The best streaming services with LGBTQ content
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. To mark the occasion, and to put some tech-related spin on things, I thought I’d look at the best streaming services with LGBTQ related content. I’ll also note any major animation-related LGBTQ content on each service.
Content is as of this article’s writing.
HBO Max
HBO Max. (Warner Bros. / screenshot by author)
Thanks to its ties to HBO, HBO Max has a sizable catalog of LGBTQ content, even if it doesn’t have a dedicated category. Various documentaries, movies, and TV shows are available, including “Degrassi” and “Our Flag Means Death.”
Animation-wise, the shows that turned up when searching “LGBTQ”: “Steven Universe,” “Harley Quinn,” and “Adventure Time.”
Hulu
Hulu. (Hulu / screenshot by author)
Hulu offers a section titled “Pride Never Stops.” Older sitcoms like “Will and Grace” and “The L Word” are featured, along with newer shows like “Pose,” “Love, Victor” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Animation-wise, Hulu has “Steven Universe,” as well as “The Bravest Knight.” The latter is a 2019 series about a knight-in-training who grew up and married the kingdom’s prince. The prince is voiced by actor Wilson Cruz.
Netflix
As the biggest streaming service, Netflix also has one of the biggest catalogs of LGBTQ content. (That’s in spite of Netflix’s recent, mostly self-inflicted problems.) They’ve listed their content under several category names, including “LGBTQ Movies,” “LGBTQ Dramas,” and so on.
Animation-wise, Netflix has the “She-Ra” reboot, “Q-Force,” and “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.”
Paramount+
Paramount+. (Paramount / screenshot by author)
Paramount+ has a section on its main page labeled “Paramount+ Celebrates Pride.” Listed are various TV shows and movies featuring prominent LGBTQ characters, including “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” a Wanda Sykes comedy performance, MTV’s “The Real World,” and so on.
Animation-wise, Paramount+ has “The Loud House” and “The Legend of Korra.”
Tubi
The movie “Big Eden” on Tubi. (Tubi / screenshot by author)
While Tubi is a free streaming service, there’s surprisingly a ton of LGBTQ content available. Although there’s some mainstream Hollywood fare (such as the 1993 film “Philadelphia”), Tubi has well over several hundred independent or smaller studio films and documentaries. Fortunately, Tubi’s LGBTQ content is under its own category.
Honorable mention: Disney+
Although Disney+ is now the third largest streaming service, it lacks any highlighted LGBTQ section on Disney+. This might relate to Disney’s mediocre inclusion of LGBTQ characters in its movies, or that most of the studio’s LGBTQ content is on Hulu.
Despite the lack of a section, there’s some programming with prominent LGBTQ characters on Disney+. These include “The Owl House,” ”Out” (a Pixar short), and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” There’s also some programs with secondary LGBTQ characters, such as a pair of doll moms in “Doc McStuffins.”
Outside the United States, Disney+’s Star section carries the Disney-owned LGBTQ content from Hulu. Thus, the non-US Disney+ fares much better in representation.