Looking for your next binge watch? Pride Month is the perfect time to explore LGBTQ+ stories. Representation in media matters. Seeing LGBTQ+ people in movies and TV shows can help us feel understood and learn about different experiences while also helping navigate new feelings. While LGBTQ+ representation has come a long way, there’s still room for more authentic and diverse stories.
Movies:
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Adam (stream on Hulu)
- Set during one summer in NYC, Adam follows a social awkward teenager who becomes immersed in the city’s LGBTQ+ community while staying with his older sister. When Adam develops feelings for a girl named Gillian, a misunderstanding about his identity leads him into a complicated situation.
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Crush (stream on Hulu)
- When an aspiring artist Paige joins her school’s track team to get close to her longtime crush, Gabriela, she ends up discovering unexpected feelings for someone else.
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Bottoms (stream on Netflix)
- This chaotic comedy follows best friends PJ and Josie as they start a high school fight club with one goal: impress their crushes and have sex for the first time before graduation. Naturally they are in over their heads, and things spiral out of control.
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Booksmart (stream on Prime)
- After spending all of high school focused on academic, best friends Amy and Molly realize they may have missed out some memorable experiences. Determined to make up for lost time, they set out for one wild night before graduation.
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Girls like Girls (in theatres)
- Based on the popular song and music video, this coming of age story follows Coley as she navigates friendship, attraction, and identity after moving to a new town and meeting Sonya.
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Drive Away Dolls (stream on Prime)
- A road trip, a break up, and a group of criminals? What could go wrong? This comedy follows two lesbian friends whose getaway quickly becomes much more complicated than expected.
TV Shows:
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Genera+ion (on Tubi)
- A group of high school students explore their identities and sexualities, challenging the antiquated social norms in their conservative community.
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Heartstopper (on Netflix)
- Follows Charlie and Nick as friendship grows into something more. Making it one of those beloved LGBTQ+ series in recent years.
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Love Victor (on Hulu)
- Victor is trying to figure out who he is while balancing family expectations, friendships, and high school life.
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Sex Education (on Netflix)
- Otis unexpectedly becomes the go to source for relationship and sex advice at his school, leading to plenty of hilarious and meaningful moments.
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Heartbreak High (on Netflix)
- Set in Australia, this series follows Amerie, along with her new friends Quinni and Darren, must navigate love, sex and heartbreak at Hartley High.
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Everything Now (on Netflix)
- After returning home from treatment for an eating disorder, Mia jumps back into school life and tries to catch up on everything she feels she missed.
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We Are Lady Parts (on Peacock)
- This comedy follows an all women led Muslim punk band as they chase their dreams while navigating relationships, identity, and family expectations.
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Reservation Dogs (on Hulu)
- Created by Indigenous storytellers, this series follows four Indigenous teens growing up in rural Oklahoma as they who steal, rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California.
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Pose (on Hulu)
- Set in New York City from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, the show explores the underground LGBTQ+ ball culture, following the lives, loves, and legacies of marginalized Black and Latinx individuals who create "chosen families" to survive society's prejudices.
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A League of Their Own (on Prime)
- Following the journey of the WWII All-American professional women's baseball league players as they travel across a rapidly changing U.S.
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Betty (on HBO Max)
- A diverse group of young women navigates their lives through the male-dominated world of skateboarding in New York City.
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Yellowjackets (on Netflix)
- Part survival thriller, part mystery, Yellowjackets follows a girls’ soccer team after a devastating plane crash.
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XO, Kitty (on Netflix)
- Is a To All the Boys spin-off series following teen matchmaker Kitty Song Covey as she moves halfway across the world to Seoul, South Korea.
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Steven Universe (on Disney+ or Hulu)
- Follows a half-human, half-gem boy named Steven as he lives with the Crystal Gems—magical beings sworn to protect Earth
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She-Ra and the Princess of Power (on Netflix)
- In this reboot of the 1980s original, a magic sword transforms an orphan girl into warrior She-Ra, who unites a rebellion to fight against evil.
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RuPaul’s Drag Race ( on Paramount+)
- Is a reality show in which a group of talented drag queens compete in challenges to impress host RuPaul, the world's most famous drag queen, to win a cash prize along with a crown and the title of America's Next Drag Superstar.
For many LGBTQ+ young people, seeing characters who share similar identities can be incredibly affirming. Representation can help people feel less alone, learn more about themselves, and imagine possibilities for their future.
At the same time, LGBTQ+ stories aren’t only for LGBTQ+ audiences. They help everyone better understand different experiences, identities, and communities.
As media continues to evolve, we can keep advocating for stories that are diverse and reflective of the many ways people experience love and community. Happy watching! 🌈