10 best LGBTQ comedies and rom coms to watch at home

One of the many new streaming releases and VOD offerings this weekend caught our attention: Fire IslandIt is the new gay community Pride and Prejudice Andrew Ahn directed the adaptation and Joel Kim Booster starred in it. You can stream the movie on Hulu now, and Polygon staff will be there to watch it.

We are glad you enjoyed the movie. We’ve compiled the following list just for you.

These are 10 funny and touching LGBTQ comedy and romance movies that you can stream right from your home via streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Please share your favorites with us in the comments.

Appropriate Behavior

Image: Peccadillo Pictures/Gravitas Ventures

“Um, I’m looking for the grown-up underwear of a woman in charge of her sexuality and not afraid of change?”

Desiree Akhavan’s (Cameron Post’s Miseducation feature film debut tells a story that is close to home — it follows Shirin (played by Akhavan), who (like the writer-director-star) is a bisexual New York City native born to Iranian immigrants. After a bad break up, Shirin’s life is thrown into disarray, forcing her into some uncomfortable conversations she had been avoiding — both with her family and with herself. The offbeat humor is never predictable and it doesn’t lose its sense of humor. Just watch the hilarious underwear-shopping scene; it’ll give you an idea of how much this movie is for you. —Pete Volk

Appropriate BehaviorYou can stream it on The Criterion Channel.

Birdcage

Image: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists

It’s hard to even imagine Nathan Lane as unconfident about anything in his life, especially when it comes to his melodramatic, hilarious portrayal of drag queen Starina (and her alter-ego, the not-so-mild-mannered Albert) in Birdcage — but Lane was still in the closet at the time. It’s all the more impressive that the central joke of the 1996 movie is that Albert can’t manage to pass as straight, not even for the benefit of his son’s fiancée’s extremely conservative family. BirdcageShows all that gender can be performed through its quick-fire humor and bizarre situations. It avoids the preachiness one might expect from a comedy about conservatives who are forced to confront their queer fears. It is one of the most enjoyable parts. Birdcage isn’t the drag performances, although those remain a delight — instead it’s the movie’s portrayal of the middle-aged mundanities of two gay dads existing in the ’90s. They’re normal, and at the time, that felt radical. —Maddy Myers

BirdcageIt is streaming on HBO Max.

But I’m A Cheerleader

Lionsgate Films

It’s hard to imagine conversation therapy as the centerpiece for a comedy, yet somehow that’s the premise of But I’m A Cheerleader. A young Natasha Lyonne stars as a preppy blonde who has no idea why she wants to hurl every time her boyfriend goes in for a kiss, and Clea DuVall plays one of queer cinema’s most iconic lesbian love interests. Their meet-cute happens at the conversion camp where they’ve both been sent by their families; it’s a setting that stays lighthearted in part due to the garish pink-and-blue set design and the over-the-top gender role training that the queer kids get forced through. The terrifying reality of their predicament simmers under the surface, allowing the comedy to bite back all the harder — and allowing the romantic climax to taste even sweeter. —MM

But I’m A CheerleaderPeacock allows you to stream the show for free with your library card from Kanopy, Hoopla or with ads on The Roku Channel or Pluto TV.

Plan B

Photo: Brett Roedel/Hulu

The Hulu-produced comedy set in South Dakota stars two teenage girls, one of whom is a known nerd who never steps out of line — except for one underwhelming hookup at a party, after which she can’t manage to track down a morning-after pill due to conservative laws in the area. This nerd, along with her friend from high school, embarks on an adventure to search for the drug. The queer romance comes out of left field in this movie so I won’t spoil the circumstances, except to say that my girlfriend and I had good enough gaydar to predict exactly what was going on before it played out. There’s also a lot of gross-out humor in this movie (there’s an on-screen penis piercing, for example), but given that the premise is about human bodies and all of their unexpected and inconvenient capabilities, it works. —MM

Plan BHulu allows you to stream it.

Crush

Photo: Brett Roedel/Hulu

An unlikely love triangle that involves two brothers and one sister. A classic setup for romantic comedy. Everybody Knows if you date somebody, you’ve locked yourself out of dating their sibling, because that’s totally disrespectful. But what if you’re also a queer teen girl, and you don’t even know Are there queer teens girls like you? That’s the premise of CrushA lighthearted, playful romp through an old premise that is 100% sapphic. —MM

Crush Hulu streams it.

