Works focusing on LGBT people, themes and relationships as the primary subject matter. This goes beyond media featuring queer characters and/or developing a supporting LGBT Fanbase; the works listed revolve around the lives of LGBT people and experiences. This often takes the form of:
- Any kind of Coming-Out Story or story focusing on an LGBT Awakening
- Stories focusing on Gayngst, Trans Tribulations and related tropes
- Stories whose central focus is on a Homophobic Hate Crime (not just one or two episodes of a crime series)
- Documentaries or biopics about queer people with a significant focus on their queerness
- Stories whose primary message is a Gay Aesop (not just one episode of a show)
Work which are not Queer Media:
- Works with one of the above subjects as a subplot rather than the main plot
- Works that are about a romance between queer characters—those are Queer Romance, a subgenre of Queer Media
- Works with queer main characters or large amounts of queer supporting characters but whose stories are not about being queer.
This is a sub-category of LGBT Representation in Media. See the sub-category Queer Romance for media specifically about LGBT relationships. There is also the sub-category Speculative Fiction LGBT for Speculative Fiction with heavy LGBT themes. See LGBT+ Creators for a list of queer performers and artists.
These can be contrasted with series which develop an LGBT Fanbase but aren't specifically aimed at one, as well as with genres such as Yaoi, Yuri, and Slash note which have LGBT romantic or sexual plotlines but are generally meant for a straight audience (even if some series have an LGBT+ Periphery Demographic).
Examples:
- Aido
- Ai no Shintairiku: The main character is a trans girl who has just started living openly as one.
- Banana Fish had a notable influence the Boys' Love genre in Japan, focusing on a young man who was the victim of sexual assault and child trafficking, and his relationship with another man.
- Bloom Into You
- Blue Flag (Homophobia, lesbian and gay main character, bisexual male lead character, gay romance)
- Bokura no Hentai: Genre Deconstruction of the Otokonoko Genre that includes a queer boy and a trans girl as part of its main cast. Trans Tribulations, homophobia, and Queer Romance play major roles in the plot.
- Boys Run the Riot (Transgender male main character)
- The Bride Was A Boy (Transgender female main character)
- BREAK THE BORDER (Transgender male main character)
- Claudine (Transgender male main character)
- Dandelion Among Lilies
- The Day of Revolution
- Double House (Transgender female main character, lesbian main character)
- Even Though We're Adults
- Family Compo: Slice of Life dramedy about a transphobic college student who moves in with his trans relatives.
- Free Soul
- Girl Friends (2006) (Lesbian main character, lesbian supporting character)
- Go For It, Nakamura!
- Goodbye, My Rose Garden
- Himegoto - Juukyuusai no Seifuku
- Husky and Medley
- I Think Our Son Is Gay is about parents of a young gay man and their evolving expectations coming to terms with it.
- Indigo Blue
- Is Love the Answer?: Coming-Out Story featuring an asexual aromantic protagonist. There's also several asexual supporting characters and a gay supporting character.
- IS: Otoko demo Onna demo Nai Sei
- I Want To Be A Wall (Gay male main character, aromantic asexual main character)
- Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku (Transgender female main character)
- Kyou Kara Yonshimai
- Legend of the Blue Wolves
- Love Me For Who I Am (Non-binary main character, transgender female supporting characters, gay supporting character, lesbian supporting character, queer male supporting character/love interest, diamoric romance)
- Love My Life
- Maiden Rose
- Morefuyu
- My Brother's Husband: A Japanese man and his deceased brother's Canadian husband bond over their shared grief. There is a gay main character, several gay minor characters, subject matter includes homophobia, different cultural acceptances of LGBT people, queer male romance, LGBT acceptance.
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (Lesbian main character)
- My Solo Exchange Diary
- Negative-kun to Positive-kun
- Ohana Holoholo
- Oppai O Totta Kareshi by Yukiko Serizawa (Transgender male main character)
- Otoko Ni Naritai by Hikaru Yamagishi (Transgender male main character)
- Otoko Ni Naritai Watashi No Kareshi Wa Moto Onna by Sachiko Takeuchi (lesbian main character, transgender male main character)
- Our Dreams at Dusk (Gay male main character, lesbian, gay, transgender, aromantic/asexual supporting characters, queer male and queer female romance)
- Pieta
- Plica
- Rules
- Sakura-chan to Amane-kun
- Sazanami Cherry
- Sweet Blue Flowers
- To Strip the Flesh (Transgender male main character)
- Wandering Son (Transgender female main character, transgender male main character)
- What Did You Eat Yesterday? is about two middle-aged gay men, their life together, and navigating being a gay adult in Japan.
- Yuri Kuma Arashi
- Associated Student Bodies
- Bingo Love: The two main characters are queer (A lesbian and a bisexual woman); subject matter includes queer female romance.
- Call Me Nathan by Catherine Castro and Quentin Zuttion (Transgender male main character)
- Cheat(er) Code: A gay erotic comic book; the main character is gay, the supporting characters are gay and/or queer men, subject matter includes queer male sex/sexuality.
