Honestly this month is shaping up to be half-decent by pandemic standards for all of us here at home craving LGBTQ tv shows and movies on streaming networks! We are adding HBO Max to the list, as they are actually doing lesbians a solid with tons of queer films in their archives and creating new content relevant to our interests. An up-and-comer, that one!

LGBTQ+ Women Related Content New To Netflix Streaming in September 2020

Queer content Leaving Netflix this month: Once Upon a Time

Set it Off (1996) – September 1

This era-defining heist film stars Jada Pinkett, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise and, of course, Queen Latifah; as four friends in L.A. who work at a Janitorial Services company with a shitty boss and decide to go ahead and rob a bank. Queen Latifah plays the seminal role of masculine lesbian Cleo Sims.

Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices (Netflix Original) – September 1

Amongst the celebrities participating in Netflix’s effort to “bring children’s stories from prolific Black creators centering around themes of identity, respect, justice and action to the screen” is lesbian author Jacqueline Woodson reading her book The Day You Begin. Other readers include Jill Scott, Misty Copeland, Karamo Brown, Lupita Nyong’o and Tiffany Haddish.

Girlfriends: Seasons 1-8 – September 1

The beloved sitcom that Natalie called “one of the greatest celebrations of black girl friendships on TV” is arriving, in full, on Netflix AND one of the four women at the sitcom’s center, Lynn, is bisexual,.

Away: Season 1 (Netflix Original) – September 4

The bad news is that this show, in which Hillary Swank goes into outer space without a personality with the aim of marching all over Mars with her intrepid crew, is bad. The good news is that there is a queer storyline involving Lu Wang (Vivian Yu), a Chinese taikonaut who is a chemist and had an… intimate relationship with NASA translator Mei Chen.

Get Organized with The Home Edit (Netflix Original) – September 9

Clea and Joanna, inventors of “the home edit” organizational system and author the book that apparently explains it all, take on organizing projects from celebrities (e.g., Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria) and regular people, including one woman who says she just came out and wants to start fresh with all of her belongings in tiny labeled boxes.

Ratched: Season 1 (Netflix Original)  – September 18

Ryan Murphy’s take on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s villain Nurse Ratched stars queer actress Sarah Paulson as the titular character and queer actress/activist Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs and my friends, they are GAY as hell. The series already has a guaranteed Season Two, with plans made for four. As portrayed in the novel, which included a character hospitalized for his homosexuality (this was dropped for the film), asylums of the era did often offer “treatment” for the gays, so maybe we’ll have the privilege of seeing our queer ancestors tortured like we did in American Horror Story: Asylum. Murphy says this origin story will attempt to figure out “every little detail about her childhood, her relationships, her sexuality.”

The Good Place: Season 4 – September 26 

The final season of this innovative and beloved half-hour comedy is now on Netflix if you want to model your bisexual bob after Kristen Bell’s.

Van Helsing: Season 4 – September 27

In this reimagining of the classic Dracula story, it is vampires who dominate the world and humans who are struggling for survival. Vanessa Helsing, the daughter of a famed vampire hunter, is at the center of the story and also, she is bisexual. Three other main characters and four recurring characters are various shades of queer as well, including Dracula herself, played by Battlestar’s Tricia Helfer.

Wentworth: Season 8 – September 30

Finally an answer to the question I’ve been asking google for weeks: the Australian prison series’ penultimate season arrives in in the U.S. on September 30. “Way back” top dog Lou Kelly and her partner turn up, terrifying current inmates. Returning homos and bi-os include Allie Novak, Joan Ferguson (yup, the bitch is back from the dead!), Ruby Mitchell and Marie Winter.

The Boys in the Band (Netflix Original) – September 30

Ryan Murphy’s production of the 1968 play, which he revived on Broadway in 2018, will feature a cast of entirely openly gay actors including Andrew Rannells, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer. It’s the story of nine gay male friends who come together for a birthday and end up experiencing high levels of emotional drama instead! There aren’t any lesbians in it, obviously, but you know — it’s like an important gay history situation if that kind of thing oils your engine.

Queer Content New to Amazon Streaming in September 2020

Addicted to Fresno (2015) – September 1

Natasha Lyonne plays a lesbian, as usual, in But I’m a Cheerleader director Jamie Babbit’s dark comedy Addicted to Fresno, which also stars Aubrey Plaza and Judy Greer. Shannon (Greer) and Martha (Lyonne) are codependent sisters in a cycle of Martha picking up the pieces for Shannon, the recovering sex addict.

