As we begin our lives this April 2021 it’s time to look at the TV set and ask “what is gay and new and streaming with lesbian and bisexual characters on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO???” What about PEACOCK what are they up to? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves in April 2021, as we approach a new slate of streaming content for our enjoyment or derision. And, bless us everyone, are closer to ever to a period of time in which we will have the option to look at people in real life OR on a screen! Can you imagine!

New Queer Stuff on Netflix in April 2021

Worn Stories (Netflix Documentary Series) – April 1

Did you know that the clothes you wear are imbued with meaning!?!! Well, they are, and this series talks to ordinary and famous people about the attire that really means something to them. John Waters popped up in the trailer and so did some fun gender stuff so I’m imagining there will be a queer element here. If there isn’t, I will be disappointed in EVERYBODY.

Madame Claude (Netflix Original) – April 2

Truly never before in my life have I begun to watch a trailer in hopes of uncovering a mid-reel lesbian kiss only to witness the trailer LEADING WITH A LESBIAN KISS which is just to say, the French film Madame Claude looks fantastic. “I realized early on that men treat us like whores,” narrates the french woman at the center of this film about sex workers. “So I decided to be the queen of the whores.” I approve of this message with my whole heart. The story is based on the true story of Fernande Grudet, a madame of the 60s and 70s who “had a client book that read like the guest list to a royal wedding” and “often contested with a much darker reality.”

The Wedding Coach: Season One (Netflix Original) – April 7

IDK if you know this but weddings are like super stressful and not as much fun as they seem when you just go to them and get wasted with people you kinda knew in college. So it’s good to have a coach, yes, a wedding coach. Even better if your wedding coach enlists help from queer comics like Fortune Feimster and Punkie Johnson! There’s a gay male couple in the cast, but I didn’t notice any lesbian couples.

Dolly Parton: A MusicCare (Netflix Documentary) – April 7

Queer musicians Brandi Carlile and Miley Cyrus are amongst the musicians paying tribute to our queen Dolly Parton in this concert!

My Love: Six Stories of True Love (Netflix Original) – April 13

This charming little documentary series, inspired by the acclaimed Korean documentary “my love don’t cross that River,” MY LOVE follows a year in the life of six elderly couples in different parts of the world, including a lesbian couple in Brazil.

The Baker and the Beauty: Season One – April 13

This hourlong romantic comedy-drama was cancelled by ABC after one season. It was centered on the son in a Cuban family who works in his family bakery and then gets involved with an international superstar / fashion mogul who moves his life into the spotlight. His younger sister, Natalie, is queer!

The Circle: Season 2 (Netflix Original) – April 14

The first season of this reality television show was a true delight and delivered the “bisexual chaos” we desired. Eight strangers are put in a building, each in their own rooms, able to interact with each other only through an in-world social media app called “The Circle.” Every week, a contestant is booted, and often a new contestant arrives. I said at the time that The Circle is a reality game show about working from home, but now it’s sort of a reality game show about…. the last year of our lives? Gonna be a trip!

Ride or Die (Netflix Original) – April 14

This rough and dreamy Japanese film follows a lesbian couple in which one of the girls is married to an abusive husband and the other girl kills him so that she can be free and then they are free with nowhere to go! But also it’s complicated!

Why Are You Like This: Season 1 – April 16

This Australian comedy series whose creators describe it as “a TV show about our terrible personalities” follows twenty-something roommates Mia, Penny and Austin; three queer friends who develop their “questionable modern day moral codes in confronting the complex social issues of an outrage driven world, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.” Mia is bisexual, south Asian, self-assured and self-serving. Penny is straight, white, very anxious and attempting to be a great ally. Austin is a “self-obsessed baby drag king.”

Stuff For Gays, Girls and Theys Streaming on Hulu in April 2021

The Color Purple (1985) – April 1

Alice Walker’s epistolary novel was de-gayed for this wildly successful Steven Spielberg adaptation starring Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Rae Dawn Chong and Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg plays Celie, a teenager in rural Georgia with an abusive family who falls for showgirl Shug Avery, her husband’s mistress who Celie nurses back into health.

Manifest (NBC): Season 3 Premiere – April 2

If you are perchance curious about what happened to the passengers of Flight 828, great news: Season 3 will actually answer this question.

Hysterical (FX): Season 1 Premiere – April 3

Noting that “the future of comedy is female,” this docuseries takes us “backstage and on the road with veteran comedians, rising stars and novices to discover how an intrepid group of boundary-breaking females are changing the game and exploring what it takes to become the voices of their generation and their gender.” The series includes queer comics like Judy Gold, Jessica Kirson, Fortune Feimster and Margaret Cho. It looks good but also way too white!

