Almost There” but like… the whole plot is about making her dad’s gumbo.
19. Finding Nemo
Drew: This correctly being ranked so low even though Nemo’s mom DIES at the beginning. Disney is sick.
18. Beauty and the Beast
Drew: I think Belle is more a daddy issues girl. So desperate not to end up with a man like her nice, bumbling father that she falls for a beast.
Em: Although in the remake they have that whole moment where the Beast takes Belle back in time and she watches her mom die right in front of her.
Drew: Oh my God I forgot! Definitely extra points for that.
17. The Princess Diaries
Heather: Mia’s mom’s dating her teacher and her secret grandma’s the Queen of Genovia? Goodbye, trolley people!
16. Robin Hood
Casey: Maid Marian is a Mommi and Robin Hood is a hot dad, does that count?
Heather: I love queer people. I’m like “please rank these movies by mommy issues” and y’all are like “mph this cartoon fox is daddy!”
15. Cinderella
Christina Tucker: I famously do not recognize this Cinderella as in my mind the only one that exists is the Brandy/Whitney one and my word Bernadette Peters in that film is a terror and also (say it with me!!!) a root!!
Drew: Step mommy issues are still mommy issues!
Christina Tucker: Say THAT.
14. Raya and the Last Dragon
Christina Tucker: I don’t know that Raya has mommy issues, but wow her enemy slash girlfriend Namaari sure does! Sandra Oh as your mom with that hair? She didn’t have a chance.
Heather: Villanelle understands.
13. Peter Pan
Christina Tucker: God I hate this smug fuck, get a job!!! Stop making Wendy take care of you!
Casey: I am confused as to why this one doesn’t have all 5s. Peter Pan and the lost boys have the biggest mommy issues ever!! All they want is for Wendy to be their mom! I am reminded that at some point in my failed PhD I wrote a paper on the book about Wendy being a queer mother but I do not recall any of my evidence now, sadly.
Christina Tucker: In fairness I forgot to vote because I hate him so much.
Em: Wait but Tinkerbell FOR SURE has mommy issues.
Meg Jones Wall: PETER PAN IS THE VILLAIN.
12. Mulan
Heather: I know Mulan doesn’t really have mommy issues, but I wish we could have seen her mom react to her chopping off her whole entire hair with a sword! Classic bisexual coming out move.
11. Hercules
Em: Do we know anything about her parents at all? The fact that her background is pretty much obtuse gives me hard mommy issues vibez.
Heather: Girl you can’t deny it
Who you are is how you’re feeling
Baby we’re not buying
Hon we saw you hit the ceiling
Face it like a grown-up
When you gonna own up that you got got got it bad
(Mommy issues)
10. Mary Poppins
Heather: Julie Andrews, Original Mommi. The only person on this list as much as her is Sandra Oh.
9. The Incredibles
Christina Tucker: This is tough because I feel like Elasti-girl is objectively perfect but hearing Holly Hunter’s voice is enough to send me into an hours long spiral
Heather: My dad went to high school with Holly Hunter and was in love with her, and his biggest crush when I was growing up was Jodie Foster. Do you think my dad’s a lesbian too?
Christina Tucker: I do, the science on this is simply irrefutable.
Carmen: I refuse to sell Elasti-girl out like this. I just quite simply r e f u s e.
8. Parent Trap
Christina Tucker: Look the premise of this movie is so far beyond simple mommy issues that is literally boggles the mind BUT Natasha Richardson is so luminous?? And that moment where Hallie confesses that she is not in fact Annie and is worried Elizabeth won’t like her???
Carmen: The evil soon-to-be stepmom in Parent Trap is the root for a lot of gays of a specific age, and that can’t be for nothing.
Christina Tucker: She IS very hot and very mean (extra hot) but she is TWENTY SIX and that is simply not a Mommi to me.
7. Bambi
Carmen: BAMBI?!??! How dare you. Now I have to go cry somewhere. HIS MOTHER DIED CAN WE HAVE NO PEACE!?!?
6. Brave
Heather: I actually had to leave the theater and sit in the parking lot and cry by myself for like an hour during the climax of this movie, when she’s trying to SAVE HER MOM and is FAILING. I don’t even think I know how this movie ends?
Drew: This movie falls into that frustrating sweet spot where I think it’s really underrated but not quite good enough for me to declare it as some sort of ignored masterpiece. That said its mommy issues bonafides are undeniable.
Valerie: If this had musical numbers it would have been one of my favorites of all time.
Drew: Okay yes that’s what it needed.
Christina Tucker: WHY DOES THIS NOT HAVE SONGS?? But BOY does it have Mommy issues.
5. Dumbo
Heather: You know, Disney doesn’t just not support gay and trans people; they actively tried to destroy our lives when we were children. “Get ready for Bury Your Gays with a little warm up called BURY YOUR PARENTS!”
4. Cruella
Heather: I don’t think we have talked enough about the fact that Cruella became who she was because a wild pack of rabid Dalmatians shoved her mother off a cliff!
Carmen: … it’s because we all politely blocked this movie out of our memory, I think.
Em: IDK I think the mommy issues in this movie are low key hot.
3. Frozen
Heather: Elsa doesn’t just have mommy issues; she is absolutely going to give her icy little magical daughters mommy issues for life.
Christina Tucker: The one two punch of “Into The Unknown” and “Show Yourself” in Frozen 2 is really something, like that much harmonizing with your dead mother cannot be good for the mind
Drew: I remain a “Frozen 2’s songs were written for a lesbian love story then retrofitted to be about Elsa’s mother” truther.
Christina Tucker: Harrowing how close those two things can be.
Himani: I feel like Elsa’s story, especially in Frozen 2, is the ultimate Mommi issue of people from non-white or non-mainstream heritages trying to navigate a white world. Which I get that Elsa & Ana are both white passing, but the whole indigenous mother storyline is where it’s really at.
2. Tangled
Yash: What emoji is “this is the mommyest of mommy issues”?
Drew: Who among us hasn’t been locked in a tower by our overbearing mothers (metaphorically)?
Christina Tucker: Donna Murphy’s performance of “Mother Knows Best” is unfortunately extremely hot to me.
Valerie: Me and my mommy issues watched this movie three (3) times in a row the first time I saw it.
Yash: This is the kind of movie that becomes a recurring touchpoint/motif in therapy.
Valerie: I once went down an entire rabbit hole of a theory that Meg from Hercules is Mother Gothel. It was flawed, of course, but very compelling.
1. Turning Red
Drew: I know there’s a Disney movie with a princess literally locked in a tower but this still wins for me. The moment where she comforts her mom as a child because of HER mommy issues??? Mommy Issues Inception.
Valerie: This movie gave my mommy issues mommy issues.
Christina Tucker: I have not been ready to watch this film and this is NOT helpful.
Natalie: Yeah, this has to be #1 overall. Mommy issues on top of Mommy issues.
Carmen: I specifically joined in on this just so I could vote for this movie. The be all and end all of Mommy Issues Pixar Movies (*patent pending).
Em: This movie ended me.
What’s New and Gay To Stream in April 2022
April showers bring one thing: lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans women and non-binary characters on our television sets! After the most dismal month of queer content on record (March 2022), I am pleased to report that there is promise on the horizon! Here’s what’s streaming with LGBTQ+ characters this fine season!
LGBTQ+ Netflix Movies and TV Shows for April 2022
Elite: Season 5 – April 8
Season 4 of Elite finally delivered the lesbian storyline we’d been waiting for, so we can’t wait to see what Season 5 has in store for our favorite high school students who live dangerous lives of crime. In the Season 5 trailer, Rebe says to Mencía, “sometimes I feel like we’re not meant to be together, even though we are committed” and then also says “I really love you” and then in another part of the trailer you see Rebe making out with another girl!!! SO GET READY FOR DRAMA
Hard Cell: Season One – April 12
A British documentary-style comedy set in a female prison starring Catherine Tate, who plays multiple characters including Laura Willis, the Governor, a former event planner determined to transform the prison and the women under her care. Due to its setting (women’s prison), I am assuming there will be lesbians, otherwise what are we doing here as people really.
Van Helsing: Season Five (Syfy) – April 16
SyFy’s reimagining of Dracula, in which vamps and humans must work together to survive, centers on Vanessa Helsing, the (bisexual) daughter of famed vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing. This show is apparently gay enough to have upset a large portion of Reddit.
Russian Doll: Season 2 – April 20th
In Season 2, Nadia and Alan have escaped their original time loop and together as a family we have jumped four years into the future, where the duo find themselves caught up in a different kind of time loop that enables them to “discover a fate even worse than endless death” (idk, life???) through a portal in an iconic Manhattan location. According to Entertainment Weekly, Rebecca Henderson, who played a lesbian character, is returning to the cast and also Schitt’s Creek‘s Annie Murphy is joining it.
Heartstopper: Season One – April 22
This British LGBTQ+ romantic comedy series focused on young gay introspective overthinker Charlie and his crush, sensitive athlete Nick (Kit Connor), is based on a webcomic/graphic novel by 27-year-old aromantic asexual writer Alice Oseman, who oversaw the production. According to The Guardian, Heartstopper “is as wholesome and uplifting as the headline-grabbing US high-school sensation [Euphoria] is bleak and ridiculously debauched.” Trans TikTok sensation Yasmin Finney plays Elle, one of Charlie’s best friends. Queer couple Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) are also featured in the story! Everyone is very excited about this one!!!
Grace and Frankie: Season 7B – April 29th
Netflix’s longest-running series will say goodbye this April with the back half of Season Seven. Unfortunately it seems like Grace and Frankie will never live their true fate as girlfriends.
Showtime LGBTQ+ Content for April 2022
The First Lady – April 17
This “revelatory reframing of American leadership through the lens of the First Ladies, delving deep into their personal and political lives” is of particular interest to us here because they are going to actually explore Eleanor Roosevelt’s bisexuality and she will be played by bisexual actress Gillian Anderson! Lily Rabe of American Horror Story fame plays her girlfriend, Lorena Hickok. Lesbian actor Clea Duvall plays Eleanor’s private secretary / personal aide Malvina “Tommy” Thompson with whom Eleanor is also rumored to have been involved. Also Viola Davis stars as Michelle Obama! A BOUNTY OF GIFTS!!!
HBO & HBO Max Stuff for Gals, Gays and Theys in April 2022
Moonshot (2022) – March 31
This little teen rom-com starring Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor as two friends on a rocket ship to Mars also includes the little lesbian story of Celeste (Sunita Deshpande) and Tabby (Cameron Esposito), a lesbian couple who wanna get engaged on Mars. Also, Tabby runs seminars and Q/A sessions on the ship!
A Black Lady Sketch Show: Season 3 Premiere – April 8
Our eternal beloved, The Black Lady Sketch Show, is back for its third season on April 8th and we are prepared to laugh. We’ll finally find out “who or what was responsible for the end of the world and what the fate of the women will be.” Queer comic/writer/actress Ashley Nicole Black is returning as a series regular and guest stars include noted LGBTQs Raven-Symoné, Wanda Sykes and MJ Rodriguez. Robin Theade promises that “the twists this season are huge. Like you’re never going to see where the sketches are going.”
Flight Attendant: Season 2 Premiere – April 21
Our dearest queerest fave Mae Martin will appear on the second season of The Flight Attendant as a flight attendant named Grace St. James. Season 2 finds Cassie Bowden living her best sober life in LA while moonlighting for the CIA and then finding herself entangled in international intrigue after an overseas gig enables her to accidentally witness a murder. Bisexual icon Margaret Cho has also been added to the cast as “Utada.”
Gentleman Jack: Season 2 Premiere – April 25th
Rest assured you will be receiving breathless, constant updates regarding our SCORCHINGLY HOT ANTICIPATION of Season 2 of Gentleman Jack!!!! A newly married Ann & Anne are setting up their lives as a lesbian power couple in Shibden Hall, but also Anne’s ex is lurking all over the place! Furthermore, Anne’s entrepreneurial spirit and unconventional romantic life intimidates the locals and with Halifax on the brink of a revolution, her audacious personality becomes a liability.
Snowpiercer: Season 3 – April 29
This show has some queer stuff in it and a train goes round and round and the snow comes down and down anyhow look out for Season 3!
Hulu’s Content for Lesbian & Bisexuals This Fine April 2022
Boys on the Side (1995) – April 1
Whoopi Goldberg is Jane, a lesbian musician moving from New York to Los Angeles after breaking up with her girlfriend and her band who joins Robin (Mary Louise Parker) and Holly (Drew Barrymore) on a cross-country road trip that gets messy after the women band together to protect Holly from her abusive boyfriend.
The Runaways (2010) – April 1
Kristen Stewart shines as Joan Jett in this sexually tense biopic about the all-girl rock band that made her famous, following Jett and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), two rebellious teens from SoCal, forming The Runaways and changing the game for women in rock ‘n roll.
Woke: Season 2: April 8
Keef Knight finds himself fully inhabiting an “artivist” spotlight with a higher profile and higher expectations. His lesbian pal Ayana (Sasheer Zamata) is dealing with the decline of the Bay Arean and potential eviction while remaining on hand to guide Keef through new opportunities to make change and/or get exploited. Season 2 will continue to “continues to upend Black nerd and activist culture, deftly satirizing with a wink and a smile.” Woke is a really great show you should watch it!!
Crush (2022) – April 29
Starring Rowan Blanchard and Auli’i Cravalho, the hotly-anticipated Crush follows an aspiring young artist who is forced to join her high school track team and decides to use the situation as an opportunity to go after the girl she’s crushed on forever — only to find herself falling for an unexpected teammate and discovering REAL LOVE.
Amazon Prime Video’s Queer Content for April 2022
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) – April 1
Recently divorced writer Frances (Diane Lane) buys a villa in Tuscany on a whim hoping for a big change in her life! Famously, Sandra Oh plays her lesbian best friend Patti who is expecting a baby with her partner, Grace (Kate Walsh), and thus gave Frances the Italian vacation ticket that started this whole charade. Later Patti comes to visit! Big Mommi energy.
The Outlaws (BBC): Season One – April 1
Seven strangers who are all very different find themselves together in a Community Payback assignment after committing crimes. They discover a bag full of money and what will they do with it! Amongst them is cocaine addict Lady Gabby, whose angry issues got her into a mess with her ex that got her arrested. You can read LezWatchTV’s review of the series, which debuted on the BBC, for more info!
Batwoman: Season Three (The CW) – April 2
The whole damn season of this superhero show centered on a Black lesbian Batwoman that you may have watched week-to-week along with our famed recaps arrives at HBO Max on April 2nd.
Paramount+ Gay Things for April 2022
iCarly: Season 2 – April 8
Season Two of this grown-up version of the Nickelodean classic finds Carly Shay navigating work, relationships and family as a 20-something and aiming for even bigger success with her revived webseries. Her best friend / roommate Harper (Laci Mosley) is bisexual!
Rugrats – 10 New Episodes – April 15
More episodes of the CGI reboot of Rugrats has Natalie Morales voicing Phil and Lil’s openly gay Mom Betty DeVille!