- Circles
- DC Pride 2022
- Death: The Time of Your Life (lesbian main characters, one is a celebrity who faces resistance from her team about publicly coming out)
- Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles (Gay main character, gay supporting characters, subject matter includes homophobia, LGBT acceptance)
- Fence: LGBT sports series; the two main characters are gay/queer and the vast majority of supporting characters are male and either gay or queer. Subject matter includes queer male romance.
- The Fire Never Goes Out: An autobiographical comic by comic writer/illustrator Noelle Stevenson who describes themselves as transmasculine and bigender and is married to a lesbian woman.
- Gender Queer: A Memoir: Autobiographical comic by asexual, nonbinary cartoonist Maia Kobabe, which also features a number of lesbian supporting characters, gay supporting characters, a nonbinary supporting character and Maia's relationships with multiple women.
- Iceman (Marvel Comics): The 2017 and 2018 volumes revolve around original 60's X-Men member Iceman/Bobby Drake coming to terms with his sexuality and being an out gay superhero; Subject matter includes coming out and homophobia.
- Killer Condom
- Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (Lesbian main character whose dating a Bisexual girl, supporting cast includes multiple queer girls)
- Life Is Strange: A queer female romance story between the main character (A bisexual girl) and the deuteragonist, a lesbian.
- Life Of Melody
- Lunar Girl and Scarlet Sparrow: The protagonists are a pair of lesbian Superheroes. The comic itself was made to promote a Short Film.
- The Magic Fish
- The Pride
- Pride High
- The Prince and the Dressmaker: A story about a prince who likes to dress in beautiful dresses, the main character describes himself as sometimes not feeling like his assigned gender, subject matter includes gender non-conformity, gender dysphoria, gender euphoria, gender fluidity, transphobia, coming out, LGBT acceptance.
- Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love
- SFSX (Safe Sex)
- Snotgirl
- Stuck Rubber Baby
- The Witch Boy: A middle grade comic series about a young male witch struggling to fit in with his family and magic clan as only girls are born to be witches; at the heart of the story is a fantastic allegory regarding gender and gender dysphoria, the main character is a gender non-conforming boy, and several queer supporting characters, from other queer youth to a character having two fathers.
- The Hidden Witch: A sequel to the The Witch Boy.
- The Midwinter Witch: Completes the trilogy of the The Witch Boy and The Hidden Witch.
- AJ & Magnus: Two gay men raise a child and his dog, there is a transgender female supporting character, several gay supporting characters, subject matter includes LGBT parenting/family, LGBT marriage, LGBT acceptance. Main character AJ is eventually revealed to be queer as well.
- Bitchy Butch
- Chelsea Boys
- A Couple of Guys
- Dykes to Watch Out For (Queer ensemble cast, lesbian main characters)
- Kyles Bed And Breakfast (Queer ensemble cast, gay main characters)
- Lucy and Sophie Say Goodbye
- Here by Accident, Staying on Purpose (Transgender girl main character)
- Formerly Known as Harry Potter? (Transgender female main character)
- Magical Metamorphosis (Transgender female main character)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
- It's the Little Things That Get You When You Weren't Paying Attention (sapphic romance)
- The Morrigan (Sapphic romance, Transgender male main character)
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Trans Ponies (Transgender male main character)
- The Wound's Still Bleeding (Transgender female main character)
- Blackened Bluebird (Transgender female main character, sapphic romance)
- The Lepidoptera Au
- Holding the World On Their Shoulders (Transgender female main character)
- Lost In The Storm
- Reignfall (Transgender female main character, sapphic romance)
- RWBY: Scars (Transgender female main character)
- Eyes on Me (Transgender female main character, lesbian main character, queer female romance)
- Problems AU (Transgender male main character, lesbian supporting character, intersex and nonbinary supporting character)
- Achilles (Bisexual main character)
- Adolescence of Utena (Lesbian main characters, queer female romance)
- 2:37
- 3 Generations (Transgender male main character, lesbian supporting characters, transphobia, LGBT youth, LGBT acceptance)
- Adam (2019)
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
- And the Band Played On
- Another Country
- Another Gay Movie
- Badhaai Do: About a gay man and a lesbian who marry each other to relieve societal pressure to marry. Tackles homophobia in Indian society.
- Bedrooms And Hallways
- Before Stonewall
- Behind the Candelabra: LGBT biopic about gay pianist Liberace.
- Bent (Gay main characters, homophobia, gay supporting characters, queer male romance)
- The Birdcage: A gay man with a male life partner masquerades as a straight married man to please his son's fiance's parents, there are several gay male characters, subject matter includes LGBT parenting/family.
- Blood of the Tribades (Lesbian main characters, lesbian supporting characters; subject matter includes homophobia, queer female romance)
- The Blood Spattered Bride: Features a woman and her lover, a Lesbian Vampire.