The Boys: Season 2 (Amazon Original) – September 4

In Amazon’s universe of “depravity and violence,” superheroes are known to the general public, under the thumb of an exploitative corporation, and prone to narcissism and vanity. “The Seven” are the corporation’s top superhero team and “The Boys” are vigilantes attempting to reign in corrupted heroes. One of the Seven, Queen Maeve, a warrior / feminist / humanitarian, is bisexual. The New York Times says this season is more relevant than ever because it’s very cynical and so are we!

Blackbird (2019) – September 16

This emotional drama follows Lily (Susan Sarandon) and Paul (Sam Niel), a couple who’ve summoned their family and loved ones to the beach house for a final weekend together before Lily ends her life, and her battle with ALS, on her own terms. But also they have to deal with all their unresolved family shit really fast! Her daughter Anna (Mia Wasikowska), brings her partner, Chris, played by non-binary actor Bex Taylor-Klaus, to bear witness to it all. Kate Winslet and Rainn Wilson are in it too.

Queer(ish) Content New to Hulu Streaming in September 2020

Not Another Teen Movie (2001) – September 1

Ever seen an animated gif on tumblr circa 2009 where Mia Kirshner is taking off Chyler Leigh’s glasses like she’s about to kiss her? Or (also on tumblr) their homoerotic lad mag photoshoot? That’s from/because of this movie, a parody of classic teen flicks, in which Mia plays a parody of Sarah Michelle Geller’s character in Cruel Intentions. In general it’s about as gay as the teen movies it parodies (which’s to say, not really).

Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her (2000) – September 1

Calista Flockhart plays a lesbian whose girlfriend is dying of cancer in this Sundance fave that debuted on Showtime and weaved together five separate stories focused on the “interior lives of women.” It also stars Cameron Diaz, Glenn Close, Amy Brenneman and Holly Hunter.

Woke: Season 1 (Hulu Original) – September 9

Sasheer Zamata plays a lesbian reporter for a local newspaper in this dramedy about a Black cartoonist on the verge of mainstream success whose perspective on racial inequalities in the U.S. shifts when he’s racially profiled by aggressive policemen.

Pen 15: Season 2 (Hulu Original) – September 18

This program isn’t gay but also it’s weird and we all love it so let’s just be honest!!! We are all excited about this and we want to see it!!

LGBTQ+ Streaming Coming to HBO Max in September

V for Vendetta (2006) – September 1

A dystopian political action film from the Wachowskis starring Natalie Portman in this movie that A*terE*len’s Sarah Warn called, in 2006, “One of the most pro-gay films ever.”

Unpregnant (HBO Max Original) – September 10

The daughter of “Jesus Freak” parents needs an abortion and enlists her ex-best friend, Bailey (Barbie Ferreira of Euphoria) — described by Entertainment Weekly as “a sarcastic, queer loner with little tolerance for Veronica’s new friends” — to join her on a wild road trip to the closet clinic willing to provide one! In New Mexico!

We Are Who We Are: Limited Series – HBO Max Original Series – September 14

This series from the producer of Call Me By Your Name focuses on a group of kids living on a U.S. Military base in Italy in 2016. Fraser Wilson, an introverted 14-year-old, arrives in town with his Moms, Sarah (Chloe Sevigny) and Maggie (Alice Braga), and befriends Caitlin (Jordan Kristine Seamon), who, the trailer suggests, is a trans man, despite being played by a cis actress. It also appears that we can anticipate a love triangle involving Caitlin’s mother, Jenny (Faith Alabi) and Maggie. So if you’re looking for a drama chock-full of queer shit that you will feel resolutely uncomfortable/conflicted about for the entire viewing (because “military” and because “casting a cis actor in a trans role”), have I got the limited series for you.

Potentially Gay Watch:

Shows that ping softly upon the gaydar this month but could not be confirmed at press time include Netflix’s original series The Duchess (the “best friend” has potential), Netflix’s Enola Holmes (It’d be too obvious for Enola, Sherlock Holmes’ misfit tomboy sister, to be gay, but the show has a tinge of gay spirit), Utopia (sci-fi teen ensemble shows usually have some gays, but we frequently must wait for Season 2 for it), Hulu’s Fargo Season Four (outlaw pair of one woman + one woman in drag), HBO Max’s quarantine-comedy film Coastal Elites (just like, on the off chance that Sarah Paulson is playing a lesbian?)

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