22 Fictional Books From Movies and TV Shows We Would Really Like to Actually Read
1. Station Eleven, by Miranda Caroll
Station Eleven (HBO Max, 2021 – 2022)
Clearly the most influential and resonant graphic novel of all time, this rare and piece of dystopian literature is at the center of one of the best television programs ever made. I am dying to read it.
2. Lez Girls, by Jenny Schecter
The L Word (Showtime, 2004 – 2009)
Jenny Schecter’s thinly fictionalized tome of lesbian life and romance in turn-of-the-century Los Angeles started a scandal and inspired an immediate film adaptation. While it’s likely that reading Lez Girls would be like reading my L Word recaps without jokes, it would still be a wild ride.
3. Charlotte Light and Dark, by Dr. Gareth Feinberg, PhD
Six Feet Under (HBO, 2001 – 2005)
It was a discussion of this piece of problematic psychological lit that inspired me to make this list in the first place — the book Brenda Chenoweth’s parents wrote about her, the book that haunted and defined her forever, the book that apparently involved a lot of barking.
4. The Wrong Side of the Bed; Corruption, Cover-Ups and a Crisis of Culture on America’s #1 Morning Show, by Maggie Brenner
The Morning Show (Apple TV, 2020 -)
This tell-all threatened to ruin Alex Levy’s life and Bradley couldn’t put it down!
5. Anne Boleyn: Life and Death of a Martyr by Phillip W. Margate
Spencer (2021)
I love books that come with the ghost of Anne Boelyn visiting you in your bedchambers, like a little bonus gift.
6. Summer Storm by Melody Valentine
Riverdale (The CW, 2017 – )
Rising queer Black author Melody Valentine dropped out of law school to write this novel that was so good Tyler Perry immediately wanted to option it.
7. One Trick Pony, by Diane Nguyen
Bojack Horseman (Netflix, 2014 – 2020)
Netflix
The unfortunate assignment that started it all.
8. Shadow Dreamers and the Second Sister, by Jane Caldwell
Happiest Season (2019)
Hulu
It takes a long time to build a world!
9. Don’t Ask Alice, by Alice Piesecki
The L Word: Generation Q (2019 – )
(L-R): Donald Faison as Tom and Leisha Hailey as Alice in THE L WORD: GENERATION Q “Launch Party”. Photo Credit: Paul Sarkis/SHOWTIME.
Although the brief excerpt Alice read from this book at her launch party in an underground bunker was objectively terrible, the rest of the book may very well be chock full of hidden gems and behind-the-scenes secrets.
10. Melody Malone: Private Detective in Old New York Town, by River Song
Doctor Who (The BBC, 2005-)
Melody Malone: Private Detective in Old New York Town might not be River Song’s most famous book (spoilers!), but it did double as both a devil-may-care noir with a classy badass dame protagonist and also a world-saving guide for River Song’s future parents (it’s a long story).
11. Maloja Snake by Wilhelm Melchior
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Named after a cloud formation that winds its way through the Alpine pass like a river, this psychological drama featuring a homoerotic relationship between a troubled older woman and a manipulative younger woman sounds right up our alley.
12. Chronicles of a Fed-Up Millennia and January 22nd by Arabella Essiedu
I May Destroy You (HBO, 2021)
First, the book largely sourced from her personal, clever, zeitgeisty twitter account that garnered her the lucrative publishing contract she struggles to meet throughout the season. Second, the book she eventually writes and publishes independently telling the story she had to tell, which she’s about to read from when the series ends. “It’s a beautifully cathartic moment, a summation not just of the work she’s now sharing, but of the internal work that most people will never see,” writes Vulture.
13. Vampyr, by Multiple Authors
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
This book contains important information that helps people become powerful I think.
14. Snow Falling, by Jane Villanueva
Jane the Virgin (The CW, 2014 – 2019)
Jane Villanueva’s inspiration is Isabelle Allende, which is already setting a high bar, but a lifetime of watching telenovelas and eating peanut butter sandwiches — I just know Jane can sell a romance, even if it’s a straight one.
15. The Time Hump Chronicles by Suzanne Warren
Orange is the New Black (Netflix, 2013 – 2019)
All of Litchfield was buzzing about it!
16. Trust? Who Needs It? An Agoraphobic’s Memoir, by Peyton Lombard
Elena Undone (2010)
Honestly the very existence of this book and its presentation in the film is the closest thing this movie did to “telling a joke.”
17. Sleep and Longevity, by Sarah Roberts
The Hunger (1983)
I think what’s important here is that sometimes your research on sleep and longevity can lead you into a homoerotic relationship with a vampire, and we are generally supportive of that life path
18. Call Me Gabe: Memoir of the Decade, by Gabe Parrish
Shrill (Hulu, 2019 – 2021)
I mean, according to The Times, “Parrish writes brilliant tales of punk rock lunacy and sex, his pulsating words grab the reader by the balls and whispers I dare you to fuck with me.” Based on Gabe’s overall deal as a person, it will probably be a hate read, but so are a lot of things, really.
19. Love Hurts, by Catherine Woof
Basic Instinct (1992)
via reddit
The author psuedonym for problematic bisexual character Catherine Trammell was “Catherine Woolf” and I cannot imagine the effed up twists that likely lie within.
20. Princess Cydney, by Miranda Ruth
Princess Cyd (2017)
It’s so sweet when Cyd realizes she was named after this book that she vaguely remembers reading and loving and it sounds like a great book so!!!!
21. How to Know the Person You Love Loves You Even Though They Don’t Act Like It Most of the Time by Vincent Bubbles
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
This was basically the book I wanted to read during a relationship that involved me googling a lot of unhinged questions like “ok to be bothered that girlfriend goes out every night and never sleeps at home?”
22. “A Woman’s Place by Serena Joy Waterford
The Handmaid’s Tale (2016 – )
(that’s Elise Bauman as “Jenny” walking offstage as Serena takes her place onstage!)
I just feel like it is really ripe for a like, “15 Most Accidentally Homoerotic Sentences from Serena Joy’s “A Woman’s Place” article, you know?
What’s New and Gay To Stream in March 2022
Well here we come to March, a key time for all of us to stare at our television and say “where are the gay things? If I turn on Netflix, what will I find there? Or Amazon?!?!?!! Or HULU!?!?! What about HBO Max?? I am here to tell you!
Unfortunately the answer is NOT MUCH. I have never spent as much time on a monthly streaming guide as I did this month, because when there’s nothing really big or fun to announce I have to do 10x more research into the “maybes” in hopes of a verified gay.
It seems that the entirety of this year is devoted to biopics based on podcasts or documentaries or articles we saw or watched or read between 2018-2020, usually about business people who rose quickly to the top based on a collection of lies, and because nobody wants to give a lesbians billions of dollars for an imaginary music festival or blood machine or social art foundation club or high-concept communal workspace or ride-sharing app, we rarely find ourselves as the epicenter of these stories! Sad! However if anybody wants to read a great novel based on a true story about a lesbian con artist then great news I finally finished my first draft.
So, shall we proceed towards yet another month of grasping for the smallest straws??!!!
*means that I’m not sure if there will be any queer content in this but it seems like there could be
Netflix Content for Gals, Gays and Theys in March 2022
V for Vendetta (2005) – March 1
If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know that V for Vendetta is a film that hops from service to service every month, withdrawing its services and then re-instating them with alarming regularity. As discussed previously, V for Vendetta is a dystopian political action film from the Wachowskis starring Natalie Portman.
Good Girls: Season 4 – March 7
Season Four of this show about Moms who steal and launder money literally!
Queer Eye Germany: Season 1 – March 9
The first international spin-off of the Queer Eye franchise will see “five local experts steering the lives of their protégés in a positive direction with their knowledge, empathy and, above all, confident queer energy.” Life Coach and former Club Kid Leni Bolt (she/they), will be the queer eye with “Life” Expertise and is described as “an expert for time management & mindfulness in all aspects of everyday life, a work/life coach, podcast host and hippie at heart with one mission: to change negative perspectives and help people become happy.”
The Andy Warhol Diaries: Six-Part Series – March 9
Ryan Murphy’s new project is telling Warhol’s story in his own words, putting one of Warhol’s own dreams into action by using A.I technology to provide Warhol’s narration of his published diaries in something close to his own voice. The six-part series will follow Warhol from his childhood to the ’60s Factory days to his friendship with Basquiat in the ’80s.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Season 7 – March 10
The seventh season of Legends of Tomorrow has newlyweds Ava and Sara leading their team and fighting side by side as they get stuck in the 20s and have to find their way back home; co-captains for life. Plus, one of the Legends comes out as the first asexual character in the Beeboverse!
Human Resources: Season One – March 18
From the creators of Big Mouth comes Human Resources, which promises to be “even edgier and adult-ier” with its focus on the full-time lives of the creatures — Hormone Monsters, Depression Kitties, Shame Wizards and more — that assist human beings on their fascinating journey from puberty to parenthood to getting very old.
The Principles of Pleasure: Season One – March 22
A docuseries that combines sex, joy and modern science to celebrate the complicated universe of WOMEN’S PLEASURE, putting old-fashioned myths to rest. So there will be queer women all over this obviously.
Casual: Seasons 1-4: March 31st
Smart, irreverent Hulu family comedy Casual centers on Valerie (Michaela Watkins), who, along with her daughter Laura (Tara Lynne Barr), moves in with her dating-app-founder brother Alex (Tommy Dewey) after her divorce. In Season One, Alex dates a poly bisexual woman named Emmy, and in Season Two, Laura has a thing with a female friend — and continues leading a bisexual life in ensuing seasons!
Gay Content on Amazon Prime Video for March 2022
The Boys Present: Diabolical: Season One
A series of short-form cartoons based on the characters from Amazon’s The Boys, which is beloved for its bisexual Queen Maeve. There’s not much queer stuff in these teeny little episodes but you know, it exists!
Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls: Season One – March 25
Lizzo’s competition series sees oft-overlooked dancers living in a house together and competing challenges to earn the honor of dancing with Lizzo at Bonnaroo. “There’s one glaring difference between “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” and those other competition shows, however,” writes Variety. “Lizzo doesn’t harshly criticize the contestants, and she doesn’t always eliminate someone at the end of each episode. She wants “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” to be a place of positivity — a rarity in reality TV.” According to Into, “Besides the unlabeled but openly queer star singer, the show features both men and women and may very well include LGBTQ dancers in the competition.”
Hulu LGBTQ+ Content for March 2022
The Dropout: Limited Series Premiere – March 3
This highly anticipated biopic about blood-drop scammer Elizabeth Holmes will include a trans lesbian character, Ann Arriola, played by queer trans actress Nicky Endres.
Fresh (2022) – March 4
This edgy horror film about the expected and very unexpected perils of heterosexual dating includes lesbian Twenties‘ star Jonica T Gibbs as the queer best friend of the film’s lead Noa, who finds the perfect man has one very problematic quirk.
Bendetta (2021) – March 4
Based on the life of Benedetta Carlini, a 17th century lesbian nun and mystic, Bendetta has generated controversy for nun content that includes “gentle goodnight kisses, boobs groped through sheer curtains, some vague fingering and grinding, and yes, as promised, a dildo made out of a Virgin Mary statue.”
Pose: Season Three (FX) – March 7
Hulu has finally secured the rights to Pose! And Season Three will land into our lives on March 7th, along with all the American Crime Story properties from the Ryan Murphy catalog.
The Thing About Pam* (NBC): Series Premiere – March 9
This series starring Renee Zellweger as Pam Hupp is based on a true crime case that is very familiar to me because Pam Hupp alleged that she was having a lesbian affair with Betsy Faria, who she definitely murdered but somehow got Betsy’s husband imprisoned for.
Good Trouble: Season 4A Premiere (Freeform) – March 10
Season Four returns with Alice on the road, leaving Sumi behind to manage the property and Malika preparing to introduce her partners Angelica and Dyonte to each other but getting caught off guard by a surprise visit from her ex.
Charmed: Season Four Premiere (The CW) – March 12
Mel and Maggie are learning to navigate life without Macy and for Mel, this means distracting herself with new flings! Austrailan actress Lucy Barrett (perhaps known to you as Aisha Dee’s girlfriend) will be joining the cast as Kaela Danso, the new Charmed One taking Macy’s place. She’s descrieb
Claws (TNT): Season 4 – March 14
In the final season of this show starring Niecy Nash as a nail salon owner working her way up into a full-blown criminal enterprise, Quiet Ann is looking to get the F out of Palmetto, Florida.
Welcome to Flatch* (Fox) Series Premiere – March 17th
This new sitcom following a documentary crew “exploring the lives of residents in a small American town” full of “eccentric personalities.” There will be a bisexual! Murray Hill also shot an episode for the series. The series will be shared between Fox and Hulu.
Life & Beth*: Season One – March 18
Murray Hill appears as Amy’s “eccentric boss” in three episodes (and there’s also a woman cast as his partner according to IMBD), but Hill told Metro Weekly that it’s not like the character is “a trans character” or a “drag character” but “just Murray.” Not sure what that means but I feel like somebody else should be gay on this show, like she has three female best friends and that’s just math I think?
The Girl From Plainville*: Limited Series Premiere – March 29th
Elle Fanning stars as Michelle Carter, the woman at the center of the “texting suicide case” who, in a very controversial ruling, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for texts she sent her internet boyfriend encouraging him to commit suicide. The HBO documentary I Love You Now Die: The Commonwealth Vs. Michelle Carter explains the (very complicated!) case in more detail, and also delves into Carter’s bisexuality and her formative relationship with a close friend, Alice. I’m not sure if this element of her personhood will be covered in this series but we’ll see!
Queer Shows and Films Joining HBO Max in March 2022
There is a LOT of new stuff coming out on HBO and HBO Max this month but the later-in-the-month titles don’t have a ton of info available about them!
Our Flag Means Death: Season One – March 3rd
This pirate-related comedy has two promising items for us here: non-binary actor and friend of Autostraddle Vico Ortiz is in it and has described it as ” A dream role and story line that I honestly cannot wait to show y’all.” Also, Leslie Jones is dressed in male pirate garb in some promotional photos.
Phoenix Rising (2022) – March 15
Bisexual actress Evan Rachel Wood is the focus of Amy Berg’s two-part documentary on Wood’s mission to pursue justice, heal generational wounds and reclaim her story as a survivor as she lobbies for “The Phoenix Act,” which extends the statute of limitations for domestic violence cases in California. Wood focuses her personal story on her relationship with Marilyn Manson, who was 37 when he began dating then-18-year-old Wood.
DMZ: Limited Series* – March 17
Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of the DC Comics Series features a powerhouse cast of women including queer actress Rutina Wesley, and the plot of this dystopian series that sees America amid a civil war does contain an “all-women commune,” so IDK, I feel like something gay has to happen.
Lust: Season One Premiere – March 18
HBO Max acquired this Swedish comedy about the sex lives of four middle-aged women in Stockholm, one of whom is conducting a nationwide survey to “make Sweden sexy again.” They begin questioning the decadence of sin while dealing with “the mundane realities of Thursday sex, careers, kids, marriage, divorce and the never-ending struggle to stay young, fit and sexy.” It appears that these four central women are unfortunately heterosexual, but there’s some queer stuff in the trailer (including someone checking off “homosexual” on a survey form and a teenager asking their parents if they know what “pansexual” means and also a clear lesbian in a beanie). As usual, if all four women in a series about exploring their sexuality do not hook up with other women I will be SKEPTICAL.
Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001 – 2015) – March 25
If you’ve been eager to relive the magic and the mystery of Palex (By which I mean PAIGE AND ALEX, the original Palex, not Piper and Alex), HBO Max has great news for you!!!
Queen Stars: Season One Premiere – March 24th
A new drag queen reality show hosted by singers Pabllo Vittar and Luisa Sonza.
Peacock’s New LGBTQ+ Stories for March 2022
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) – March 1
Based on the Fannie Flagg best-seller and de-gayed for mainstream audiences, this beloved film traces the very close personal friendship between free-spirited tomboy Idgie and troubled housewife Ruth in 1920s Alabama.
Joe vs. Carole: Limited Series – March 3
Another hotly anticipated biopic stars our beloved Kate McKinnon as tiger rights crusader Carole Baskin, who is bisexual although it’s unclear if the series will have any reason to explore that particular fact. John Cameron Mitchell is undoubtedly going to be a real delight as the Tiger King!
Bust Down: Season One – March 10
Four casino employees in Gary, Indiana who are completely unsatisfied with their lives find joy in their friendship in this show the creators describe as not about “warming hearts or giving voice to the voiceless” but rather “about finding comedy in the unimportant.” Based on hyperbolic versions of how they see each other, Sam Jay (who plays a stud lesbian who works as a cook at the casino), Chris Redd, Langston Kerman and Jak Knight wanted to “make a show about nonsense the same way white people have been doing forever.”
Paramount+ Feeling LGBTQ+ In March 2022
Star Trek: Picard – Season Two Premiere – March 3
Raffi and Seven’s relationship began at the end of Season One, and now we return after a bit of time to find them trying long-distance with Seven fighting pirates with the rangers and Raffi teaching at the Starfleet Academy — “it’s definitely not a white picket fence and a fairy tale,” Raffi says of their relationship in Season Two.
More Than This: Season One – March 4 – ONLY IN AUSTRALIA
I got so excited about this show and then realized it’s coming to Paramount Plus Australia and not the U.S. But I am going to tell you about this anyway. This series comes from co-creators 19-year-old actor/filmmaker Olivia Deeble and 18-year-old non-binary actor/filmmaker Luka Gracie and tells the “real, authentic and often raw story of five 17-year-old students and their teacher whose diverse worlds collide when they are thrown together into a Year 12 English class.” Gracie plays newly-out non-binary student Jamie, and queer actress Selena Brincat plays Zali, who is “cracking under pressure from teachers, her strict father, her jealous girlfriend Emma and her own need for control.”
February 2022: What’s New and Gay on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, HBO Max, AMC+, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video
Well, February is a light little month for lesbian, bisexual, queer and/or trans characters on streaming networks, perhaps because the networks are very busy making medicore rom-coms for heterosexuals to celebrate the day of Saint Valentine and we are all warming up for the Winter Olympics, which are sure to be saturated in alternative sexualities. What, maychance, however, doth the month hold in store for lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans characters on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock and Disney+?
* means there MIGHT be queer content but I am not sure!
Lesbian and Bisexual and Queer Characters Joining Us on Netflix in February 2022
Raising Dion: Season 2 – February 1
Raising Dion is the story of Nicole and her son Dion, who turns out to have superpowers, which is a fun little twist for a Mom who just wants her son to get good grades and stuff. In Season 2, he’s continuing to hone his powers with the support of his mom and his Biona trailer, Tevin. Nicole’s sister, Kat, is a lesbian and a regular character in the series.
Disenchantment: Season 4 – February 9
Created by The Simpsons‘ Matt Groening, Disenchantment has long been lauded for its queer representation, including Princess Bean, voiced by queer actress Abbi Jacobson. Netflix promises a return of “the misadventures of hard-hitting, hard-drinking Queen Bean, her feisty elf companion Elfo and her personal demon Luci.”
Anne+ The Film – February 11
This queer Dutch series was a massive hit for the lesbian COMMUNITY and now we’re getting a FULL-ON FILM that sees Anne ready to finish her book, pack up her life in Amsterdam and move to Montreal to be with her girlfriend Sara, who’d like to be polyamorous. But then Anne meets Lou, a non-binary drag artist with a very different perspective on love and relationships, and it throws everything she thought she knew into turmoil!
Inventing Anna: Limited Series* – February 11
This HIGHLY anticipated Shondaland production tells the story of fake heiress and noted conwoman Anna Delvey. Laverne Cox plays Kacy Duke, a “celebrity trainer and life coach who — while centered enough to keep herself out of the real trouble — finds herself becoming a coach to more than just Anna in the wake of her crimes.” There were rumors that the real Anna had a girlfriend in prison but it’s unclear if we will be seeing any such thing in this series! As you can imagine, I hope so. Queer actress Rebecca Henderson is truly everywhere these days, including playing a detective in this little program.
Heart Shot – February 17
This 18-minute short is the story of high school seniors Nikki and Samantha, who are in love and planning their future until Nikki’s violent past returns to threaten everything that matters to her!
One of Us is Lying: Season One – February 18
If you didn’t catch this mediocre adaptation of a medicore YA novel when it premiered on Peacock last year, great news it is coming to Netflix! Jessica McLeod plays lesbian character Janae, an outcast who was best friends with Simon, the guy who dies in the first episode and thus thrusts the four teens who were in detention with him into turmoil because many suspect that Simon was murdered and EVERYBODY’S GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE EXCEPT ME AND MY MONKEY.
Space Force: Season 2 – February 18
Steve Carrell’s little outer space comedy returns and although the preview does not feature his gay ex-wife played by Lisa Kudrow, they did flash her name on the screen and that’s not nothing!!!
Hulu TV Shows and Movies for Gals, Gay and Theys in February 2022
Black Swan (2010) – February 1st
As a funny video once asked, “Black Swan Black Swan did you really happen?” This is a psychological horror film about ballet where Natalie Portman is very upset and there is some homoeroticism. You know what I mean!!!
Pam & Tommy: Limited Series* – February 2nd
Taylor Schilling plays queer porn star Erica Gauthier — who was married to sex tape thief Rand Gauthier during the events of the film — in this hotly anticipated miniseries about the tumultuous relationship and sex tape of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, based on a 2014 Rolling Stone article about the absurd series of events that led to the tape’s release.
Dollface: Complete Season 2 – February 11
It would appear that Stella, played by our very own Shay Mitchell, is having a queer relationship this season with Liv (Lilly Singh), with whom she is opening a “bar for women” that has rose on tap. Liv’s character is described as “a queer bar owner with a confident sense of humor.” There is a scene where Stella is trying to buy a dildo. Cute! Dollface itself stars Kat Dennings and is about “a young woman who — after being dumped by her longtime boyfriend — must deal with her own imagination in order to literally and metaphorically re-enter the world of women, and re-kindle the female friendships she left behind.”
Grey’s Anatomy – Season 18 Returns February 24 to ABC, February 25 on Hulu
Station 19 – Season 5 Returns February 24 to ABC, February 25 on Hulu
Better Things: Season 5 Premiere (FX) – February 28
Better Things‘ final season (sad!!!!) will focus on “the road ahead” for Sam Fox, according to Deadline, “so devoted to her life as a working actor and single mother as she navigates three coming-of-age daughters, the challenges of her chosen career and her mother’s increasing signs of aging — as well as her own. As each of the Fox women head into the next phase of their life, they are inspired to re-evaluate themselves, learn from the past and find their own direction.” Lena Waithe is amongst the season’s anticipated guest stars.
Lesbian and Queer Content Coming to Amazon Prime Video in February 2022
Life Partners (2014) – February 1
It’s the story of “two codependent best friends — one straight girl, one lesbian — and the man who comes between them.” It’s actually pretty cute! Sasha (Leighton Meester) is in an intense co-dependent best friendship with Paige (Gillian Jacobs), but then Paige meets a boy and it changes everything!
LOL: Last One Laughing Canada: Season One – February 18
A group of comedians trapped in a room tasked with forcing each other to laugh. Amongst the lucky laughers is our beloved queer comic star of “Feel Good,” Mae Martin.
Queers on HBO Max in February 2022
Pure (2021) – February 3
One of several winners of the 2021 American Black Film Festival’s Annual HBO Short Film collection showcased on the network this month, this 12 minute film by Natalie Jasmine Harris tells the story of a young Black girl grappling with her queer identity and questioning her purity on the eve of her cotillion ball.
About Last Night: Season One Premiere – February 10
Ayesha and Stephen Curry are hosting this “exclusive celebrity party” where couples turn up to play games and answer trivia questions that’ll put their relationships to the test! Amongst the featured couples are our king and queen Jessica Betts & Niecy Nash and the very hilarious Tig Notaro & Stephanie Allyne.
February 2022 LGBT Content at Disney+
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder – February 23rd
“The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” is a continuation of the acclaimed 2001 – 2005 series about “the adventures and misadventures of Penny, a typical African American girl who’s doing her best to navigate through the early years of teen-dom.” The series will also feature 14-year-old Penny and her family but in the 2020s, which brings new challenges like “a socially woke neighbor,” bullying social media influencers” and “her own teenage hormones.” New faces on the show include Maya and KG, two kids with two gay Dads. It’s unclear if there are any queer women or non-binary characters, but Billy Porter, Keke Palmer, Lena Waithe and EJ Johnson are amongst the voices featured, so!
LGBTQ+ Inclusive Shows on Peacock in February 2022
Bel-Air: Series Premiere – February 13
What if The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was serious and not a sitcom? That is the question we will all be answering together when reboot debuts, following Will’s “complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air.” Will will be reckoning with “the power of second chances while navigating the conflicts, emotions, and biases of a world far different from the only one he’s ever known.” The first three episodes will drop on February 13th. Something LGBT and relevant to our interests is gonna happen but I don’t know what it is yet!
AMC+ Queer TV Shows of February 2022
State of the Union: Season 2 – February 14
Non-binary actor Esco Jouléy is one of the three leads of this short-form series in which “liberal campaigning Ellen (Patricia Clarkson) drags her traditional, self-made husband Scott (Gleeson) out of his comfort zone and into a hipster Connecticut coffee shop, where they have 10 minutes before their marriage counselling session to drink a coffee, gather their thoughts and argue about everything from Quakerism to pronouns.”
Killing Eve: Season 4 Premiere – February 27
Following that sexually tense moment on the bridge, Eve is out for revenge and Villanelle “has found a brand-new community in an attempt to prove she’s not a “monster.” Carolyn continues chasing down the Twelve and whomever ordered Kenny’s hit, which is all part of a storyline I barely absorbed at the time and likely will continue watching this show without any real genuine consciousness of its import. I am here for fashion and sexual tension! We are promised that “this season follows our extraordinary women, each driven by passion, revenge and obsession, building towards a messy, nuanced and totally glorious series finale.”
You Can’t Convince Me These Early Hollywood Tomboys Weren’t Gay
Everyone has that one movie that is theirs, and mine is Libeled Lady (1937) starring Myrna Loy, William Powell, Spencer Tracy, and Jean Harlow. There are so many iconic movies I hadn’t seen until various crushes introduced me: Back to the Future, Donnie Darko, Charlie’s Angels, Austin Powers, that one with Bowie, etc. (feel free to throw fruit at me in the comments for having missed such pop culture touchstones). If it happened after 1970, the likelihood of me having seen it plummets, and I appreciate it when hot people show me movies I should already have seen. But in return, with every person I fancy, I have to show them Libeled Lady to see whether things between us will progress. I can’t love anyone who doesn’t love screwball comedies from the 30s and 40s. I’m a simple gal.
First of all, I love Myrna Loy in everything. The Thin Man films? I Love You Again? Double Wedding? All of it. But what sets Libeled Lady apart for me is what happens when the film takes Loy’s snarky heiress character Connie Allenbury off of her luxurious ocean liner, out of Manhattan, and to her family’s cabin upstate. Here, rid of her ballgowns and diamonds, the leading lady reveals something else entirely: a tomboy at heart. Seeing this movie for the first time as a middle schooler was a bolt from the blue. I’d always had a thing for old movies and Golden Age Hollywood, but Loy’s character in Libeled Lady was the first time I found one of those 1930s wisecracking-but-glamorous heroines who was willing to get dirty.
These tomboy characters were scarce. Feminine presentation was demanded both onscreen and off by film studios’ strict contracts with actresses, and it was newsworthy when an actress like Hepburn expected to be allowed her trousers. Plus, after the enactment of the Hays Code, no actual gay shit was permitted onscreen — all of our heroines, however obviously-dykey, had to be bundled off into a heterosexual partnership. On the surface, there isn’t much representation of us to be found in these films, stocked as they are with thin cishet white women. But, loving these movies as I do regardless, the smallest and most sidelong glimpse of tomboyness, of mascness, of scrappy gender-fuckery, feels electrifying. I lose sight entirely of these male love interests, because I’m right there beside them, in their shoes, falling in love with these charismatic, charming, incredible characters.
So, without further ado, in honor of formative crush Connie Allenbury, I present to you: An Incomplete List of Hot Tomboy Characters of Early 20th Century Hollywood Who Either Were Or Should Have Been Gay.
Tommy Smith, The Tomboy (1924), played by Dorothy Devore
No tomboy list would be complete without the OG, her scrappy little terrier, and her overalls! This silent film from early female screenwriter Agnes Christine Johnson is available in its entirety on Youtube, and tells the story of rough-and-tumble Tommy, who runs her family’s boarding house and gets swept up in a post-Prohibition intrigue featuring barn booze, mistaken identities, and a very quaint Ye Olde Car Chase. Her one flaw, of course, is falling for the revenue agent. You will never convince me that this fiercely self-sufficient dungarees-wearing gal goes from starting fistfights with farmhands and handling her family’s business with aplomb to settling down in primly wedded life with a tax cop and a lot of excessive floral arrangements. Home Improvement Butches, come get your girl.
Connie Allenbury, Libeled Lady (1937), played by Myrna Loy
After having sued a hasty newspaper for libel, Connie Allenbury is tailed by a newspaper representative who hopes to entrap her in exactly the love affair the newspaper had erroneously claimed. Connie, however, is smarter than these fast-talking men had given her credit for, and sees through this would-be boyfriend and his stock heterosexual flattery right away. And when Bill Chandler (played magnificently by Loy’s longtime acting partner William Powell) insinuates himself into her family’s party and joins them upstate, he discovers there’s far more to this debutante than one million dollars (which, in 2022 money, would shake out to almost 20 million!). Chandler has to act quickly to fit in at their cabin getaway, but Connie, on the other hand, is completely at ease, standing in the middle of the river in her waders and mocking her suitor’s suspiciously-new fishing gear. It’s such fun symmetry; as surprised as we are by Chandler’s successful trickery, we’re equally delighted by Connie’s unexpected ability. And that’s not even the best part! That night, after making pancakes for dinner, she takes Chandler for a moonlight swim out to a floating cabin on the lake, where she drops her façade and speaks so adorably about her outdoorsy childhood that every 21st century Subaru gay will swoon.