- Bohemian Rhapsody (Bisexual male main character, homophobia)
- Boy Erased: Based on a True Story film about a gay young man sent to conversion therapy by his parents; the main character is gay, there are several gay and lesbian supporting characters; subject matter includes conversion therapy, homophobia, queer male romance, coming out, and LGBT acceptance.
- Boys Don't Cry: A biopic about Brandon Teena, a young transgender man murdered in a hate crime; subject matter includes homophobia and transphobia, queer romance.
- BPM Beats Per Minute
- Breakfast with Scot
- The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy
- But I'm a Cheerleader: Black comedy/dramedy about a young woman sent to a conversion therapy camp, the main character and her love interest are both lesbians, there are other LGBT supporting characters; subject matter includes female romance, homophobia, conversion therapy, and LGBT acceptance.
- By Hook or By Crook
- Call Me by Your Name
- Camp (2003): A film about a Love Triangle at a performing arts camp; there is gay character in the main ensemble; subject matter includes homophobia, and coming out.
- The Carmilla Movie
- The Celluloid Closet: Documentary about the depiction of gay and lesbian characters in film
- Chasing Amy (Bisexual female main character, gay supporting character, lesbian supporting characters; subject matter includes biphobia)
- Close: Two boys have a close, intimate friendship. One boy realizes what this implies and starts to become uncomfortable around his friend, who seems to be gay.
- The Closet: The main character is a straight man who pretends to be gay and there is an Armoured Closet Gay supporting character.
- Colette: A biopic of the eponymous French author, a bisexual woman who had relationships with another bisexual woman and a lesbian or transmasculine person. There is also a bisexual love triangle between Colette, her husband and lover.
- Colonel Redl: A high-ranking army officer in imperial Austria is gay. Not only does he have to hide in the closet, he winds up getting blackmailed into espionage.
- Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
- Cracks (Lesbian main character, lesbian supporting character, LGBT youth)
- C.R.A.Z.Y.
- The Crying Game: One of the main characters is a trans woman, Dil, and her relationship with the lead character Fergus gets deeply explored. The issue of transphobia is also present, as Fergus reacts in shock and disgust after learning Dil's gender, though he gets over it. Dil's had to deal with an obsessive "admirer" as well for a time.
- Cruising
- The Curiosity of Chance
- Dallas Buyers Club
- The Danish Girl: Biopic on married painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, the former of whom was a trans woman and the second known person to receive sex-reassignment surgery. The film primarily focuses on Elbe's Trans Tribulations and her continued relationship with her wife after coming out.
- Dating Amber
- Desert Hearts is about two women falling in love on a Nevada ranch circa 1959 while one of them is getting a Divorce in Reno. Made in 1985.
- Different for Girls
- Different from the Others: A 1919 German silent film starring Conrad Veidt in one of his earliest roles, as well as Real Life sexologist Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. One of the earliest portrayals of gay people in film and one of the earliest films with an explicitly pro-gay message, arguing that homosexuality is natural and calling for the end of German laws criminalizing it. It was banned and destroyed by the Nazis but we still have about ⅓ of its footage.
- Do Revenge: One of the two lead characters is a lesbian. It turns out that a homophobic incident she'd suffered in the backstory helped spark the plot. Her ex is also a supporting character and she gets involved with another girl in the film.
- Eating Out
- Erin's Guide to Kissing Girls
- A Fantastic Woman
- Far from Heaven
- Fear Street: A horror film trilogy based on the 1990s book series of the same name, the central figures of the trilogy are two lesbian teenagers. Each film centers around either a lesbian relationship (implied and explicit) or at least lesbian love; subject matter includes sapphic romance, homophobia, LGBTQIA+ acceptance, LGBTQIA+ youth.
- Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives
- For the Bible Tells Me So: Documentary on gay Christians and their families.
- Fox and His Friends
- Freeheld (Lesbian main characters, queer female romance)
- Frida: A biopic of bisexual Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. She's married to Diego Rivera but (like him) cheats. Frida is seen explicitly going to bed with Josephine Baker (who was also bisexual). Later she goes to a hotel room with another.
- Funeral Parade of Roses
- G.B.F. (Gay main characters; subject matter includes coming out story)
- Gia (Lesbian main character, lesbian supporting character; subject matter includes queer female romance)
- Giant Little Ones (Gay or bisexual main character, LGBT+ supporting characters; subject matter includes homophobia, LGBT awakening, LGBT youth)
- Girl (2018) (Transgender main character)
- A Girl Like Grace
- Gohatto
- Good Morning Pakistan (Happy Heart is a Pakistani transgender woman, shares her experiences in the Pakistani trans community)
- Gray Matters (Lesbian main character, coming out story)
- The Half of It
- Handsome Devil
- Happiest Season (Lesbian couple as the main characters, lesbian supporting character, subject matter includes coming out and queer female romance)
- The Hours
- Hurricane Bianca
- Ideal Home (Two gay male main characters, subject matter includes LGBT parenting/family)
- I Love You Phillip Morris: LGBT biopic about the gay con artist Steven Jay Russell and his boyfriend Phillip Morris; subject matter includes queer male romance.
