As we roast alive in the unending heat of this dying planet, it’s time once again to turn to our televisions for comfort, wherein we are regularly served television programs and films with lesbian and bisexual characters, from networks that overpay their executives and underpay their actors and writers, such as Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, Max and Paramount Plus With Showtime! This month is a unique one for me insofar as the two things I’m the most excited about are kinda gay-boy-centric but I think we can take our joy where we can get it these days you know?

Netlix’s August 2023 Content For Girls, Gay and Theys

Heartstopper: Season Two – August 3

One of my favorite shows of 2023 for how deeply it warmed and delighted my heart (and inspired me to read all the books from the series!) is back for Season Two, in which events will likely involve eating ice cream and definitely will involve going to prom and taking a class trip to Paris. Nick will struggling to figure out how to come out and make his love with Charlie public and Ellie’s making new gal pals at Truman’s sister school, including our favorite lesbian couple Tara and Darcy. Early reviews have declared it “still euphoric and blissfully queer” and “TV’s sweetest teen romance.”

The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge – August 4th

Bisexual comic Nicole Beyer hosts a high-stakes “Nailed It!” spinoff where ten really bad bakers employ instruction from really amazing bakers in the race to win a sweet cash prize.

Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop – August 9th

This limited documentary series promises to “re-contextualize the irrepressible women of hip hop and their role in the genre’s 50 years by reinserting them into the canon where they belong: at the center, from day one to present day.” Iconic emcees include our very own Queen Latifah, Chika and Da Brat.

Depp v Heard: Limited Series – August 16th

I am so extremely very nervous for how this story is going to be told and also that it is being told so soon after the trial concluded. But um, bisexual actress Amber Heard faces Johnny Depp in a court of law.

Prime Video’s August 2023 For The Queers

Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) – August 11

Continuing my “gay boy love story” summer is the much-anticipated adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s delightful Red, White & Royal Blue, a romance between the son of the first woman president of the U.S, Alex Claremont-Diaz, and Britain’s Prince Henry. Rachel Hilson plays Nora Halleran, the 22-year-old granddaughter of the Vice President who is best friends (and exes) with Alex. Furthermore she is bisexual and Jewish!

Harlan Coben’s Shelter: Season One – August 18th

I do not know who this man (Harlan Coben) is, but every time one of his books is adapted into a television series I find myself GLUED TO THE SCREEN. In Shelter, we find teenager Mickey Boltar having recently lost his father in a tragic car accident and therefore made to move in with his (queer, it turns out!) aunt Shira (Constance Zimmer) in suburban New Jersey. He quickly finds himself at the center of a mystery surrounding another new student at his school vanishing. Mickey quickly becomes friends with (also queer!) school outcast Ema, played by queer actor Abby Corrigan.

Hulu’s LGBTQ+ TV and Film for August 2023

D.E.B.S. (2005) – August 1

Angela Robinson’s campy lesbian action comedy has delighted our people for years with its homoerotic group of lady spies in skirts and ties.

Breeders: Season 4 Premiere (FX) – August 1

This British dark comedy’s last season follows two parents who struggle with parenthood in a way that is funny enough for the AV Club to declare its final chapter “smart, wistful and funny as ever.” In the trailer we witness their now-teenage daughter Ava, played by Zoë Athena, experiencing her own “bombshell moment” when she meets and immediately develops a deep crush on charismatic hairdresser Holly (Jessie Williams).

Reservation Dogs: Season Three Premiere (FX) – August 2

Season Three of Reservation Dogs picks up with the group returning to Oklahoma after their unfortunate series of events in Los Angeles. Queer Kahnawà:ke Mohawk actress Devery Jacobs stars as teenager Elora Dana and queer two-spirit actor Elva Guerra plays Jackie in this critically beloved show with an all-Native and very queer writer’s room and crew.

Only Murders in the Building: Season Three Premiere – August 8

It’s unclear if our bisexual queen Mabel (Selena Gomez) will date a woman again this season (as she did last season with Cara Delevingne’s Alice), but she will continue to be on the series as the gang investigates another murder and also Meryl Streep and Ashley Park are joining the cast. We can also expect to see more of lesbian Detective Williams.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) – August 24

Sasha Lane is Theo, a woman dying from a rare cancer caused by pollution and Jayme Lawson is her girlfriend, Alisha, a skeptical do-gooder, in this film Drew described as “a radical masterpiece” that transposes a “critique of non-violence in climate activism” “into the entertainment of a heist movie and the pathos of a character study.”

Paramount+ / Showtime’s August 2023 Gay Shows

The Chi: Season 6 Premiere – August 4

In Season Six, “big dreams are finally realized but at a cost and everyone will be tested in unimaginable ways as they calculate the risks and rewards of their next big move.” Tyla Abercrumbie will be returning as lesbian character Nina and Miriam A. Hyman as her wife Dre.

Billions: Season 7 Premiere – August 13

The final season of this show about terrible rich people will continue to feature Asia Kate Dillon as non-binary character Taylor. This is the longline:“In season seven, alliances are turned on their heads. Old wounds are weaponized. Loyalties are tested. Betrayal takes on epic proportions. Enemies become wary friends. And Bobby Axelrod returns, as the stakes grow from Wall Street to the world.”

Max’s Lesbian Shows of August 2023

Rap Sh!t: Season 2 Premiere – August 8th

Update: The premiere of the second season of Rap Sh!t has been delayed due to the Writer’s Strike.

Bisexual actor Jonica Booth plays Chastity, a stud and the self-proclaimed “Duke of Miami” who, in Season One, begins managing a rap group formed by her estranged high school friends. In Season Two, “the girls are on tour, tensions are high, and they’re quickly realizing how much they’re willing to sacrifice for success.”

Disney+ Queer Materials for August 2023

High School Musical: The Series – Season Four Premiere – August 9

Fans of this franchise I still know nearly nothing about were thrilled last year when Ashlyn, played by pansexual actress Julia Lester, realized she also liked girls in Season Three. In Season Four, plans for their stage production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year is interrupted when the Principal announces that Disney’s making “High School Musical 4: The Reunion” movie on location at East High. I am confident that all of this makes perfect sense to somebody!

Apple TV’s Lesbian August 2023 Fare

Invasion: Season Two Premiere – August 23

The second season of Invasion promises to be “a bigger, more intense season that drops our viewers into a wide-scale, global battle from the start,” which saw its characters cope with the results of an alien invasion. It also has a lesbian lead character, Mitsuki Yamato, played by Shioli Kitsuna!

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