Sylvia Scarlett, Sylvia Scarlett (1935), played by Katharine Hepburn
Has anyone checked on Drew? As we all know, Katharine Hepburn’s iconic tomboy is absolutely Drew’s type. While you’re at it, fetch some smelling salts for me too — this grifter-turned-good is such a babe. Sylvia Snow becomes Sylvester Scarlett when she and her father must flee to England to escape his debts and embezzlement charges, and as she chops off her hair she declares, “I won’t be a girl. I won’t be weak, and I won’t be silly. I’ll be a boy, and rough, and hard. I won’t care what I do! Don’t worry, I’m ready for anything!” immediately before bursting into tears. (Someone get her a soft butch tshirt.) The best part is, Sylvia stays in drag far longer than any hustle or ruse would reasonably require — probably because this persona is such a swoonworthy success! Within the world of the movie, at least, characters recognize exactly how breathtakingly fine He-Hepburn is; audiences and critics, however, remained clueless. “The fact that Miss Hepburn goes through most of the picture in male attire may disappoint her followers,” said one critic at the time. Sir, I’ve never been less disappointed in my life.
Sheila Mason, Wings in the Dark (1935), played by Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy made thirty-some movies in her lifetime, and this was one I’d never seen before and discovered in the course of assembling this list! This one blew my mind — it combines my love of Myrna Loy with my formative crush on Amelia Earhart and ensuing fascination with lady aviators, and has a Cary Grant pairing as a cherry on top. In this film, Myrna plays a daredevil stunt pilot who, when her fellow pilot is blinded in an accident, quietly funds his care while working to convince her embittered crush that her feelings for him are passion, not pity. The plot may rely heavily on coincidence, and “being believable” isn’t always the order of the day, but even at its goofy moments this movie is such fun because it captures all the delight and amazement around aviation at the time. Loy and Grant both met with Amelia Earhart during preparation and promotion for the film, and when I discovered pictures of them together, my heart just about leapt off the runway.
This was also not the only time Myrna took to the skies — if you like this one, I also recommend taking a look at her 1938 film Too Hot to Handle, in which Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon compete for the attention of one formidable aviatrix, which, same.
Jo March, Little Women (1933), played by Katharine Hepburn
If I’m going to sneak my babe Myrna onto this list twice, then it’s only fair to get Hepburn back too — how could I ignore Hepburn as tomboy royalty Jo March? Really, this should have been the ultimate tomboy crossover event, but I just wish they’d let Hepburn be more masc in this film. I know it was 1933, but was that really so much to ask? If Katharine Hepburn had had Saoirse Ronan’s 2019 Little Women costumes, then, well…
Scout Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), played by Mary Badham
You didn’t think I’d leave Scout Finch off, did you? The movie and character may both be younger than the rest of this list, but a tomboy lineup without Scout Finch is no lineup of mine, so we’re going to make a midcentury exception for this absolute icon. The clashing plaids, the shirt buttoned all the way up, the bowl cut, the firmly-set jaw, and oh my heart, those overalls. I know, I just know in my bones, that Scout must’ve grown up to be a real firecracker in the 70s.
This list is by no means complete — if you have recommendations, either for old movies I should watch or fictional tomboys I should have a crush on, please tell me in the comments! I’m all ears!
Every Kristen Stewart Movie, Ranked
In August, I set out to watch every Kristen Stewart movie ever made, and I am here today to share the results of that highly uneven experience.
Kristen Stewart’s film career began with a haphazard assortment of films wherein children did schemes and had adventures. Regardless of each film’s quality, she was snagging lead roles from the jump — Panic Room was her second movie. She played tomboys or awkward outcasts and then, eventually, graduated to what would become her most enduring legacy: playing Bella Swan in the Twilight franchise. During and after that financially beneficial but artistically damning contract, Stewart seemed hellbent on proving herself serious by seeking out independent films that were sometimes bad but always Not Twilight.
Thematically, she has often found herself functioning as a transformational figure for the psyche of a white boy or man at a crossroads, delivering harsh truths with messy hair and her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Often, this man is played by Jesse Eisenberg. She’s the opposite of a manic pixie dream girl, but ultimately her effect on the men in her radius is the same. She is quirky and a little rough around the edges. She pushes people to see themselves clearly while rarely taking time to do the same for herself. Her characters often find themselves involved with older men or caught in love triangles. In more recent years, homoeroticism and outright homosexuality have become a more constant presence in her work, and as she’s grown up, the world has finally begun to take seriously the girl we knew was an incredible actress all along. She has starred in a string of biopics including this year’s big one, Spencer, which marks the first time Stewart has generated Oscar buzz.
Stewart recently told The Sunday Times: “I’ve probably made five really good films, out of 45 or 50 films? Ones that I go, ‘Wow, that person made a top-to-bottom beautiful piece of work!” Having now viewed every single film she has ever been in, I can attest that this is in fact true. I wouldn’t give a 10/10 to any of the films on this list, but at least ten would easily get a 1/10. It was incredibly difficult to decide which film was worse than another film and exactly how much worse. But it was still a great journey to take.
There are 42 films on this list. Stewart has cited 45 – 50. The discrepancy is as follows: I did not include documentaries (Bad Reputation, Shooting Panic Room, Aware Anywhere, Love Antosha), shorts (Come Swim, Once and Forever, Cutlass, Crickets) or movies in which she did not have any lines (The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, The Thirteenth Year) or actually appear (the horrific K-11, in which she did a ten-second voiceover).
Which leaves us with 42! Let us begin then, shall we?
42. The Messengers (2007)
Directed by: Danny Pang & Oxide Pang Chun
Written by: Todd Farmer & Mark Wheaton
A big-city family moves to a little farm in North Dakota and the children are haunted by ghosts and plagued by jump scares. There are a lot of crows. Ghosts flock to Kristen Stewart like bees to honey but in a world where her parents are honey truthers.
41. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One (2011)
Directed by: Bill Condon
Written By: Melissa Rosenberg and Stephanie Meyer
This Kristen Stewart movie is a 2+ hour anti-abortion PSA with vampires! The sheer volume of young people exposed to this film make its emaciated body horror more terrifying on a political and cultural level than it is in the world of the film itself.
40. Cold Creek Manor (2003)
Directed By: Mike Figgis
Written By: Richard Jefferies
Kristen Stewart, aspiring horse lesbian! Once again our young heroine finds herself moving out of the city and into a creepy house in a small town that is figuratively haunted by its previous inhabitants. Sad day for Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid when they said yes to this project.
39. Jumper (2008)
Directed by: Doug Liman
Written by: Simon Kinberg, Jim Uhls, David S. Goyer and Steven Gould
How did it take four entire men to write one bad movie? Kristen Stewart is in this for ten seconds, so it’s hardly a Kristen Stewart movie, but here we are. Despite this film being objectively terrible, it was one of my favorite watches of the K-Stew Ranking Experience, because it features my beloved Ann Arbor Public Library as a platform for advanced international travel.
38. Anesthesia (2015)
Written & Directed By: Tim Blake Nelson
Imagine a self-absorbed white teenage boy who wants to be a filmmaker is playing with paper dolls of his favorite actors, forcing them to tell “intersecting stories” that are not actually stories so much as containers for him to share a series of pretentious, earth-shattering “revelations” he had while stoned at the 10th grade lock-in, all of which are thoughts literally everybody else has already thought a million times. Then you have this movie!! Kristen Stewart is a graduate student who cuts herself because “the world has just become so inhuman” and also because capitalism and um, iPhone addiction? Her story is based on probably a Seventeen magazine article? Kristen Stewart yells about her disillusioned peers while I scream into a pillow. If I were ranking her performances, this would be dead last, but I don’t even think it’s her fault?
37. What Just Happened (2008)
Directed by: Barry Levinson
Written by: Art Linson
A pointless satire of movie producers, envisioned for the screen by movie producers. Kristen Stewart is one of many actors (Robin Wright, Stanley Tucci, John Turturo, Lily Rabe, Catherine Keener, Bruce Willis) who wasted their time being in this movie. Fortunately for her but unfortunately for me, she was only in it for maybe ten minutes, as one of Robert DeNiro’s estranged children.
36. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part Two (2012)
Directed by: Bill Condon
Written By: Stephanie Meyer and Melissa Rosenberg
Texts I sent while watching this film:
what the fuck is up with this baby
breaking dawn part one was horrifying i thought this couldn’t be worse
why is wolfboy having sex thoughts ABOUT A BABY
the extended cullen family always look like an SNL parody
maybe kristen started dating robert patticakes bc she hated her job and needed excitement
like why i dated marc at the olive garden
….
it really takes a village to raise a baby
how did two hot vamps make one ugly baby
who did the makeup on peter fancinelli and are they still in prison
mormons have too much power in this culture
….
[shared a picture of the CGI baby]
???!!!!?!
35. Cafe Society (2016)
Written & Directed by: Woody Allen
This film and Into the Wild occupy a similar sphere in this list wherein yes I am aware that according to “the critics,” this is a “good film” and most would prefer it to Zathura: A Space Adventure.
Unfortunately, I was unable to bear it because, much like Into the Wild (we’ll get there in a minute), we have a beautiful package and an extraordinary cast circling a deeply rotten core, and that core is A STRAIGHT CIS WHITE MAN WHO IS OBSESSED WITH HIMSELF. However, when that man is Woody Allen, the results are particularly unsettling.
Set in the golden era of Old Hollywood or whatever, Kristen Stewart plays Vonnie, a hottie assistant torn between cute new-in-town awkward curly-haired white boy Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) and studio mogul Phil (Steve Carell). (Also although Kristen Stewart (26) and Steve Carell (54) are both adults, I feel compelled to point out this age difference because this is a Woody Allen movie and this is his creepy agenda!)
My primary feeling about this film is “Woody Allen: what if you just did not?” What if you just did not contribute a completely unnecessary voiceover to this film just to hear yourself speak? What if you did not exorcise your bitterness that you are no longer Jesse Eisenberg’s age by directing Jesse Eisenberg to basically act like you do in your other films, which in his body just comes off as overly stylized, selfish, paternalistic, pushy and really basically just INSUFFERABLE? What if you just did not rely on the beauty and inherent charm and mythology of Old Hollywood to carry a film that otherwise is empty? What if you just stopped making movies????
34. Into the Wild (2007)
Written & Directed By: Sean Penn
Next up on our Kristen Stewart movie tour is Into the Wild. Before I proceed, I want to say I bear no ill will towards the real Christopher McCandless, his life was his own to live (it does seem like he was suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness! But that’s never addressed, instead he is framed as a “free spirit.”), but I’m opposed to his post-death lionization, including this film, which has an actual body count.
A wealthy white man LITERALLY BURNS CASH MONEY and goes on a VERY poorly planned trip into the Alaskan wilderness to “live off the land” and I am expected to care for 2.5 straight hours! He abandons a life of opportunity and privilege without concern for his family or friends, who understandably panic and subsequently extend resources and anguish searching for him. He relies entirely on the kindness of strangers — who have far less to give than his own family — to survive after willfully destroying his own assets and even the ID that’d enable him to work for money. He romanticizes poverty, disenfranchisement and unemployment like only a privileged white man can! His primary life trauma is that at some point he found out that his Dad was married to another woman when his Mom got pregnant, and his Dad left his ex for his Mom. Yup, that’s HIS trauma, not the trauma of IDK, that other family?
Kristen Stewart plays Tracy, a quirky 16-year-old who finds herself so enchanted by this selfish man that she wants to bone him in her parents’ trailer while they’re not home!
However, there are three minutes of this film in which Kristen Stewart plays guitar and sings “Angel From Montgomery” with Chris, and it’s honestly transcendent. I could watch that three minutes out of context for the rest of my life.
33. Fierce People (2005)
Directed by: Griffin Dunne
Written by: Dirk Wittenborn
An angsty awkward curly-haired white boy named Finn wants to spend the summer studying “tribal people” in South America with his father, but due to reasons must settle for staying in the castle owned by his Mom’s billionaire massage client, Ogden (Donald Sutherland). He quickly falls for Ogden’s granddaughter, horny horse lesbian Maya (Kristen Stewart). They rub each other in “tribal paint” and hook up. There is sexual violence. The problem with this film is that it is racist!
32. Undertow (2004)
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Written by: David Gordon Green & Joe Conway
Men and boys in the woods of rural Georgia, family secrets, something something, Uncle Deel comes home, steals a coin collection, there is murder, the boys are on the run? I forgot to take notes to this movie. I was bored but it got good reviews so maybe I missed something? At some point we meet Lila (Kristen Stewart, 14), a tomboy who kisses Chris (Jamie Bell, 18) in an old rowboat that’s like, on land?
31. Catch That Kid (2004)
Directed by: Bart Freundlich
Written by: Michael Brandt and Derek Haas
12-year-old tomboy Maddy (Kristen Stewart) wants to earn money for her Dad’s surgery by robbing a high-security bank. It’s like Ocean’s Twelve, Junior! I was rooting for these kids! Jennifer Beals is Maddy’s Mom? Hopefully this inspired at least one future lesbian to join a climbing gym.
30. Underwater (2020)
Directed by: William Eubank
Written By: Adam Cozad and Brian Duffield
Kristen Stewart’s head is shaved and she’s trapped underwater in a drilling facility at the bottom of the ocean and then there is an earthquake and there are monsters? This film was unnecessary.
29. The Yellow Handkerchief (2008)
Directed by: Udayan Prasad
Written by: Pete Hamill and Erin Dignam
Based on a 1977 Japanese film that was much better than this, Stewart plays Martine, a 15-year-old troubled teen on the run with her awkward messy-haired white boy outcast pal Gordy (Eddie Redmayne). They pick up a just-released-from-prison Brett (William Hurt) and take a road trip through post-Katrina New Orleans to get Brett to his ex-girlfriend. It was fine.
28. The Cake-Eaters (2007)
Directed by: Mary Stuart Masterson
Written by: Jayce Bartok
Fifteen-year-old Georgia (played by Kristen Stewart, 16) has Friedrich’s ataxia and also wants to bone 20-year-old Beagle (played by Aaron Stanford, 30), a cafeteria worker at her high school. Those are her only personality traits, really: she has a chronic illness and wants to bone. Stewart gives the character all she’s got to give, and it’s very well directed. Georgia’s Mom takes naked pics of her to raise disability awareness? Bruce Dern is there. At one point, Georgia gets the worst, most alarming lesbian haircut in history and her and Beagle escape their small town to hook up in a motel.
27. Equals (2015)
Directed by: Drake Doremus
Written By: Nathan Parker & Drake Doremus
In a sanitized dystopia that never bothers to make a case for its existence, Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult — who really nails the robot bit — rebel against the system’s forbiddance of feeling feelings by falling in love with each other. It’s like someone had 10% of a good idea, bleached everything, made some minimalist furniture, said “speculative non-fiction” ten times fast and then sent the reel straight to the cinema!
26. In the Land of Women (2007)
Directed by: Jonathan Kasdan
Written by: Jonathan Kasdan
Carter Webb (Adam Brody), a mopey awkward curly-haired white boy, moves to Michigan to take care of his ailing grandmother and somehow develops weird sexual relationships with Sarah (Meg Ryan) and her daughter, Lucy (blonde Kristen Stewart)! It’s kinda charming in pieces and then Carter starts mansplaining something to Lucy and I die.