- In & Out (Gay main character; subject matter includes coming out story)
- In from the Side (Romantic drama about an affair between two gay men)
- I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: Two male firefighters pretend to be a gay couple getting married for healthcare benefits, there are several gay supporting characters; subject matter includes homophobia, coming out story, gay marriage.
- A Kid Like Jake
- The Kids Are All Right
- Kill Your Darlings
- Kinky Boots: About a shoemaker designing boots for a drag queen.
- Kinsey
- Knife and Heart
- Legend (2015): A biopic of the notorious gangster twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray. Ronnie is openly gay (bisexual in actual fact) and is shown with men (especially his boyfriend "Mad" Teddy). This includes parties with high-level politicians (protecting him and Ronnie at first from prosecution).
- Lingua Franca
- The Living End
- Lost In Paradise
- Love Is All You Need? (2016): Persecution Flip with homosexual characters being the privileged majority.
- Macho Dancer: Focuses on two young men involved in the gay prostitution scene in 1980s Manila.
- Make the Yuletide Gay
- Making Love
- Marguerite (2017)
- Ma Vie En Rose: Gender nonconforming boy or trans girl main character; homophobia/transphobia is a major theme, along with acceptance of being gender nonconforming or trans.
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: A psychological drama war film directed by Nagisa Oshima, set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Java. A major part of the film's plot is the homoerotic tension between Captain Yonoi, the camp's commander, and Jack Celliers, a South African prisoner who he grows obsessed with.
- Michael (1924)
- Milk: A biopic about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the United States, gay main character, gay supporting characters; subject matter includes homophobia, LGBT biopic, queer male romance.
- The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Lesbian main character, lesbian supporting characters, gay supporting characters, transgender supporting character; subject matter includes homophobia, conversion therapy)
- Moonlight (2016): A film about an African-African man growing up in impoverished Miami and his struggles with identity, the main character is gay, his male love interest is gay or queer; subject matter includes homophobia, coming out story, queer male romance.
- My Emptiness And I
- Myra Breckinridge (Transgender female main character)
- Mysterious Skin
- Naomi And Ely's No Kiss List (Gay main character, bisexual or gay supporting character; subject matter includes coming out story, LGBT acceptance, LGBT youth, queer male romance)
- The New Girlfriend (Bigender main character; subject matter includes queer romance)
- 9 Dead Gay Guys
- Normal (2003) (Transgender female main character; subject matter coming out story, transphobia)
- The Normal Heart
- Pain and Glory: Story of a gay film director with extensive flashbacks to his youth, including the moment of his LGBT Awakening, and his modern-day reunion with The One That Got Away.
- The Panti Sisters: A Filipino movie about three queer siblings who are forced to act like cis, straight men in exchange for their dying father's inheritance.
- Paradise Bent: Boys Will Be Girls in Samoa (Third gender)
- Pariah (Lesbian main character, bi or lesbian supporting character; subject matter includes coming out story, homophobia, queer female romance)
- Paris Is Burning
- Philadelphia: Legal drama about LGBT workplace discrimination, the plot centers around a gay man with AIDS, there is a gay supporting character and his lover; subject matter includes homophobia, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS discrimination.
- Pitchfork: Slasher horror film with main protagonist Hunter being gay, and he brings his friends to his rural home to have support when trying to come out to his parents; subject matter includes coming out.
- Poison Ivy
- The Power of the Dog
- Prayers for Bobby: Biopic/television movie about LGBT activist and ally Mary Griffith as she struggled with her faith and accepting her gay son Bobby; subject matter includes coming out, homophobia, and conversion therapy.
- Pride (2014)
- Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
- The Real Thing directed by Brandon Kelley (Transgender female main character)
- Requiem (2021): A Religious Horror movie set in 1605 England focused on a lesbian couple facing peril as witchcraft accusations fly.
- The Retreat (2021): A slasher horror movie focused on a lesbian couple being hunted in the woods by men who livestream themselves killing gay people.
- Rocketman (2019)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Pansexual and transgender female main character, sexually fluid supporting characters, is one of the cult classics in the queer community.)
- Saint Laurent
- Scorpio Rising: Experimental short which may be the Ur-Example of Leatherman
- Self Defense (Gay supporting character; subject matter includes homophobia)
- Shortbus
- A Single Man
- Spa Night: A Korean-American young adult comes to term with his sexuality while being held back by cultural expectations, subject matter includes gay sexuality, LGBT awakening.
- Steam (Lesbian main character, bisexual female supporting character, coming out story, LGBT youth, queer female romance)
- Stonewall (1995): A fictional account of the Stonewall riots.
- Stonewall (2015): An account of the Stonewall riots that drew controversy due to focus on a White Male Lead.
- Strawberry and Chocolate: A university student in 1979 Havana becomes friends with a gay man, Castro's Cuba being a place where being gay could get you arrested then.
