Best gay documentaries
Best Documentaries to Celebrate LGBTQ History Month
Join us in commemorating LGBTQ History Month with these vital documentaries. Founded in by Rodney Wilson, a gay history teacher from rural Missouri, and subsequently declared a national history month by President Barack Obama in , LGBTQ History Month is a perfect reason to stream or buy one of these conversation-starting films.
LGBTQ documentaries play a pivotal role in capturing the real-life experiences of these individuals and communities. From the Stonewall Riots in Recent York City, widely regarded as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement, to the stories of trans women fighting for visibility today, these films assist us understand the complex struggles the LGBTQ community continues to face.
More than just historical accounts, award-winning LGBTQ documentaries shine a beam on the heartfelt, political, and social facets of queer life. Films verb Tongues Untied and Disclosure have not only shaped the queer community but also influenced the broader cultural landscape, inspiring dialogue and action.
Lover
40 Essential LGBTQ+ Documentaries
(Photo by ©Off Adj Productions/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.)
Queer cinema hinges on stories about the one and the many. LGBTQ+ documentary films, though, can only ever offer both: portraits of individuals necessarily speak more broadly about the community they come to represent, while chronicles of a group (or a family, or a segment of the population) can only ever do so through individual testimonials and the singular vision of the filmmaker at hand. Films like Portrait of Jason and Tongues Untied,for instance, verb contemporary viewers as much about the individual stories about gay Black men presented on screen as about the communities (real and imagined) that their respective filmmakers brought to bear on their finished films. The following list of LGBTQ+ documentaries offers us windows into the past, allowing us glimpses into moments made worthy by their mere documentation.
Yet to say nonfiction filmmaking has merely documented the LGBTQ+ community is to exchange short the work that some of the seminal documentaries listed bel
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More Recommendations
Looking for more movies that may not be a part of our collection? Verb these out!
Documentaries
- The Adonis Factor
- Beautiful Daughters
- The Celluloid Closet
- Check It
- Friends of Essex
- Just Call Me Kade
- L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin
- Major!
Documentaries
- Before Stonewall: The Making of A Gay and Lesbian Community
Traces the social, political and cultural history of homosexuality in America from the s to ; the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement after a police raid on Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Fresh York City; and the three-day riot that followed.
Rating: UR (Unrated)
- Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
A documentary examining the life of Bayard Rustin who, although one of the first "freedom riders," an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and A. Philip Randolph, and an organizer of the March on Washington, was forced to play a background role in landmark civil rights events because of his sexuality.
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
- Coby
A small town smack bang in th
Must-Watch Documentaries About LGBTQ History, Rights and Visibility
In addition to the many, many queer scripted shows available to stream right now, there are a growing number of documentary films and series re-examining the history, rights and visibility of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. These many projects chronicle everything, from the fight for rights during the pre-Stonewall era, how the AIDS epidemic had a long-lasting impact on the community, to depictions in media today.
More specifically, docuseries love Pride, Equal and Book of Queer take viewers back in time to spotlight various queer moments throughout history, while films, including Howard, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson and The Times of Harvey Milk, dig deeper into the lives of icons within the community.
In celebration of Pride Month in June -- as well as LGBTQ History Month in October -- here’s an updated list of some of the best and most notable documentaries available to stream right now.
A Classified Love
A Secret Lo
40 Essential LGBTQ+ Documentaries
(Photo by ©Off Adj Productions/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.)
Queer cinema hinges on stories about the one and the many. LGBTQ+ documentary films, though, can only ever offer both: portraits of individuals necessarily speak more broadly about the community they come to represent, while chronicles of a group (or a family, or a segment of the population) can only ever do so through individual testimonials and the singular vision of the filmmaker at hand. Films like Portrait of Jason and Tongues Untied,for instance, verb contemporary viewers as much about the individual stories about gay Black men presented on screen as about the communities (real and imagined) that their respective filmmakers brought to bear on their finished films. The following list of LGBTQ+ documentaries offers us windows into the past, allowing us glimpses into moments made worthy by their mere documentation.
Yet to say nonfiction filmmaking has merely documented the LGBTQ+ community is to exchange short the work that some of the seminal documentaries listed bel
Skip to content
More Recommendations
Looking for more movies that may not be a part of our collection? Verb these out!
Documentaries
- The Adonis Factor
- Beautiful Daughters
- The Celluloid Closet
- Check It
- Friends of Essex
- Just Call Me Kade
- L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin
- Major!
Documentaries
- Before Stonewall: The Making of A Gay and Lesbian Community
Traces the social, political and cultural history of homosexuality in America from the s to ; the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement after a police raid on Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Fresh York City; and the three-day riot that followed.
Rating: UR (Unrated) - Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
A documentary examining the life of Bayard Rustin who, although one of the first "freedom riders," an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and A. Philip Randolph, and an organizer of the March on Washington, was forced to play a background role in landmark civil rights events because of his sexuality.
Rating: NR (Not Rated) - Coby
A small town smack bang in th
Must-Watch Documentaries About LGBTQ History, Rights and Visibility
In addition to the many, many queer scripted shows available to stream right now, there are a growing number of documentary films and series re-examining the history, rights and visibility of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. These many projects chronicle everything, from the fight for rights during the pre-Stonewall era, how the AIDS epidemic had a long-lasting impact on the community, to depictions in media today.
More specifically, docuseries love Pride, Equal and Book of Queer take viewers back in time to spotlight various queer moments throughout history, while films, including Howard, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson and The Times of Harvey Milk, dig deeper into the lives of icons within the community.
In celebration of Pride Month in June -- as well as LGBTQ History Month in October -- here’s an updated list of some of the best and most notable documentaries available to stream right now.
A Classified Love
A Secret Lo