It’s June and that means it’s time for Pride Month!
Whether this is your first Pride Month or you’ve been celebrating since your infancy, June is a great time to promote and consume queer content of all types, and that’s exactly what we at the Clog are going to do. Now, this is only going to be a sampling of all of the awesome queer content out there — leave your own recommendations in the comments!
Music
Hayley Kiyoko has been pumping out hit after hit in the year of “#20GAYTEEN,” as the cool kids call it, and she is not at all afraid of providing queer content in her songs — especially in her music videos. Her most recent video is for “What I Need,” starring the beautiful and talented Kehlani. Give it a watch now!
Troye Sivan is finally back and gayer than ever as he drops hot singles leading up to his new album, Bloom, which is coming out in September. But you don’t have to wait until then to hear some of his new stuff — the title track is already out as a lyric video on YouTube now.
And where would we be without the fabulous Janelle Monae? If you haven’t seen the video version of her album Dirty Computer yet, what are you waiting for? Get. On. It. It has everything we need — it’s a sci-fi dystopian 45-minute “emotion picture” featuring a poly queer relationship with people of color and tributes to many of her icons, such as David Bowie, and other bisexual and queer icons with a twist you definitely won’t expect. Watch here!
For more queer music, check out this playlist on Pride.com here!
Netflix and YouTube Shows
I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely a YouTube binge-watcher, so here is a quick list of some amazing queer people to follow. Fall down the rabbit hole by watching their videos all month:
Hannah Hart is one of the OG YouTubers and even a UC Berkeley grad herself (Go Bears!). Hannah is one of the most positive YouTubers out there. She has been incredibly vulnerable about her own journey from a confused college kid to the incredible influencer she is now. This month she’s revisiting some of her first videos online, such as her coming out story, but you can start watching some of her other fun content here!
“Just Between Us” is run by Gaby Dunn (notorious bisexual) and Allison Raskin (notorious heterosexual) who have been best friends and hilarious content-providers on the internet for some time now. They both talk openly about mental health, their own sexualities, romantic relationships, non-monogamy and more! Watch their content here!
“Girl Ship TV” provides so much good queer content — partially because half of it centers on reviewing queer movies! “Drunk Lesbians Watch” is a regular segment on the show where the host, Amanda Holland, and a queer guest have a little wine and watch queer movies so you don’t have to (or rather, so you know if it’s worth your time and it’s not going to end with one partner dying or getting married to their heterosexual partner again). They’re also currently raising funding for a new show, Carol’s A Demon. Why not watch the pilot? Because if a supernatural queer comedy doesn’t sound fun to you, then I don’t know what does.
Brian Jordan Alvarez brings hilarious gay content to YouTube with his skits and shorts, especially in his series “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo,” which follows the superficial Caleb and his genderfluid best friend Freckle on their journeys to find love and themselves. Watch his channel here!
BuzzFeed has a reputation as a welcoming, diverse environment. It has so much queer content, but I wanted to highlight two pieces in particular: the second annual “Queer Prom” (coming soon), which will warm your icy hearts (start with last year’s series to get in the mood!), and a really excellent video produced by Eugene Lee Yang on “The History of Queer Dance.”
Now we wouldn’t get anywhere without mentioning some great shows that have made it onto Netflix.
“Sense8” is a show that manages to show multiple identities and cultures in a sci-fi universe that brings together eight strangers. Through their powerful connection, they all learn so much from one another, and the show is able to highlight the power of community, connection and what it means to be queer and proud. After the tragedy of this show being canceled, “Sense8” is back in time for a series finale you won’t want to miss.
“Queer Eye,” on the other hand, while not a fictional drama, is so much more than just a makeover show. Antoni, Tan, Bobby, Karamo and Jonathan (aka the Fab Five) literally live out what it means to be in love and represent love to other people, including, very often, men who have never had any connection to or interaction with queer people before. In “Queer Eye,” the Fab Five aren’t looking for tolerance anymore — they’re looking for acceptance and they’re coming with open arms. Season one was so much fun and season two is coming June 16! Can you believe?
Movies
If you’re looking for a feel-good queer romantic comedy, “Love, Simon” is exactly what the doctor ordered and is set to come out on DVD June 12! For other gay films, check out Pride.com’s list of 10 Romantic Gay Movies for Netflix Date Nights.
While there are some recent ladies-loving-ladies films that look exciting, such as “Disobedience” and “Rafiki,” there are definitely less happy-toned lesbian movies … so here’s a list of 18 Awesome Lesbian Movies Where No One Dies At The End.