- Summerland (2020): Alice, the main character, is a closeted lesbian. Her past same-sex relationship with Vera becomes central to the plot. She expresses anxiety about homophobia, and was left by Vera to have a baby (which, this being in the early 20th century, required marrying a man). They end up getting together again and co-parent Vera's son.
- Super Deluxe
- Swoon (Gay male main characters, societal homophobia as a major theme)
- Tangerine
- "They/Them" (Non-binary main character, lesbian supporting character, subject matter includes coming out story, LGBT youth, transphobia)
- They/Them (2022): Nearly the entire cast is LGBT+, since the story's set in a conversion therapy camp, where the characters have to not only deal with attempts at "curing" them but also a killer being on the loose in their midst. Fighting against homophobia/transphobia is a main theme, understandably. Two of the queer girls get involved while in the camp as a subplot.
- The Times of Harvey Milk
- Those People
- Tomboy (Transgender/gender nonconforming main character; subject matter includes LGBT youth, queer romance, transphobia)
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar: A film about three drag queens taking a road trip, subject matter includes homophobia, LGBT acceptance, drag queens/drag culture.
- Transamerica
- Trapped: The Alex Cooper Story (Lesbian main character; subject matter includes coming out story, homophobia, conversion therapy, gay supporting character, lesbian supporting characters)
- "Trevor": A short film about a 13-year-old old boy realizing that he is gay; subject matter includes LGBT awakening, homophobia coming out story, LGBT youth.
- The Truth About Jane
- Two Spirits
- Uncle Frank
- Velvet Goldmine: A movie about a fictional Glam Rock singer loosely based on David Bowie, prominently focusing on his bisexuality (The real Bowie was described by his first wife as bisexual), the relationship between it and his work, and Britain's LGBT community during the 1970s.
- Victim (1961) (Gay main character, gay supporting characters, homophobia)
- Victor/Victoria (Drag queens, drag culture, gay and bisexual male supporting characters, If It's You, It's Okay romance; subject matter includes queer male romance, homophobia)
- The Wedding Banquet
- When Time Got Louder: The protagonist is a lesbian who falls in love with another student in college, but her girlfriend is upset about her unwillingness to come out to her parents because she doesn't want to make their lives more stressful.
- Where the Truth Lies: One of the main characters is Vince, who turns out to be bisexual. The very prevalent homophobia in the '50s and '60s making being outed as LGBT+ a social death sentence for people turns out to be a key plot point.
- Wildhood : 2021 Nova Scotian film about two Indigenous boys, one two-spirit, and their burgeoning queer romance together as they seek out a missing parent.
- Zero As You Are, directed by Tokoi Miyuki (Non-binary, transgender female, queer romance)
- All My Friends Are Invisible: A memoir sharing the story of YouTube vlogger Jonathan Joly, a non-binary individual with a transgender child. The memoir shares Joly's struggles coming to accept his queer identity and his troubled childhood in 1980s Britain.
- Almost Perfect: A novel about a transgender girl, focusing on her transition and the acceptance/lack thereof from the people in her life, including the boy she falls for after transitioning.
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: One of the two main characters is gay and deals with 1940s and 50s homophobia, though he also has a brief romance.
- Ana on the Edge
- And the Band Played On
- The Art of Being Normal
- Babyji
- The Beebo Brinker Chronicles
- The Best at It: LGBT youth novel revolving around a gay 12-year-old Indian-American boy's self-actualization. Subject matter includes LGBT awakening, coming out, LGBT youth and LGBT acceptance.
- Blackbird (1986)
- Both Can Be True
- Camouflage
- Carmilla
- The Case Files of Jeweler Richard: Aside from the many side characters who are explicitly queer, much of the story arc revolves around Seigi's evolving understanding of love and gender and what it can mean and how it can look, in defiance of societal expectations.
- Chaos Squad
- China Mountain Zhang
- Cracks
- Daddy's Roommate: Children's book about a boy learning about his father's relationship with another man, subject matter includes LGBT parenting, LGBT acceptance.
- A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
- Double Happiness by Fumino Sugiyama (Transgender male main character)
- Fellow Travelers
- Florinda: The story of a woman who initially escapes her incestuous father through disguising herself as a man, then married a princess while still disguised. After learning, her wife is fine with it, but a prophecy reveals this, and she's tested. Just as her secret is going to get out, she's magically transformed into male through a miracle, which lets her live happily with her wife. The story raises all kinds of issues regarding gender, sexuality and possible interpretations as to Florinda's identity from a modern perspective.
- Funny Boy
- Geography Club: YA novel about a closeted gay teenager assembling with other closeted LGBT students in the guise of a fake school club to avoid homophobia; subject matter includes LGBT youth, coming out, homophobia, LGBT acceptance, and queer male romance.
- The Order of the Poison Oak: Sequel book set at a summer camp where the characters balance their counselor duties with summer love; subject matter includes queer male romance and LGBT youth.