25. Welcome to the Rileys (2010)
Directed by: Jake Scott
Written by: Ken Hixon
I think the movie itself was pretty good but “man saves sex worker from herself” storylines are like nails on a chalkboard for me, sorry
24. Lizzie (2018)
Directed by: Craig Macneill
Written by: Bryce Kass
A list of this nature composed by a heterosexual would likely place this Kristen Stewart movie further into the weeds of the bad movies but alas, I am not a heterosexual and therefore the abject badness of this film was indeed overcome by furtive lesbian barn sex.
23. J.T. LeRoy (2018)
Directed by: Justin Kelly
Written & Produced by: Savannah Knoop and Justin Kelly
I’m fascinated by scammer stories and the truths revealed by the lies we’re desperate to believe, but this story starring Stewart as Savnnah Koop, a teenager manipulated by her older brother’s girlfriend Laura Albert (Laura Dern) into adopting the false literary persona of J.T. LeRoy — a character Laura invented to sell her gritty fiction about abuse, drugs and poverty as semi-autobiographical — somehow tackles none of those themes. It tells its story clearly, but the result is just a blockbuster cast performing a TV movie script.
22. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Directed by: Chris Weitz
Written by: Stephanie Meyer and Melissa Rosenberg
Jake’s big try! An inspirational Kristen Stewart movie about how threatening to kill yourself is the best way to get your boyfriend back. The world of the Volturi added some roundness to Twilight’s strange world, and I appreciated that Edward’s brief absence gifted us more time with Jake and the Quileutes. I love CGI wolves I guess.
21. On the Road (2012)
Directed by: Walter Salles
Written by: Jose Rivera
Sometimes a book is really amazing and I think, that’s okay, not every book needs to be a movie! Kristen Stewart is a convincing Mary Ann, the White Men of Literature’s prototypical manic-pixie-dream-girl. But as a superfan of the book and the Beats, I was mostly unmoved by this film that I had anticipated for well over a decade.
20. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
Directed by: David Slade
Written by Stephanie Meyer and Melissa Rosenberg
The only Kristen Stewart movie on this list I’ve had the pleasure of previously reviewing for this website, back in 2010 when Crystal made us all go. I think we were high? From that review: “Ok lots of fields of poppies and flying people… Eclipse was cool and entertaining, once you got over the whole ‘how the hell did this totally masochistic love affair become a worldwide phenomenon’ thing. Bella’s like Helen of Troy in a hoodie. High school! Girl you are in high school. Good luck picking the right college, let alone joining the undead.”
19. Charlie’s Angels (2019)
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Written by: Elizabeth Banks, David Auburn and Evan Spilotopoulos
This film could’ve been a photoshoot. Unfortunately, once more my lesbian bias seeps through the cracks of this project. The “case” at the center of this otherwise aesthetically delightful romp of tight pants and fight sequences is so utterly empty, so boring, so irrelevant, that I felt actively insulted by the entire film. And yet! Kristen Stewart looked great and did a great job didn’t she??? She was so gay! I had a good time!!
18. Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Written By: David Koepp and John Kamps
Kristen Stewart was literally frozen solid for half of this film but I think as a child I may have been entertained by little Josh Hutcherson’s journey into space! Good for him!
17. Seberg (2019)
Directed By: Benedict Andrews
Written by: Anna Waterhouse & Joe Shrapnel
American actress Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart), best known for Breathless, was eventually an FBI target for her involvement with the Black Panthers, and this film traces that chapter of her life. I really enjoyed the film and its style, but it’s difficult to get past the FBI agent being portrayed as a martyr!!! I mostly lamented that now Kristen Stewart won’t have the chance to be in a good movie about Jean Seberg.
16. Snow White & The Huntsman (2012)
Directed by: Rupert Sanders
Written by: John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini and Evan Daugherty
Stunning visuals, a reliably well-tread story with just the faintest whisper of new life barely breathed into it from a few towns over. Kristen Stewart looks great in armor, nice special effects, battle scenes I could endure because they were not too bloody, ultimately this had no point but the plot carried us on a horse from scene to scene and let us off at the end for snacks, so?
15. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016)
Directed by: Ang Lee
Written by: Jean-Christophe Castelli
For a movie trading in literally zero of my interests, I was drawn in quickly to this slice-of-life drama centered on young private Billy Lynn and his erroneously labeled “Bravo Squad,” fresh out of a harrowing Iraq battle, sent home for Thanksgiving to do a publicity tour touting their heroism. But the squad, heavy with PTSD and secrets and despair, are courted like symbols instead of people. Kristen Stewart is Billy’s older sister, Kathryn, who is essentially the audience’s surrogate — not the heartless publicity hounds or the entrenched soldiers, but someone who sees the war clearly and wants desperately for Billy to take a discharge and refuse his next tour.
14. Speak (2004)
Directed by: Jessica Sharzer
Written by: Annie Young Frisbie
Eric Lively of L Word defame plays a popular teen who rapes Kristen Stewart’s character, Melinda, at a party. Snubbed by her friends and ignored by her parents, she retreats into a stony silence and slow psychological deconstruction. Speak can’t really decide if it’s an indie drama or a made-for-TV movie, but if anyone doubted Stewart’s acting chops, they could’ve started here for evidence of her unique talent for embodying the anxiety of trauma.
13. American Ultra (2015)
Directed by: Nima Nourizadeh
Written by: Max Landis
Up next in the Jesse Eisenberg/Kristen Stewart trifecta is this charming little action movie about Mike, an awkward curly-haired white boy stoner with a way-too-good-for-him girlfriend. But Mike turns out to be a secret agent who’s been de-activated! But then he’s re-activated by Tami Taylor when the government decides it’s time to kill him! It’s sort of dumb but also really fun!! Tony Hale is always a good time.
12. Camp X-Ray (2014)
Directed & Written by: Peter Sattler
Kristen Stewart is Private Cole, a guard at Guantanamo Bay who connects with Ali, a detainee her comrades have routinely dismissed (Peyman Moaadi). I often felt like I was just watching a black-box play starring Stewart and Moaadi, who had incredible dramatic chemistry. It’s dizzying to consider Cole’s backstory — enlisting to get out of her small town, only to be flown directly to a small prison — and I wish there’d been more to chew on from Ali’s. Mostly it kept nagging at me; this sense we were supposed to see Cole’s eventual kindness towards Ali as angelic rather than what it really was — human.
11. Twilight (2008)
Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke
Written by: Stephanie Meyer and Melissa Rosenberg
This film has everything: a plot, characters, special effects, vampires, high schools, apples, baseball, a Mormon agenda, a place on a list of Kristen Stewart movies. What’s not to love?!
10. Personal Shopper (2016)
Written & Directed by: Olivier Assayas
Stewart considers this and her other film with Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria) to be on a very small list of work she’s proud of, and it is indeed critically acclaimed and beloved by smart film people. Alas I am not a smart film person. I know this movie is better than the other movies on this list, I was just um, a wee bit bored??!
9. Adventureland (2009)
Written & Directed by: Greg Mottola
James is forced to spend his summer after graduating high school — class of 87! — working at a local carnival that serves as the small bond for a number of big fish to execute small pockets of power in this cold world. Adventureland is a fun watch teeming with comedic talent and once again we find Kristen Stewart, she of effervescent complicated summer sexuality, falling incomprehensibly for a misunderstood weirdo.
8. Still Alice (2014)
Directed By: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Written by: Lisa Genova and Wash Westmoreland
Julianne Moore is Alice, a linguistics professor with three grown children, including an aspiring actress and passionate diarist played marvelously by Kristen Stewart. After losing track of her words while teaching, Alice is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers and her family must learn to navigate this new reality.
7. The Runaways (2010)
Written & Directed by: Floria Sigismondi
Kristen Stewart as badass, gritty, determined, iconic punk rocker Joan Jett was a blessing in a year short on female-focused stories. The Runaways has the energy of its music and of its era, shifting from eroticized full-volume aggression to grainy, SoCal, sun-bleached, drug-addled dreams. Afterwards you wanna straddle a girl with smoky eye makeup and start a band. Never before or since has Stewart played a role with such intense lesbian top energy and the film crackles with nonstop sexual tension. Knowing now what wasn’t quite as known back then, however, it’s difficult not to lament its relatively gentle treatment of Kim Fowley, a serial rapist and child predator who passed off abuse as artistic genius.
6. Happiest Season (2020)
Directed by: Clea Duvall
Written by: Mary Holland & Clea Duvall
So much went wrong here — an implausible and sociopathic premise passed off like a wink/smile, the tap water level chemistry between the romantic leads — but it packed in so much delight, too! Some very winning jokes, a cast you’d love to play Scattegories with, Christmas cheer and Jane’s novels and Harper’s suit at the party and Aubrey Plaza’s sulky-smart ex-girlfriend and the Mom with her iPad. I loved it!
5. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Written & Directed by: Olivier Assaysas
A bounty of talent and European accents descend upon the Swiss Alps and so does Kristen Stewart wearing glasses and tugging on her shirtsleeves. Like Personal Shopper, my occasional boredom during this objectively excellent film made me doubt the power of my own artistic intellect. I liked it much better on a rewatch, because when I viewed it in the cinema I was suffering from crushing guilt over having chosen it for Date Night without realizing it was 2+ hours long and that there was no actual lesbianism in the film, only a play about lesbianism that everybody is rehearsing all the time.
Anyhow. Stewart is Valentine, the assistant to Juliette Binoche’s Maria, who’s unveiled resentment of The Youths and Their Superhero Movies comes squealing out of her eyeballs when she’s asked to join the cast of the play that made her famous, but in a new role. Scandal-ridden actress Jo-Ann (Chloë Grace Moretz) will play Maria’s original role, Sigrid, a beautiful younger woman who dupes and ditches Helena, an older lesbian who Maria will be playing in the revival.
There’s a lot of intense and delightful verbal sparring between Valentine and Maria, who spend nearly all their time together. Also the clouds and mountains are beautiful.
4. Panic Room (2002)
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: David Koepp
A highly competent thriller that brings two lesbian icons together, trapped inside a tiny room, bombarded by men looking for wealth under a capitalist heteropatriarchy. I was on the edge of my seat for this must-watch Kristen Stewart movie!
3. The Safety of Objects (2001)
Written & Directed by: Rose Troche
This was my first ever Kristen Stewart movie. The first time I saw her do anything at all, she was playing Sam, an 11-year-old girl who passed as a boy in The Safety of Objects. The film, directed and written by lesbian icon Rose Troche, was based on bisexual author A.M. Homes’s short story collection by the same name. I was drawn to Sam, relating intensely to what I ultimately perceived as an ambivalence towards how others perceived her gender but also a deep aversion to wearing a dress. I didn’t realize Sam was “the girl from Twilight” until much later. But I love all the weird people in this film, all the outsider stories lurking behind a neat suburban veneer.
2. Certain Women (2016)
Directed by: Kelly Reichardt
Written by: Kelly Reichardt and Maile Meloy
This film is so quiet and empty and full, and about Montana as much as it is about any of the people who live there. Stewart plays a law student who forms an (in my opinion homosexual) bond with a rancher in the town where she’s teaching “School Law” and she doesn’t say much, but she accomplishes so much here with her small patches of time. Everybody is so lonely even around other people, all these women giving more to life than it’ll ever give back.
1. Spencer (2021)
Directed by: Pablo Larrain
Written by: Steven Knight
Undoubtedly her best performance and her first to inspire Oscar buzz, Stewart’s Diana is gorgeously nervous, manic, unsettled, haunted. The script isn’t perfect — managing to dull down a wildly intriguing truth and lack narrative momentum — but it is so lovely and tragic to witness! The fashions and her face and the castles and her children racing to keep up with their beloved mother and the scarecrow and the lesbian in the meadow! I loved it. However I’m confident that the best Kristen Stewart movie has yet to be made!
January 2022: Here’s What’s New and Gay on Netflix, HBO Max and Hulu
Hello and welcome to your monthly guide on brand new streaming items coming to your television sets / computer screens in January 2022, chock-full of lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans characters!
Oddly, I didn’t get any gay vibes, let alone any gay information, from the January 2022 slate being served up at Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+ or Apple, so I am hoping there’ll be a surprise or else they will make it up to us in February. In the meantime; Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max still have room for the homosexuals, bisexuals and pansexuals in their hearts this month.
What’s New and Queer on Netflix for January 2022
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) – January 1
I believe we are as a community familiar with this series, in which Rooney Mara plays traumatized tough bisexual investigator Lisbeth Salander, helping Mikael Blookvist solve the 40-year-old murder of his niece.
REBƎLDE: Season One – January 5
This series is based on a Mexican telenovela by the same name which was a massive hit, spawning an actual pop group that released nine studio albums. Netflix’s REBƎLDE follows a new crew of very hot and talented teen musicians enrolled at the Elite Way School. Amongst them is Andi (Lizbeth Selene), “a rocker at heart” and “a drummer who scoffs at any rulebook, from what she wears to whom she dates in between rehearsing for Battle of the Bands.” In the trailer we see Andi making out on a couch with Emilia Alo (Giovanna Grigio), “the most popular girl at EWS.”
Hype House: Season One – January 7
Ten 20-year-old TikTokers have ben picked to live in a 25 million dollar house together and have their lives taped and now you can find out what happens when influencers make content? Together? In a nice house?!!?! And I guess have fights and stuff. Anyhow, one of the housemates, Nikita Dragun, is a trans woman.
Chosen: Season One – January 13
This “thrilling and absurd story about teenage life” centers on 17-year-old Emma, who is about to “discover an earth shattering truth about her own identity when she delves into the mystery surrounding her quiet Danish town.” The mystery is that the hole in the middle of town everybody said was a meteor is not a meteor hole, it’s a hole caused by aliens crashing their spaceship! Anyhow, Emma definitely has a lesbian romance in this series, they are kissing in the trailer I saw it with my own two eyes.
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness: Season One – January 28
This new reality show from non-binary Queer Eye hair wizard Jonathan Van Ness will see them asking big questions like “was Sister Act realistic” and “what’s the history of scissors?” I will be tuning in thank you!
Hulu’s Lesbian & Queer Content for January 2022
Sex Appeal (2022) – January 14
This Hulu original film focuses on Avery, who is prepping for sex with her long-distance boyfriend by MASTERING her sexuality, employing her best friend as a test subject. This sounds pretty heterosexual BUT also, the following people are in this film: Margaret Cho, Fortune Feimster, Rebecca Henderson, Paris Jackson. Soooo something gay is going to happen.
9-1-1: Lone Star (Fox): Season 3 Premiere – January 4
This is Us (NBC): Season 6 Premiere – January 5
Black Bear (2020) – January 10
Bisexual actress/icon Aubrey Plaza stars in this critically acclaimed psychological meta-thriller. She plays an out-of-town guest seeking filmmaking inspiration who is shacking up with a couple in their Adirondack lakehouse. As per letterboxd, “The group quickly falls into a calculated game of desire, manipulation, and jealousy, unaware of how dangerously intertwined their lives will soon become.” According to at least one review, there is a lesbian in the movie! Vulture placed it at #3 on its list of Aubrey Plaza Movie Roles, Ranked by How Badly She Wants to Kill You.