Rebel (ABC): Season 1 Premiere – April 9

This series, inspired by the life of Erin Brokovitch, stars Katey Sagal as a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree who fights valiant causes. It feels like there should be queer people involved in some capacity but who knows! There was a casting call for somebody to play Andy Garcia’s son, a trans man, though, so, there is that.

Home Economics (ABC): Season 1 Premiere – April 8

This comedy revolves around the relationship between three siblings who have accomplished varying levels of financial success: Connor’s in the 1% and lives in Matt Damon’s old house in San Francisco with his wife and kid. Tom is a novelist who’s not doing well! And then there is the reason we are talking about it at all: Sarah is low-income and lives in a teeny-tiny apartment with her wife (played by Sasheer Zamata) and two kids. Hijinks!

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (Freeform): Season 2 premiere – April 9

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay centers around Nicholas, a 25 year old gay dorky Australian expat, forced to become the guardian to his two younger half-sisters after their father dies. It’s one of a limited number of shows featuring characters on the autism spectrum played by actors on the autism spectrum. In Season Two, the bisexual younger sister will determine that she is in fact heterosexual, but her girlfriend Drea seems to be sticking around the family anyhow?

Thelma (2017) – April 17

A coming-of-age thriller that follows Thelma, who is finally away from her religious upbringing and adjusting to college and her sexuality. She begins having seizures and visions and perhaps is rocking some potentially telekinetic powers.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 (Hulu Original) – April 28

FINALLY we are getting the fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, which had to shut down shooting on account of the coronavirus last spring. In the trailer, the Resistance is now in full force, June is somewhere near the top of it, Aunt Lydia is VERY unhappy about all this, June’s daughter shows up, that guy June hooked up with is around, so is Josh Lyman, Moira is worried that June will not last another day in Gilead, there is maybe some murder and explosions and IDK I am personally stoked to watch this shit go down.

Amazon Prime Queer Women Stuff in April 2021

Milk (2009) – April 1

The Harvey Milk biopic follows the influential leader and the group of activists that came up around him, including Allison Pill as LGBT rights activist Anne Kronenberg.

Anne+: Season 1 – April 1

This queer as hell Dutch series premiered in 2018 and follows the love life of Anne, a 24-year-old lesbian. If we get Season One in 2021 then maybe by 2023 we’ll get to the season (2) where the characters talk about my L Word podcast. In this initial season, Anne moves into her own place, runs into her ex, and reflects on her past relationships and turbulent love life bringing us to where she is today.

Couple’s Therapy (Showtime): Season 1 – April 1

The couples who get therapized in this program include a lesbian couple in which one of the women is trans.

Survivor’s Remorse (Showtime): Seasons 1-4 – April 1

M-Chuck (Erica Ash) is the lesbian sister of the basketball player who shoots out of poverty into the NBA and brings his family along with him. She’s one of my favorite gay characters ever, and aside from one plot choice I hated, I loved every minute of this show and wish it hadn’t been cancelled!

LGBT Content on HBO Max April 2021

The Color Purple (1985) – April 1

Okay so The Color Purple is the new V is Vendetta where I swear every month it’s coming or going from one of these places. This times, it’s coming here and to Hulu! Where will you watch it?

Mare of Easttown (HBO Max Original) – April 18

Kate Winslet is Mare, a detective who was good at basketball as a teenager and is now a little rough for wear. Her daughter, played by Angourie Rise, is gay! The series “explores the dark side of a close community and provides an authentic examination of how family and past tragedies can define our present.” Sounds like a familiar formula but you know what I am unsurprisingly here for it.

A Black Lady Sketch Show: Season 2 (HBO) – April 23

FINALLY A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW IS BACK! All we know so far is that the season (first ep of the season? IDK) will have guest appearances from Issa Rae, Gabrielle Union and Jessie Williams!

New LGBTQ Content on Peacock in April 2021

Rutherford Falls: Season 1 Premiere (Peacock) – April 22

This new sitcom about the lives in a small town in upstate New York and the Native American reservation it borders boasts the largest Indigenous writing staff for an American TV show. The show centers on town namesake Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms), who is fighting the moving of a historical statue. Lakota Siuox actress Jana Schmieding is Nathan’s best friend who wants to make her town’s cultural center into a museum. Jesse Leigh, a non-binary Chinese-American actor, plays Bobbie Yang, Nathan’s nonbinary teenage executive assistant.

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