- Soul Sucking Brain Zombies Duology Two main characters (A gay teen boy and a bisexual teen girl) narrate the book from different perspectives while working as extras on a zombie film; subject matter includes queer male romance, queer female romance, homophobia, conversion therapy, LGBT youth, and coming out.
- The Elephant Of Surprise A gay teen deals with his feelings for his ex and another man, while dealing with sudden unexpected changes in his life; subject matter includes queer male romance and LGBT youth.
- Fujimi Orchestra is a Boys' Love series focusing on music and the hardships of being gay in Japan.
- Giovanni's Room
- Gracefully Grayson
- Heather Has Two Mommies
- Her Body and Other Parties
- Hero
- The Hours
- I Am J
- I Am Jazz: Semi-autobiographical children's book by trans reality star and activist Jazz Jennings about a young trans girl.
- Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World
- I Wish You All the Best
- Kiss (2007)
- Kiss of the Spider Woman
- Laura Caxton (Main character is gay)
- Less
- Lets Talk About Love
- Lily and Dunkin
- Lockpick Pornography
- The Lotterys Plus One (Family raised by two gay dads and two gay moms)
- Love and Death on Long Island
- The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali: The protagonist is a closeted Bangladeshi-American lesbian who's in a relationship with another girl. It's plot centers on dealing with her homophobic parents when she's outed. The book features her girlfriend as a supporting character, a closeted gay character and a hate crime that affects things deeply.
- Loveless (Aromantic asexual protagonist in a story centered around her self-discovery)
- The Man from C.A.M.P.
- The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester
- Maurice
- May the Best Man Win
- Melissa (Transgender female main character, transphobia, LGBT youth)
- Middlesex
- Misfortune
- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
- Nevada
- Nikhil Out Loud A 13-year-old gay Indian-American boy who voices the main character of a popular animated show and moves to Ohio with his mom to help his ailing grandfather; subject matter includes homophobia, LGBT youth, and LGBT acceptance.
- Of Fire and Stars: Denneleia is a Lipstick Lesbian Princess Classic, while Mare is a bisexual rebellious tomboy princess. Her attraction to Mare makes Dennaleia realize her sexual orientation, while they become lovers. Their romance is not the sole focus of the plot however.
- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
- Orlando: A Biography
- The Other Boy (trans boy protagonist who tries living in stealth, only to get outed by a bully)
- Outsourced
- The Pants Project
- Parrotfish
- Peta Lyre's Rating Normal
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Prince And Knight
- Querelle de Brest
- Rage: A Love Story
- The Rainbow Trilogy
- Reconstructing Amelia
- Rubyfruit Jungle
- Running With Lions: LGBT youth-oriented sports novel, the main character is a bisexual teenage boy and the book features his romance with a gay teammate; there are several other gay and bisexual male supporting characters; subject matter includes coming out, LGBT youth and LGBT acceptance in sports.
- Sanctuary: The main character and their housemate Vinnie are nonbinary. All the living people in Casswell Park feel out of place in the outside world, usually due to being queer and/or neurodivergent.
- The Section 13 Case Files
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A big part of the book details Evelyn's struggle to be recognized as bisexual and how she navigated having a gay relationship while keeping her career afloat in a homophobic industry.
- Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda: A closeted teen boy corresponds with another closeted gay teen over email without knowing his identity; subject matter includes coming out story, homophobia, LGBT youth, LGBT acceptance.
- Sirena Selena
- Star-Crossed
- Surrender Your Sons: Thriller young adult novel about a gay teenager sent to a conversion therapy camp with other LGBT children; subject matter includes homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, coming out, LGBT youth and LGBT acceptance.
- Tales From Verania
- Tant Quil Le Faudra
- These Words Are True and Faithful
- Too Bright to See
- Two Boys Kissing
- An Unkindness of Ghosts
- The Vast Fields of Ordinary
- Verge: Stories
- "The Garden of Earthly Delights"
- "Mechanics"
- "Two Girls"
- Waterways
- The Well of Loneliness is a 1928 novel about a woman named Stephen diagnosed with "sexual inversion" (an old theory that stated that gay people are mentally the opposite gender). Stephen falls in love with a woman named Mary during World War 1. It doesn't end on a particularly happy note. Stephen decides that she cannot make Mary happy and helps her fall for a male friend of hers.
- When The Angels Left The Old Country: Urban Fantasy novel about an angel, who is male-presenting Non-Human Non-Binary, and a demon, who is male but specifically by choice. The two of them have been companions for centuries and care deeply for each other. The tritagonist Rose is a human lesbian.
- Wiegenlied of Green (Lesbian main characters, queer female romance)
- Whateley Academy originated with a series of stories about a group of transgender and queer teens learning to navigate discoveries about their gender and sexuality amidst the usual adolescent issues of identity, education, and eventual careers. Since then, the scope has broadened to include the problems of how even an oppressed minority (mutants in this universe) may be challenged by minorities within it.
- Who Needs Men?