Naomi (The CW): Season One Premiere (Available with Hulu Live+) – January 11
Normally I don’t include shows here that require Hulu Live (because that’s basically just every show on TV) BUT we just really wanted you to know about this one! I’ll let Natalie take it from here: Based on the 2019 comic book series of the same name, Naomi is the latest superhero offering from the CW. It’s the story of Naomi McDuffie, an effortlessly cool teenager with an obsession with all things Superman. But when her quiet hometown is upended by a Superman stunt, Naomi starts to question everything around her, including her own origin story. Naomi is the latest television offering from Ava Duvernay…and like she did with Queen Sugar, she goes beyond the source material and introduces queerness.
How I Met Your Father (Hulu): Two-Episode Premiere – January 18
This standalone sequel to How I Met Your Mother stars Hilary Duff as Sophie (and Kim Cattrall as future Sophie) and Chris Lowell as Jesse. Tien Tran plays Ellen, Jesse’s adoptive sister who is described as “more comfortable on an organic lettuce farm than a Brooklyn dive bar.” She’s recently left her small farming town for New York City after separating from her wife.
Single Drunk Female (Freeform): Series Premiere – January 21
Sofia Black D’Elia’s Samantha is a twentysomething writer who loses her media job after drunkenly assaulting her boss, is subsequently shipped off to rehab and then finds herself back home living with her Mom, played by Ally Sheedy. Rebecca Henderson plays Samantha’s sponsor, Olivia, who is in a bananas relationship with her wife, Stephanie (Madeline Wise). Trans actress Jojo Brown plays Mindy, a friend Samantha meets in AA and then works for at the local grocery store!
Grown-ish: Season 4B Premiere (Freeform) – January 28
Burden of Truth: Complete Season 4 – January 30
This Canadian legal drama is focused on big city lawyer Joanna Chang, who returned to her hometown to take on an easy case that turned out to be a much harder case. Her assistant, Luna Spence, is a queer indigenous law student. Its fourth and final season debuted last year on The CW and saw its characters dealing with a mining company reopening a dormant mine outside their town and events that eventually open up a long-buried secret for Joanna. Also, Luna has a new girlfriend! Also worth noting is what Natalie wrote about the show in her recap of episode 409: “over four seasons, the Canadian import showcased indigenous stories in a way that few other television shows have.”
HBO Max LGBTQ+ Content For January 2022
Search Party: Season 5 Premiere – January 7
Grace Kuhlenschmidt and Michelle Badillo are gonna be in Season 5 of Search Party so I feel like there has to be something LGBT going on in the final season of this show that ranked #22 on our Best LGBT-Inclusive TV Shows of 2021.
Euphoria: Season 2 Premiere – January 9
The long-awaited Season Two of Euphoria is finally here! In July, Zendaya told Teen Vogue that the season is “gonna be hard and it’s gonna be devastating sometimes, but I think Rue really deserves all of that care when it comes to her character, because I think she represents a lot for so many people. And I hope to make those people proud with our depictions of Rue [and] where all the characters go. I think this season’s not going to be easy, though. It’s not going to be a fun watch, I don’t think. Sometimes.” Other cast members have described Season 2 as jaw-dropping and “insane,” so we’ll see!
Peacemaker: Season 1 Premiere – January 13th
The Suicide Squad’s Peacemaker is getting his very own spin-off series! Last year, Peacemaker put out a casting call for a recurring guest role described as a “Black Female, late 20s-early 30s, gay” character “reluctantly dealing with her new wife’s government job and the secrecy it requires.” Elizabeth Faith Ludlow — who appeared in HBO Max’s Equal and Netflix’s Another Life — snagged the role, so we’re just waiting to see which character she’s married to! Danielle Brooks is playing new not-from-the-comics character Leota Adebayo, and Jennifer Holland is Emilia Harcourt.
Somebody Somewhere: Season 1 Premiere – January 16th
A thing I learned this week is that Bridget Everett is not a lesbian? This is confusing to me but anyhow, this show is based on her life and she plays Sam, a singer who returns to her Kansas hometown to care for her sister and then her sister dies and THEN WHAT!?! I’m assuming there’ll be a lot of queer stuff in this because at one point she’s at a showcase hosted by Murray Hill and everybody in the room is gay.
That’s all folks! Does anybody know if The Gilded Age is going to be gay and if not, why not? Lemme know in the comments!
The Best Lesbian Movies of 2021
It’s fitting that the first full year of the pandemic would be consumed with horror. Stories of isolation and paranoia were seemingly endless — easy to shoot during Covid and applicable for our time. Even films that weren’t outright horror like tales of novice rowers, Jewish family functions, and royal Christmases had the tone of a scary movie. There are 35 films on this attempted list of every lesbian+ movie released in 2021. (I’m sure I missed some.) I believe that’s some sort of record, so if horror isn’t your thing, there are other options as well. We have meandering romances, multiple Christmas movies, and even, for the first time, one very special work of kids animation.
It’s an exciting time to be gay at the movies. While this list includes some lesser known fare, there’s also the 2021 Palme d’or winner, several Netflix movies, and a few Oscar contenders. But as we celebrate, it’s still important to note that progress isn’t linear. Despite being almost twice as long, this list is whiter and way more cis than last year’s. More queer movies doesn’t inherently mean the work is better nor that we’re all being included. But it’s a start!
My top ten lesbian movies of 2021 challenged me, delighted me, turned me on, and, yes, horrified me. I’m just grateful to be back at the movies — masked, vaccinated, and avoiding crowded screenings — trying desperately to keep the horror on-screen.
The lesbian+ umbrella means any film with women or non-binary characters interested sexually or romantically in women or non-binary people.
Lesbian Movies of 2021 That Didn’t Make the Top Ten with a Short Review:
Ahead of the Curve (dir. Jen Rainin, Rivkah Beth Medow) — If you’re interested in the history of queer media, check out this documentary about the creation and legacy of Curve Magazine!
Barb & Star Go to Vista del Mar (dir. Josh Greenbaum) — The only time I’ve ever received publicity swag was when this movie sent me a gift basket of weed. I don’t remember much about the movie itself except that there was definitely a threesome and I had an incredible time.
Benedetta (dir. Paul Verhoeven) — Showgirls this is not! Paul Verhoeven knows how to make a movie, but if you go into this looking for scandal and eroticism, you’ll be disappointed.
Bloodthirsty (dir. Amelia Moses) — Gay pop star werewolf! Amelia Moses’ first two features both came out this year and I’m so excited about her new (gay) voice in horror. This isn’t necessarily doing anything new but it’s doing it well — and gayer.
Bruised (dir. Halle Berry) — Hollywood has treated Halle Berry terribly over the years and I’m thrilled she’s working to change that by getting behind the camera. I just wish she had a better script to work with! The good stuff here is really good even if the bad stuff is really bad. But since the good stuff is very gay I’d still say it’s worth a watch.
Christmas at the Ranch (dir. Christin Baker) — I haven’t seen this one because I want to save some of the multiple (!!) gay Christmas movies for closer to Christmas. But Heather called it a “welcome horse girl holigay rom-com.”
Deadly Illusions (dir. Anna Elizabeth James) — One of the worst movies of the year. I wanted a fun hate watch but it honestly just got tedious.
Every Time a Bell Rings (dir. Maclain Nelson) — I’m saving this one for closer to Christmas too!
The Harder They Fall (dir. Jeymes Samuel) — The queer coded Cuffie, played by Danielle Deadwyler, is the best part of this movie. But I wish they didn’t make her wear a dress in that one scene and end with her becoming a cop!
I Care a Lot (dir. J Blakeson) — Yes, this is amoral trash with poorly written female characters and a dash of transphobia. But its worst crime is that its queer ladies don’t even have chemistry!! This could’ve been fun trash if it had an ounce of sex appeal.
In the Heights (dir. Jon M. Chu) — I know too many people who didn’t realize the queerness was queerness for me to feel satisfied with what was added to this adaptation. In the Heights is one of my favorite musicals and there are moments in this that are truly incredible. But upon rewatches, its flaws have gotten worse — especially how Nina’s character is portrayed and the last half hour. Maybe if it was gayer I’d be more forgiving!
Knocking (dir. Frida Kempff) — Just missing the top ten is this claustrophobic thriller of guilt and paranoia. Short and not at all sweet, this tale of grief and isolation is unfortunately a perfect match for our current moment.
Ma Belle, My Beauty (dir. Marion Hill) — The random anti-Palestine sentiments are too reprehensible and distracting to enjoy this movie’s French countryside pleasures.
My Fiona (dir. Kelly Walker) — This movie offended me as a mentally ill person and as a screenwriter.
My Name is Pauli Murray (dir. Julie Cohen, Betsy West) — I think it’s weird to have a segment of your movie where you talk about how someone was trans only to spend the rest of the movie misgendering them to fit your simpler narrative.
Parallel Mothers (dir. Pedro Almodóvar) — I haven’t seen this yet! I’m seeing it on my birthday (the 24th) and I’ll be back with a review. But I hear it has queer women! I’m very excited!
The Retreat (dir. Pat Mills) — The characters are a bit thin but this is a fun cat-and-mouse horror movie with a strong central performance from Tommie-Amber Pirie.
The Scary of Sixty-First (dir. Dasha Nekrasova) — It’s like if the worst girl in Bushwick watched too many Roman Polanski movies.
Spencer (dir. Pablo Lorraín) — The casting of Kristen Stewart and the addition of a lesbian character aren’t enough to make up for this one-note movie that recasts Diana as the maker of her own misery.
Through the Glass Darkly (dir. Lauren Fash) — Despite some unnecessary voiceover, this “where is my daughter” mystery thriller is actually pretty good. But is it good enough to make up for how bleak it is? Personally, I’d say no.
Two of Us (dir. Filippo Meneghetti) — This is a well-made, brutal movie about two older lesbians. Screen icon Barbara Sukowa’s central performance may just be good enough to suffer through the movie’s pain.
Under the Christmas Tree (dir. Lisa Rose Snow) — Everything I want from a Lifetime Christmas movie: cheesy, gay, and starring my girlfriend.
We Need to Do Something (dir. Sean King O’Grady) — This one-room horror movie has its defenders so maybe I’m just missing something but in my opinion the only something that needs to be done is taking a screenwriting class.
White Lie (dir. Calvin Thomas, Yonah Lewis) — This is a good movie about a very, very bad person. Most media about amoral sociopaths tries to romanticize them so I guess points to this one for certainly not doing that.
My favorite 2021 releases that don’t qualify for this list:
Beans (dir. Tracey Deer)
Bergman Island (dir. Mia Hansen-Løve)
C’mon C’mon (dir. Mike Mills)
Drive My Car (dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
The Power of the Dog (dir. Jane Campion)
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (dir. Mariem Pérez Riera)
Shangri-La (dir. Isabel Sandoval)
Test Pattern (dir. Shatara Michelle Ford)
Wild Indian (dir. Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.)
Zola (dir. Janicza Bravo)
A Complicated Honorable Mention
The World to Come (dir. Mona Fastvold)
As I said in my review, it’s difficult to separate this film from Casey Affleck’s involvement as producer and star. Still, the craft on display is undeniable. Mona Fastvold is an extremely talented filmmaker and this movie is worth watching for the sound design alone. Yes, it’s a bleak lesbian period piece starring two white cis women. And, yes, I do think that’s connected to the kinds of queer movies a man like Casey Affleck would want to get behind and use as a cover for his past behavior. I hope we see more from Fastvold soon, but until then if you can stomach this movie’s problems, it’s a worthwhile experience.
The Top 10 Lesbian Movies of 2021:
10. Ride or Die (dir. Ryūichi Hiroki)
This is easily my favorite two and a half hour lesbian murder drama about bourgeoisie class betrayal with a Norah Jones needle drop. Based on the popular manga Gunjō, Ryūichi Hiroki has made the bonkers, gratuitous lesbian movie I’d hoped Benedetta would be. Does it need to be this long? Probably not. But the first half hour and the last half hour — and the chemistry between Kiko Mizuhara and Honami Sato — are good enough to justify the rest of the journey. And, look, if you want to complain about this movie having a “male gaze” or whatever you wouldn’t be totally unjustified, but at least don’t erase that it was written by a woman, Nami Yoshikawa. This may not be the most authentic lesbian movie (whatever that means) but it’s about big, irrational feelings and what’s gayer than that?
9. Tove (dir. Zaida Bergroth)
While this biopic of Moomin creator Tove Jansson is relatively straightforward, it’s elevated by a casual gay angst and a strong central performance from Alma Poystï. It follows Jansson as she struggles between her desire to be a serious artist and her increasing Moomin fame. Meanwhile, she has a series of relationships with people of various genders as she continues her pursuit for a truly free life. That freedom is felt especially in the party scenes that welcome us into Jansson’s bohemia. A fun fact is Jansson was a Leo sun, Pisces moon, Libra rising, so the dyke drama is on full display. An even more fun fact is ALL THREE of her love interests featured in this movie were Aquariuses! I love being gay.
8. Shiva Baby (dir. Emma Seligman)
The more I thought about Shiva Baby, the more I thought about the actual baby. At first, the crying was just sound design — another unsettling component in this claustrophobic non-horror horror movie. But a baby isn’t sound design. A baby is a human being, a responsibility, a stage of heteronormative development. On the surface, Emma Seligman’s acclaimed debut is a very well-made movie about an insufferable soon-to-be college graduate who doesn’t want a full-time job. But the more I thought about the baby crying, the more I realized what Danielle is actually running away from. Her ex-girlfriend and her sugar daddy represent her two possible paths. She can either lean into her queerness and build an adulthood unlike any her parents can imagine. Or she can start a family like the one her sugar daddy has, fulfilling expectations with a lie. And so this shiva is a sort of purgatory for Danielle. (Even though as Jews we don’t believe in that.) It’s a cusp of adulthood test to figure out what she wants for her future. Does she want to take a risk, succumb to comfort, or continue to choose neither, privileged enough to barely be alive? In just 77 minutes, Seligman and star Rachel Sennott take Danielle on an odyssey. At the end, she’s still stuck, and yet she’s finally free.
7. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (dir. Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe)
While Disney is still bragging about their exclusively gay moments and NOT giving Elsa a girlfriend, Sony and Netflix have gifted us with this funny, emotional, and delightfully inventive queer kids movie. Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is a teen filmmaker ready to escape her town where nobody understands her and go off to film school to find her people. Unfortunately, her plans get interrupted by her dad — oh and the robot apocalypse. As a former queer teen who left her family to go to film school, this movie hit me hard. I loved Katie’s journey toward accepting her biological family while still knowing she has a chosen family out there she needs too. Also it’s just really fun and funny! Few movies this year made me laugh this hard and maybe no movie made me cry this much. I wish Katie was maybe a bit more obvious in her gayness but she’s wearing a pride pin the whole time and ends the movie with a girlfriend so I’ll take this as wildly enjoyable step toward the queer kids movies we deserve.