Save Face

Image: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Alice Wu’s early-2000s romantic comedy has become a classic in the queer and Chinese American film canon. The film tells the story of Hwei Lan, a mother and her daughter Wil who learn how to live in unique situations. Hwei-Lan is kicked out of her parents’ house after becoming pregnant out of wedlock and moves into Wil’s home — Wil is lesbian, but closeted to her mother. Save FaceThe film follows their romance pursuits. However, the secret to this movie’s success is that it actually centers on the mother and her daughter. Their relationship becomes the nexus of the story — they learn to support each other despite intergenerational and cultural differences, as each of them fights for acceptance from their elders and learns to put faith in their own desires. Wu has fought against whitewashing attempts by studios and ensured that the movie had a happy conclusion. Save Face has become a comfort watch to me, and a reminder that love is possible across diasporas, even if it isn’t easy. —Nicole Clark

Save FaceIt is streamable on Prime Video and Hulu as well as the Criterion Channel. You can also get it free of charge with advertisements on Tubi or Crackle.

My Beautiful Laundrette

Image: Mainline Pictures

Stephen Frears’ (High FideliityThis 1985 romantic comedy is frequently cited among the top British films of the 20th Century. It also earned an Academy Award nomination from Hanif Kureishi for screenwriter. Daniel Day-Lewis, a young star of the film was also given a breakthrough role in this movie. Day-Lewis is opposite Gordon Warnecke as Omar. Omar plays a young father taking care of Omar and eventually managing a laundromat which is in disrepair. Omar and his friend are attacked by skinheads. He is shocked to learn that Johnny (Day Lewis) is their leader.

The story that follows is an engaging, touching, and entertaining tale of love and culture clashes and the struggles of Thatcher’s England. —PV

My Beautiful Laundrette It is free to view with a Kanopy library card or you can rent it or make a purchase through digital platforms.

It’s only half of it

Photo by KC Bailey/Netflix

It’s only half of itAnother excellent Alice Wu film, this one a coming of age story. The film examines common themes of belonging and miscommunication.

You can find this article here Cyrano de BergeracIn the story’s retelling Ellie develops a close friendship and agrees to help Paul text Aster. However, Ellie has feelings for Aster and it becomes more difficult to keep up the illusion. The mistaken identity romance rom-com has a sweet side. Ellie and Paul’s friendship blossoms over the course of the movie. His beliefs are challenged, and he emerges stronger for it. Ellie finds that she is supported by friends and has a caring parent, despite her stoic exterior. —NC

It’s only half of itIt is streaming on Netflix.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Universal Pictures

It was my first ever time watching Fried Green TomatoesI was a teenager and accompanied my parents. The movie was well-known to them, and I realized that it was a film they were already familiar with. Ah, this must be gay.My parents were like that, in the meantime. This pair of women is so close friends:. I ended up Googling the plot summary and found out that the book it’s based on is actually very, very gay. It was true!

Even if all of the romantic overtones are removed Fried Green TomatoesThis is the story of a deep-south love story. Idgie and Ruthie’s relationship is recounted in present-day by another woman (implied in the film to be Idgie, but a totally separate character in the novel), and their story inspires Kathy Bates’ character to regain control of her life. Even just through subtext, Idgie and Ruthie’s devotion to one another is apparent. Heck, they live together, open a cafe together, raise a child together, and fend off Ruthie’s abusive ex together — pretty damn romantic if you ask me. It’s about marginalized people coming together and forming a community and that’s just pretty cool, I think. Also, the food-fight scene is basically supposed to be a sex scene and it’s one of the best “not sex, but totally sex” scenes out there IMO. —Petrana Radulovic

Fried Green TomatoesIt is also available to rent or buy on the digital VOD platforms.

Booksmart

Photo: FrancoIt is Duhamel/Annapurna Pictures

Booksmart isn’t an LGBTQ rom-com, but it isA comedy featuring a lesbian protagonist. Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), two overachieving high schoolers, realized that they’ve missed out on some quintessential high school experiences, so the night before graduation they try to hit up a party — and end up traversing across town, searching for the right address. It’s a raunchy teen comedy about partying before graduating, but this time with two gals, and Amy happens to be a hopeless lesbian with a huge crush on a hot girl that she struggles to make conversation with. We won’t spoil the ending. You can alsoIt is a lot, however the romantic scene that results is very intense and awkward. This is what high school experience often ends up being. —PR

Booksmart Hulu streams it.