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- You Know Me Well
- Zara Hossain Is Here: The story of a teenage bisexual Pakistani girl living in the US with her family; her relationship with her girlfriend Chloe, plus the homophobia Chloe's dealing with from her family, are major themes.
- Zenobia July
- Zombie
- AJ and the Queen
- The Assassination of Gianni Versace: A bio-miniseries revolving around the murder of gay fashion designer Gianni Versace, subject matter includes homophobia.
- Beautiful People
- The Bisexual: The plot is centered on Leila having to come out as being bisexual after years of presenting herself as a lesbian to her lesbian friends and ex. She gets some hostile reactions.
- Bob and Rose (Gay main character)
- Boy Meets Girl
- El corazón nunca se equivoca
- Cucumber
- Dragula: A reality show hosted by the gay drag queen couple Dracmorda and Swanthula Boulet, all contestants are LGBT.
- Drag You & Me: A Filipino dramedy series about a drag competition. Although the protagonist Betty is cis and straight, she is the daughter of two trans people and her family mostly consists of queer people. Almost every other main and recurring character is a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Ellen: The main character famously came out as a lesbian during the show.
- Equal: A docudrama miniseries about the LGBT+ rights movement in the US, from its start to the end of the 1960s with the famous Stonewall Uprising. The institutionalized, rampant homophobia/transphobia they fought is shown, which included very common police brutality and hate crimes toward them. Many LGBT+ activists in these efforts are showcased, some well known and others not, played by actors in different segments from each episode.
- Euphoria (Lesbian main character, bisexual transgender female supporting character; gender dysphoria, queer female romance, transphobia)
- Faking It (Bisexual female main characters, intersex female main character, gay main character, bisexual male supporting character, gay supporting characters, trans male supporting character, lesbian supporting characters, coming out story, LGBT acceptance, LGBT youth, queer female romance)
- First Day (Transgender female main character, trans boy supporting character, queer female supporting character, several minor LGBT+ supporting characters with various identities; coming out story, LGBT acceptance, LGBT youth, transphobia)
- Finding Prince Charming
- Fire Island (Reality show with gay male cast members)
- The Fosters
- Gentleman Jack (Lesbian main characters, queer female romance)
- The Handmaid's Tale: Two of the main characters on the show are lesbians: Emily/Ofglen and Moira, with supporting characters being lesbians too. On the show, Gilead's treatment of LGBT+ people is explored in greater detail than it was in the book it's based on. This ranges from execution, to enslavement (of fertile lesbians) and FGM being inflicted on Emily, who's caught having sex with another woman, showcasing the extreme homophobia which they face from the Gilead regime.
- Heartstopper: A romantic teen drama series about a young gay boy who falls in love with his classmate. Also features a transgender girl, two lesbians and a bisexual boy among the main cast.
- It's a Sin deals with the AIDS crisis in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, and how it impacts a group of gay men.
- Koisenu Futari (Two aromantic asexual main characters)
- Legendary: A reality competition show whose contestants and judges are all members of the Ballroom queer subculture.
- A League of Their Own (2022): Follows a woman's baseball team with many queer members. Coming out and homophobia are major themes. There's also a trans man who is a supporting character, who's estranged from his sister as a result of his gender.
- Looking
- Love, Victor: Sequel television series to the Love, Simon film about a Latino teenager coming to terms with his sexuality and his working-class family; the central character is a gay teenager, additionally a female supporting character comes out as bisexual, there are other supporting/minor characters on the LGBT spectrum; subject matter includes coming out, homophobia, queer male romance, LGBT youth, queer female romance.
- The L Word: A series centered on a group of lesbian friends (plus one bisexual woman) living in the Gayborhood of West Hollywood, LA. Many different romances between the characters and other women are featured. Later one turns out to be a trans man, and him transitioning is delved into. Virtually all LGBT+ tropes at some point occur on the show (e.g. Closet Key, Coming-Out Story, homophobia etc). It got a Sequel Series which started in 2019 with new characters being added, mostly women of color but also one Asian-American trans man.
- Metrosexuality
- My Husband's Lover
- Never Wipe Tears Without Gloves
- The New Normal (two gay main characters, subject matter includes LGBT marriage, LGBT parenting/family)
- Noah's Arc: Dramedy series about a gay African-American man and his love life and friendships with other gay Black men in Los Angeles.
- Only Friends
- Our Gay Wedding: The Musical
- Playing It Straight
- Please Like Me (Gay main character, gay supporting characters)
- Pose: Period drama about the lives of NYC's Ballroom community through the AIDS/HIV crisis in the 1980s/1990s. There are several trans women main characters, and gay/queer male main characters, subject matter includes homophobia, transphobia, gender dysphoria, gender euphoria, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS discrimination, LGBT acceptance.
- Queen of the Universe: A reality singing competition featuring a cast made up entirely of drag queens.
- Queer as Folk (UK)
- Queer Eye (Reality show, gay hosts/personalities)
- Theres Something About Miriam
- The Real O'Neals: Sitcom about an Irish-American family and the secrets they keep from each other, the middle child Kenny comes out as gay; subject matter includes LGBT acceptance, coming out, LGBT youth.