6. Passing (dir. Rebecca Hall)
There’s a distance and a hyper-stylization to this adaptation of Nella Larsen’s masterpiece. Every choice Rebecca Hall makes as a director and writer is deliberate, some — such as the casting — to make the story feel current, others — such as the dialogue, 4:3 aspect ratio, and black-and-white photography — to pull the story back to the past. This is a film of contradictions, somehow both cold and sensual. It emphasizes the queer subtext of the novella without making it more explicit. It is a film of obstruction, of withholding, of glances. When I saw it at Sundance, I felt admiration and uncertainty. Watching it again, I felt the same — and the desire to see it yet again. It’s the performances of Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga that ground this puzzle. As our EIC Carmen Phillips wrote in her beautiful review, it’s in how they look at each other. It’s a mix of love and hatred, lust and repulsion, envy and superiority. Glances destined for tragedy.
5. The Strings (dir. Ryan Glover)
More Chantal Akerman than your average cabin in the woods thriller, cinematographer Ryan Glover’s directorial debut is arthouse horror with an emphasis on the arthouse. And yet the deliberate pace is manageable when the form and subject are this compelling. The movie follows Catherine, a queer musician isolating at a remote cabin after a break up — a break up break up and a band break up. Catherine is played by musician Teagan Johnston who wrote the film’s songs. They have a casually watchable on-screen presence which is useful because we spend most of the movie doing just that — watching them drive, watching them drink, watching them write music. But what begins as lonely and mundane, ultimately builds to moments of absolute terror. This movie has ghosts, this movie has great music, this movie has queer make outs, and this movie has some of the best cinematography of the year. I promise you’ll fall in love with Teagan Johnston and her music — I cannot promise you won’t have nightmares.
4. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
The first “short story” in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s triptych is called “Magic (or Something Less Assuring).” It’s a fitting subtitle for a movie that’s technically a series of realist conversations yet somehow crackles with the energy of an epic fairy tale. These are love stories, lust stories, stories of regret. They feel so regular until they feel like so much more. All three sections of the movie are beautiful, but it’s the last section — the gay section — that’s found a home in my heart and refuses to leave. The twists and turns of each tale reveal some of its greatest pleasures so I’ll say nothing except that you should watch this movie as soon as possible. There’s nothing more comforting to me than a film this melancholy and hopeful. We can’t predict the lives we’ll lead, but we can appreciate the connections we make along the way. This is not a love story between two people — it’s a love story with love.
3. The Fear Street Trilogy (dir. Leigh Janiak)
If The Fear Street Trilogy had simply been a horror pastiche starring my Trinkets fave Kiana Madeira, I would’ve been thrilled. If it had simply centered around two pairs of angsty teen lesbians three centuries apart, I would’ve been delighted. If it had simply been really well made and a whole lot of fun, I would’ve been satisfied. And yet. AND YET. What makes The Fear Street Trilogy go from a solid good time to a masterful cinematic event is its understanding that intelligence and fun are not antithetical. Like my other favorite horror trilogy, Slumber Party Massacre, Fear Street doesn’t make us choose between campy horror and an engagement with reality. It’s proof that “good politics” are also good storytelling. A lot of slasher movies are about trauma and PTSD but these films go a step further and explore the trauma that can be carried in land and among a community. This is a film made by people who know the horror genre and know the horrors that exist in our real world. Together this knowledge results in a trio of movies with more developed characters and more resonate plots than we often see in the genre. I do think 1994 is the only one that really works as a standalone movie, but how many sequels work as standalone movies? 1978 and 1666 are a satisfying continuation and conclusion to this ambitious saga. This isn’t just horror with queer characters — it’s queer horror. It’s about things that should really scare us — generational trauma and income inequality. Pretty good for a series that also features a devastating kill with a bread slicer.
2. Titane (dir. Julia Ducournau)
Car fucking, the Macarena, the metal hairpin, the bathroom sink transformation, the roommate slaughter — Julia Ducournau’s Titane is a film that invented its own mythology. So many details and moments demanded a place in our collective film consciousness, but Titane’s deepest achievements are found in the subtleties. Ducournau knows genre and she uses her shock and awe to seduce us into her twisted — and melancholy — exploration of gender and family. Julia Ducournau is presumably a cis woman and while she’s talked about having a queer gaze, she’s revealed nothing about her personal life. I understand if her evocation of trans imagery bothers you. This isn’t a movie with answers or anything to say. It doesn’t even have a clear point of view except Ducournau’s whatever that is. It’s an exploration. It’s a feeling. It’s a confounding work of art. And, personally, I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful to be so moved and so horrified and so entertained by something that leaves me so puzzled. I’m grateful for an artist like Ducournau who is so confident in her ideas and in her form. It’s rare to see a movie and know it’s going to be with you for the rest of your life. I often think of its bursts of violence — I think of its tenderness even more.
1. The Novice (dir. Lauren Hadaway)
Legs body arms. Arms body legs. Legs body arms. Arms body legs.
Before writing and directing her masterful debut, Lauren Hadaway worked in sound. Her impressive resume includes movies such as Whiplash, Selma, The Hateful Eight, and Justice League. Once you know this, it makes sense why her film’s rowing instructions get stuck in your head like a pop song. Legs body arms. Arms body legs. It’s dialogue as rhythm, thoughts as rhythm, mental illness as rhythm. This film is not about novice rower Alex Dall as much as it is her. The movie’s sound design and score — along with accomplished cinematography and editing that knows when to cut and when to hold — place us in her mind and body. We don’t need exposition. We want her to win because we are her. We feel her pain because she’s in pain. The oft-told suggestion “show, don’t tell” only uses half of cinema’s tools. Hadaway uses them all. And while none of this technical achievement would work without a performance to match, Hadaway has just that in Isabelle Fuhrman. Together they’ve created a visceral cinematic experience. That this is all in service of a story of a queer girl feels almost like an afterthought. And yet this is exactly what I want from queer cinema. This is what happens when we are allowed to tell specific stories where gayness is both essential and casual. Nearly forty years after Personal Best, here’s a sweaty queer sports movie that’s as twisted and bloody as we are. Queerness is an escape — it’s everything else that’s the problem. Legs body arms. Arms. Body. Legs.
What hidden gems did I miss? What were your favorite queer and lesbian movies of 2021?
The Gay Nightmare Before Christmas: A Holiday Fanfic of Disturbing Lesbian Movies
Last year, many of us gathered around our TVs and Twitter screens to watch and debate Clea DuVall’s Happiest Season. Some thought it was the long-awaited lesbian Christmas movie we deserve while others thought it was an inexcusable portrait of abuse. I just thought Aubrey Plaza was hot and the movie was forgettable.
So this year I’d like to take any willing participant on a different kind of fraught holiday journey. Because while conservative family is scary, it’s scary in the dullest way possible. If we’re going to get disturbed, let’s at least have some fun! Consider this your break from happy endings and an opportunity for some gay yuletide catharsis.
It’s December 15th, and you don’t have any plans for the next two weeks. You’re gay, your friends are gay, you assumed some people would still be in town. But nope. The only person still around is your ex and you know that’s not a good idea. Fine, you think. You’ll just spend the holidays catching up on some quality Me Time — and time with your cat, of course.
But oh no! The crushing solitude starts to drive you crazy. Just like in Frida Kempff’s new psychological thriller Knocking now available to rent.
Knocking (dir. Frida Kempff, 2021)
Good news! Your friend invites you to come with her to visit her family. She’s intense and there’s always been a vibe — a sexual vibe — but anything beats spending the holidays alone. So you give in to the power of friendship as seen in Kate Winslet/Melanie Lynskey fantasy murder true crime classic Heavenly Creatures.
Heavenly Creatures (dir. Peter Jackson, 1994)
Road trip! Your friend said her family only lived a few hours away. Turns out that meant without traffic — and there’s always traffic. As the hours trudge along, you’re starting to understand why she wanted the company, and starting to regret this whole trip.
The regrets continue when you fall into one of the most reliable horror tropes. Driving to a destination? Gotta have a car crash. What’s not expected is your friend’s reaction. Sure, it wasn’t that serious, but she seems almost… turned on? What is this David Cronenberg’s cold fetishist masterpiece Crash featuring a scene where Rosanna Arquette fucks Holly Hunter??
Crash (dir. David Cronenberg, 1996)
Phew. You finally made it to your friend’s house. Time to meet her family! Her dad is a Spanish plastic surgeon, her mom is a French piano teacher, and her sister is still in school. She wears a cross necklace but you’re pretty sure you saw her take cocaine out of it. They kind of remind you of Antonio Banderas in The Skin I Live In, Isabelle Huppert in Greta, and Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions.
The Skin I Live In (dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 2011)
Greta (dir. Neil Jordan, 2018)
Cruel Intentions (dir. Roger Kumble, 1999)
Usually going to the mall a few days before Christmas is your nightmare. But this house is such sexually charged chaos you jump at the suggestion. It’ll be nice to walk around with your friend and get some peaceful one on one time. Too bad at the perfume counter she starts singing about her aunt who microwaved a poodle like she’s in Cecelia Condit’s brilliant surreal short film Possibly in Michigan.
Possibly in Michigan (dir. Cecelia Condi, 1983)
The days pass and the chaos stays at a minimum. This family is just eccentric! Nothing wrong with that. Every family has their unique quirks and you’re lucky to be a guest in their house. Even if it feels like all of them are either on the verge of fucking you or killing you.
Christmas finally arrives! You didn’t peg this family for churchgoers but everyone is full of surprises. And speaking of pegging and surprises, right there in the middle of the service your friend whispers in your ear that she wants to do things to you with her rosary that you think might be sacrilege. But who among us didn’t discover some fantasies watching John Waters’ first “talkie” Multiple Maniacs?
Multiple Maniacs (dir. John Waters, 1970)
Welllll you resisted during church but afterwards you gave in. Look, if you’re going to hook up with someone in this family, your friend seems like the least chaotic choice. Sometimes you just need to get some coal in your stocking if you know what I mean.
After an eventful day, it’s time for Christmas dinner. Your friend’s sister is asking if you want a breast or a thigh and her mom is chuckling how about both and it all feels loaded. It’s a formidable feast of food and cleavage and innuendo. Just like the pivotal lunch scene in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (dir. Russ Meyer, 1966)
As the drinks poor, the tension increases. You thought this family was fun crazy, but maybe they’re crazy, crazy? Suddenly, you remember that movie you watched about the soft butch with blonde hair who goes home with the closeted brunette she loves only to find a house full of horrors. No, not Happiest Season, the other movie with an outlandish ending that ruins all the scares that came before: the unfortunately homophobic New French Extremity entry High Tension.
High Tension (dir. Alexandre Aja, 2003)
What were you thinking?? You’ve gotta get out of here before things get even worse. You do some googling and find out there’s a train leaving in an hour. You tell your friend that your house sitter called and your cat might be dying. You pull out all those former theatre kid chops and really get the tears going. Your cat won’t mind. She probably misses you anyway.
They all bought it! Your friend drives you to the train station and before you know it, you’re heading back home.
You stumble into your apartment as the clock strikes midnight. Another Christmas season come and gone. There’s only one thing left to do. Like the tragic heroine of The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, you do the one thing you’ve been resisting all season: You get drunk and call your ex.
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)
Whoops! Happy Holidays, everyone!
The Watch List for Trans People Who Need a Smile This Holiday
Each year, many trans people enter the cycle of anguish that is family time. We have complicated relationships with our family—but not always because there is malice or harm being done. Our families deal with the cultural pressure to produce sameness. The same kind of cisgender, heterosexual children who live and love the same ways they were taught to.
While we can’t control the behaviors of our families, we have at least a little bit of control over how we cultivate our peace. To balance out the often stressful home environments that bring up childhood wounds, we are tasked with finding the rituals and sometimes distractions that bring us back to ourselves.
This watch list of trans-affirming content is sourced from many places. If I could, I would box all of it up along with a big teddy bear and some of your favorite treats to remind you that you are loved by this world. You are a blessing to your family, whether they know it or not.
Jules and Rue’s Intimacy in Euphoria
I almost didn’t believe it when I saw Jules’ bulge in Euphoria. I don’t know if I’d ever seen a feminine person on national television who visibly presented as having a penis. The image sent the message that girls with bulges are not objects of repulsion. In fact, in every scene where we see her visibly trans body is a scene where she receives intimacy from someone she loves. Her body was not something to be hidden. It was something that deserves closeness and reverence.
Electra Reads a Transphobe for Filth in Pose
There are many moments in Pose that display the fire in its female characters. This scene, where Electra tells off a cis white woman who clearly was trying to preserve a white supremacist space, sits at the top of the list. The scene illustrates the legacy of segregation. These Black trans women have just as much right to be here as cis white woman. Even while there may not be many explicit “white-only” signs anymore, we know that the spirit of white supremacy continues to operate in most public spaces.
Electra reminds of the way trans woman are often “self-made,” that we’ve had to fight hard to be who we are in a world that denies us our womanhood every day.
Kids Meet a Trans Athlete
Legislators have consistently sought to limit the freedom of young trans athletes to live their lives with freedom. These legislative attacks have placed a burden on the hearts of our community. So many trans children already lose their chance to truly be carefree kids in the home. In this video by production company Cut, Olympic athlete Chris Mosier speaks to kids about his training and what it like growing up trans.
The results are adorable, honest conversations that show that transphobic legislators do not represent the interests of children — whether they’re trans or not. Children know what it’s like to be left out or dealt an injustice.
Caretakers on PBS
“Caretakers” is a PBS series created by trans model and activist Geena Rocero, spotlighting the people who provide vital care to their communities. The series demonstrates the strength we have when we foster healing connections among each other, so we all can thrive. One episode of the series highlights Aleksa Manila, a genderqueer therapist and healthcare worker who is also a drag queen.
Few people recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people have been each other’s families and support systems for so long, because we’ve been rejected by our birth families. Aleksa Manila is carrying forward the beautiful legacy of community care that has sustained us.
Janet Mock Interviews Laverne Cox on MSNBC
Back when Janet Mock was hosting her MSNBC show So Popular!, she introduced us to brilliant minds like Zeba Blay, Ashley C. Ford, and Lauren Duca. For many years, Janet Mock and Laverne Cox were the two most visible trans people in the public eye. To have them sit in front of one another and have a conversation felt almost surreal. Laverne was on the show to discuss Orange is The New Black, a series that marked the beginning of an era where more trans characters were written as multidimensional people and actually played by trans actors. Watching them support one another felt like the kind of trans love we needed to see.
Trans in Trumpland
A series directed by Tony Zosherafatain, four trans people speak to how the Trump administration impacted their lives. The series illustrates the harm caused by medical bans and athletics bans, among other policies, but more importantly, itIdemonstrates the fierce tenacity of trans people and their families. We witness a young trans boy who receives the exact kind of love we all deserve, as his mother navigates healthcare for her child. We also have the opportunity to learn more about two-spirit communities and the way Indigenous people continue to embody and carry forward the wisdom in their lineage.
The Story of Sisterhood in Tangerine
There’s an inexplicable magic in sisterhood, especially between two trans women. We often rely on sisterhood to crawl out of our loneliest moments. Tangerine, a feature film shot entirely on an iPhone, throws at us the widest range of experiences and emotions that happen in the container of a trans woman’s life: fear, betrayal, desire, desperation, joy, and peace. But what we always return to is sisterhood.
Kids Meet a Gender Nonconforming Person
“Do I look like a girl to you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what if I told you sometimes I feel like a boy?”
“That’s okay!”
Another gem from Cut, this video showcases a conversation between a group of children and a nonbinary person named Nanta. Often times, conversations about gender can feel so weighty. But the way these children approach the conversation with an open heart reminds us it doesn’t have to be so nerve-wracking.
9 Witchy Alternatives to Traditional Holiday Movies
Holiday movies — which is basically to say, Christmas movies — almost uniformly traffic in the values of white heteronormativity predicated on nostalgia for nuclear families and, inexplicably, romance. Unclear how “romance” and “meeting the parents” go together, but last year’s fucking frightful Happiest Season is a demonstration of what it looks like when you try to slap LGBTQ+ characters onto an incredibly straight genre. Horror show. (Yes, I know it was based on Clea DuVal’s real life experience. Like I said!)
For me, an ideal December release would be a queer/wlw, distinctly witchy romantic comedy set around Yule. Glinda the Good Witch falls for the Wicked Witch of the West type shit without the dramatic monkeys, you know? But that film hasn’t been made, and I sincerely love to avoid overtly hetero, Christian-inflected or otherwise Christmas-themed movies at this time of year, so I tend to go for more witchy, fantastical, and otherwise supernatural fare around this time of year. If you’re similarly inclined, here are some alternatives to watch with your chosen fam, roommates, or simply on your own with a healthy pour of your favorite beverage.
Brandy’s Cinderella
Fairy tales are perfect holiday fare. Personally, I make a point to watch such films on Yule — particularly ones that feel magical, hopeful, and the best kind of nostalgic, the kind of story that lets me refract my childhood hopes, so formed by conservative Christianity, through a distinctly pagan adult queer lens. I grew up on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella; the 1997 version starring Brandy and Whitney Houston, which came out when I was 10 years old, was one story that helped me change how I understood myself. (It’s possible!)
We deserve that sense of possibility that Whitney sings about, and we deserve to keep the stories of our childhoods that helped us first imagine them.
A Christmas Carol
Yes, I am including one actual bona fide Christmas movie. But listen. Ghost visitations and subsequent prophetic visions on Christmas Eve prompts a spontaneous life crisis (that does not result in marriage)? Honestly sounds like an extremely witchy and queer holiday breakdown! Also I remain obsessed with the question of who cast the spell to summon Scrooge’s ghosts. Please put all applicable fanfic recs in the comments.
Practical Magic
Any movie in which sisters reunite to kill bad boyfriends feels like Christmas to me, okay? Also, it’s about a family curse, and what holiday is that not appropriate for, I ask you!
The Wiz
Ease on down the road with the 1978 cult classic, which reimagines the Wizard of Oz with an all-Black cast in an Oz that is, in fact, a fantastical New York City. The original cast is legendary: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, Lena Horne. Or try the 2015 made-for-TV special, which sets the story in the more traditional Oz setting and stars folks like Uzo Aduba, Mary J. Blige, Amber Riley, and queer icon Queen Latifah as The Wiz. Give me gender-swapped wizards all day every day. As in all Oz stories, the themes of friendship, trust, and found family are strong.
A Wrinkle in Time
If you want some time-bending sci-fi, stunning visuals, and a compelling story of a daughter trying to save her father, look no further. Hits the nostalgia button hard as we root for the brilliant heroine so many of us loved as kids and fall for a triad of fairy godmother-type figures who are… less “good” than they are “oh you didn’t die, cool cool cool” chaotic neutral.
This one features timeless themes around finding yourself as well as some more traditional family storylines, but without the religious or holiday stuffing you may be surrounded by this month — if you need a movie to recommend to the folks you’re stuck in a house with.
Hocus Pocus
Travel to Salem. Light the virgin candle. Protect your little sister like the cat-boy couldn’t! Sing along to “I Put a Spell On You”! Ugh, a classic. Technically a holiday movie, just not this one.
Coco
Also an out-of-season holiday movie, in that it takes place on the Mexican Día de los Muertos — and so we travel to the realm of the dead following one little boy’s journey to receive his family’s blessing for the career path he wants to pursue, which goes against every living family member’s wishes. This one is all about memory and connection and legacy and healing ruptures in the natal family, which means you might want to have a therapy session booked for soon after. What do we pass down to each other? How is trauma inherited? This visually, musically stunning film tackles some enormous questions which, honestly, get me in the gut every time. If you would like a cathartic cry, I heartily recommend it.
Into the Woods
By which I mean, a recorded video of the original Broadway cast that’s on YouTube with Bernadette and Joanna Gleason, not the 2014 film with that awful late night guy. Unless you’re with people who don’t do Broadway recordings. In which case, I understand and also, I’m sorry.
Good for both solo viewings and folks who are interested in introducing their loved ones to some truly exquisite satire and also tragedy. Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood! Careful the things you say, CHILDREN WILL LISTEN! (RIP Sondheim, we love you.)
Anastasia
Feels Christmasy without being Christmasy, by virtue of being mostly set in Russia. (Lots of animated snow.) Iconic music, iconic voices (Meg Ryan, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters). Also, the love interest Dimitri, voiced by John Cusack, is right up there with Leo’s Jack Dawson as a ‘90s queer butch icon; a not insignificant number of my exes look exactly like him and I’m not mad about it.
Thematically, this is all about feeling lost in the world without family only to learn that the family you were missing was the one you found along the way, because it turns out being a secret lost princess is overrated when you could be dancing on a boat with Leo. Dimitri. Whatever his name is. Also, she defeats the sorcerer who has killed off her entire family which means she is probably a witch. 10/10, v. gay.
December 2021: Whats New, Gay and Streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max and Peacock
Tis the season for a new batch of LGBT content to land upon Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Peacock and we have a real smorgasbord this month, my friends!
Feature image includes “Sara Ramirez on the set of “And Just Like That…” in Foley Square on November 22, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bobby Bank/GC Images)”
Who All’s Gay Here On Netflix for December 2021
Honestly Netflix did a lot for us last month so I will give them a pass on this month’s poor showing. However they’ve got a lot of new stuff there’s not much info on yet, so who knows what could turn up!
Chloe (2009) – December 1
Another entry in the “problematic when it was all we had but kinda fun in the 2020s” is this stupid thriller starring Amanda Seyfried as Chloe, a sex worker hired by gynecologist Catherine (Julienne Moore) to find out if her husband is having an affair
Wild Things (1998) – December 1
This movie is bad in a very fun way and there is girl-on-girl action that was honestly inspirational in 1997 and I will likely never discover if it holds up!
Elite: Short Stories – December 15 – 23
A new set of shorts about our favorite murder-adjacent teens will roll out through December. None of the queer female characters are the focus of these particular stories but they will however it seems make an appearance.
Schitt’s Creek: Seasons 1-6 – December 22
Noted fave comedy about a rich family who finds themselves stripped of their fortunes and running a motel in a small town will land in its entirety upon Netflix this December.
Emily in Paris: Season Two – December 22
One of the worst shows to ever grace our horrified screens is returning for Season 2. Rumor has it that the actors who played Emily and Camille are “open to” the idea of being in a throuple with Gabriel or otherwise “exploring their feelings for each other” and the trailer shows them both on vacation with Mindy. Apparently “it was evident in the first season that Camille and Emily have some strange bisexual energy going on.” They do appear to kiss briefly in the trailer but like…. BRIEFLY? I am assuming if anything bisexual happens in this show it will be handled as badly as the show handles everything else, including clothing.
Queer Eye: Season 6 – December 31
The dream team returns, including noted non-binary queen Jonathan Van Ness, to Austin,Texas just in time for probably somebody in some part of this country to find themselves snowed in!
Lesbians and Bisexuals On Hulu in December 2021
Her Smell (2019) – December 1
Elisabeth Moss plays an unhinged egomaniac riot grrrl rock star amid a mental breakdown. At one point she collaborates with the very loyal bass player Marielle Hell who Indiewire describes as “a cross between Joan Jett and Shane from ‘The L Word.'” Queer actors Cara Delevingne, Amber Benson and Amber Heard also play musical parts in the film!
All Rise, Seasons One & Two (CBS) – December 1
This drama about all the players in an L.A. court system is centered on new judge Laura Carmichael. Her mentor Lisa is a lesbian and there’s also a bisexual clerk who goes our with a lesbian clerk.
We Need to Do Something (2021) – December 3
This one-room horror film traps a family in their bathroom during what seems like a storm that turns out to perhaps be something much worse. Through flashbacks over the course of the film, we learn that the daughter, Melissa, had been dabbling in witchcraft with her girlfriend Amy, which she suspects may be causing their current problems.
Creamerie: Season One (TVNZ 1) – December 9
The three Kiwi-Asian women who wrote and star as organic dairy farmer sisters in “Creamerie” created this dystopian series to give themselves better roles than they were offered in other people’s shows. Creamerie is set in New Zealand, eight years after a virus wiped out all the men of the world, where now a “wellness-based” fascist government has taken over, run by a health guru. The sisters accidentally run over a real live man and uncover a conspiracy!
The Nowhere Inn (2020) – December 17
St. Vincent enlists her bff Carrie Brownstein to make a documentary about her music to reveal her on-and-off-stage personas. But eventually “notions of reality, identity and authenticity grow increasingly distorted and bizarre.” Also Dakota Johnson plays her? Girlfriend?
Letterkenny: Complete Season 10 – December 26
Another season of this series that showcases the antics of a small rural community in Canada with a specific focus on siblings Wayne and Katy. Katy is bisexual!
Amazon Prime Queer Shows and Films for December 2021
Jennifer’s Body (2009) – December 1
Of this campy film, Erin wrote, “This film explores some of my favorite themes all in one glossy, campy, self-aware package: misandry, women being extremely gay together, principled revenge, and the triumph of aught culture. ”
Harlem: Season One – December 3
This series starring Meagan Good that we are VERY excited about follows “a group of stylish and ambitious best girlfriends in Harlem, New York City, the mecca of Black culture in America. Together, they level up from their 20s into the next phase of their careers, relationships, and big city dreams.” Jerrie Johnson is Tye, the inventor of an actually good queer dating app “who prefers keeping vulnerability — and romantic partners — at arm’s length.”
The Expanse: Season 6 – December 10
Set in outer space way in the future when humanity has colonized it, The Expanse added a lot more queer characters after being saved from cancellation by Amazon after its first three seasons on SyFy. Season 6 will be its final bow!
With Love: Season One – December 17
One Day at a Time‘s Gloria Calderón Kellett,’s new romantic comedy series, following a tight-knit Latinx family across the holidays that punctuate a calendar year, includes trans actress Isis King as trans character Sol Perez, an oncologist who is “the one who has their shit together.” “You can tell that someone queer was in the writer’s room,” King told Metroweekly. “It just felt honest and real.”
Christmas is Cancelled (2021) – December 17
Trans actor Emily Modaff is the quirky queer best friend of Christmas is Cancelled’s protagonist, Emily (Hayley Orrantia), who is horrified to find out that her widowed 52-year-old father (Dermot Mulroney) has been dating her high school nemesis (Janel Parrish aka Mona from PLL) and will stop at nothing to break them up.
Yearly Departed (2021) – December 23
This annual Amazon Prime Video comedy special is doing an all-female line-up for 2021, including queer comic Meg Stalter. Other performers include Jane Fonda, Dulce Sloan, Chelsea Peretti, X Mayo, Yvonne Orji and Aparna Nancherla.
HBO Max LGBTQ+ Content of December 2021
Perfect Life (Vida Perfecta): Season Two Premiere – December 2
Somehow Season One of this series about three forty-something women forging new paths in mid-life escaped my notice but there’s still time to remedy that. In Season One, which debuted in January, Esther is introduced as a “40-year-old who lives like a teenager” and is passionate about painting but not making money at it. In Season Two, HBO says that “Esther’s wedding with her new partner Julia is coming up but she can never find the right moment to tell her that she’s not ready yet.”
Santa Inc: Season One – December 2nd
Developed by and starring Jewish actors Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman, this adult animation film is set in the North Pole, where Candy Smalls, a female elf, is aiming to become the next Santa Claus, an institution historically dominated by, you know, white men. Gabourey Sidibe plays Goldie, an openly bisexual reindeer on Santa’s reindeer “B-Team” who doesn’t get the credit she deserves for her work. YouTube had to remove the dislike button for the preview because of people who accused it of being part of the war on Christmas.
And Just Like That: Season One – December 9th
The trailer and photos from set have already sparked speculation about even more gayness in the much-anticipated reboot of Sex and the City than anticipated — although what we’ve anticipated is pretty incredible in and of itself! Sara Ramirez will be playing podcaster Che Diaz, “a nonbinary, queer, stand-up comedian who often hosts Carrie Bradshaw (Parker) on their show. Che, who uses the pronouns they/them, is described as a big presence with a big heart whose outrageous sense of humor and progressive, human overview of gender roles has made them and their podcast very popular.” But it kinda seems like Miranda (played by queer actress Cynthia Nixon) is giving Che some very suggestive eye contact, so!
Matrix Resurrections (2021) – December 22, 2021
The Matrix films, which put the Wachowskis on the map many moons ago, long before they both came out as trans women, has often resonated deeply with its queer audience — who likely weren’t surprised when Lana confirmed the film was in fact intended as a trans allegory. (This topic is also explored by trans writer Andrea Long Chu in her book “Females” and by trans writer and critic Emily VanDerWerff ) Wachowski said at the time that “the corporate world wasn’t ready” for anything beyond subtextual nods to transness and/or queerness. Are they ready for it in 2021? We will certainly find out! Lana Wachowski is directing solo, without her sister, and co-wrote the film with two others. Two queer actors, Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris, are joining the cast. Jessica Henwick’s character, with her spiky blue hair and leather vest-jacket situation, looks queer as heck??
Queers on Peacock In December 2021
Chucky: Season One (USA/SYFY) – December 1
After the events of “Cult of Chucky,” a 14-year old boy discovers that his Good Guy doll is possessed by the soul of Chucky. Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly) remains Chucky’s lover, but in this series they have a gender-fluid puppet child and also she is in love with Nica, a woman possessed by a portion of Chucky’s malevolent spirit.
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (2016) – December 2
A documentary about four queer Latinx women falsely accused of and imprisoned for child abuse amid the “Satanic Panic” of the era.
The Real Housewives of Miami: Season Four – December 16
As announced in the press release: “Joining the ladies is Julia Lemigova, a former Russian beauty queen and the first LGBTQIA+ Housewife who is married to pro tennis player Martina Navratilova. Opposite of her city-slick Housewife friends, Julia runs a small farm outside of Miami and can often be found on the farm feeding the chickens or milking goats, amongst the menagerie of animals found on her property.”
Vigil: Season One (BBC One) – December 23
Best known to you as “the show where Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie are making out,” Vigil is a police procedural set in Scotland that takes place on a fictional ballistic missile submarine of the Royal Navy.