- The Rich Man's Daughter
- RuPaul's Drag Race: A reality show hosted by the gay drag queen RuPaul, most contestants are on the LGBT spectrum.
- RuPaul's Drag U: Spinoff hosted about RuPaul and other drag queens and focused on drag queen makeovers of cis women.
- Drag Race México: The Mexican version of RuPaul's Drag Race
- Drag Race Philippines: The Philippines' version of RuPaul's Drag Race.
- South of Nowhere: Teen drama centered around a lesbian teenager coming to terms with her sexuality as her family moves from the midwest to Los Angeles, where she starts a relationship with a bisexual girl. There are several queer female supporting/minor characters; subject matter includes coming out, homophobia, LGBT youth, LGBT acceptance, and queer female romance.
- Tom Swift (2022): A Spin-Off from Nancy Drew (2019) that reimagines the Tom Swift character as a gay Black man, additionally the main cast includes Rowan, another queer Black male chracter, and Isaac, who is a Black transgender man and pansexual. Subject matter includes homophobia, LGBT acceptance, queer romance.
- Transparent: A trans woman in her 60s comes out, with the rest of her family struggling with their identities as well; the main character Maura is a trans woman, her eldest daughter Sarah is bisexual, and her youngest child Ali later comes out as non-binary.
- Uncoupled: A sitcom about a gay man whos dumped by his longtime partner and has to navigate the gay dating scene.
- When We Rise (Gay main character, several gay and lesbian supporting characters, transgender female supporting character, homophobia, HIV/AIDS)
- XO, Kitty - Spin-off series to the To All the Boys I've Loved Before films, focusing on Lara Jean's sister Kitty. Yuri is one of the principal characters and she is revealed to be a lesbian in Episode 1 who is dating another girl (Juliana). The main character herself, Kitty, gets feelings for Yuri.
- David Bowie:
- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The album is set around a Speculative Fiction LGBT society in the waning days of planet Earth; several songs touch on LGBT characters and blurring gender and sexuality's lines.
- Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps): "Scream Like a Baby" is an ode against homophobia and conversion therapy, describing a gay couple imprisoned by a fascist dictatorship.
- Culture Club's Kissing to Be Clever: Most of the album's songs discuss frontman Boy George's relationship with drummer Jon Moss.
- Todrick Hall's Straight Outta Oz has several songs about being gay, drawn from Hall's own experiences. "Color" is about him falling in love with a man for the first time and how it changed his life completely. "Papi" is about him, a gay man, being hit on (and fetishized by) a woman and wondering if it'll affect his career if he says no and his sexuality becomes public.
- Dev Hynes' Negro Swan's main themes are about gender and sexuality, especially the experiences of queer POC.
- Lady Gaga:
- "Born This Way" is a Self-Empowerment Anthem for LGBT people and other minorities, and references drag queens.
- "Americano" is themed around gay love, legal struggles surrounding gay marriage, and the politics thereof. It was influenced in particular by the 2010 repeal of Proposition 8 (a proposition to ban same-sex marriage) in California.
- Lil Nas X:
- MONTERO: A big theme of the album is Gayngst and the struggles that come with being gay.
- "MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)" is about being closeted and the freedom that comes from being openly gay, as well as a Take That, Critics! to the conservative Christians who had been vicious to Nas when he'd been outed as gay.
- MONTERO: A big theme of the album is Gayngst and the struggles that come with being gay.
- Lou Reed:
- Transformer: "Walk on the Wild Side" is an ode to and namedrops various LGBT members of Andy Warhol's inner circle.
- New York: "Halloween Parade" details the heavy impact of the AIDS epidemic on the LGBT community in New York.
- R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi: "New Test Leper" is about a gay man with AIDS being harassed on live TV by a homophobic host and audience; frontman Michael Stipe based the lyrics on an incident that happened to a trans woman in real life.
- serpentwithfeet's soil has several songs about the singer's sexuality, including "slow syrup" (breaking up with a male lover) and "wrong lover" (being in unrequited love with another man).
- The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat: "Lady Godiva's Operation" discusses the use of lobotomy as a form of conversion therapy, describing a trans woman who dies from a botched procedure.
- Vocaloid:
- Gumbi500's "Night Illusion" is about an aromantic woman picking up someone at a club, and trying to make it clear that she doesn't want any romance with their dance.
- minato's "magnet" is about a forbidden romance between two women, and the suffering they have to endure because of homophobia.
- SLAVE.V-V-R's "God Has Mistaken My Gender." is from the perspective of a closeted transgender girl who is wrestling with gender dyphoria while also realizing she's in love with someone, but feels she can't tell them her feelings because she's trans.
- Teniwoha's "Villain" is about a transgender girl hiding that she's a girl from the wider world, but how that still brings scorn from people who think that she and her boyfriend are gay.
- Gayest Episode Ever centers around queer themes in television sitoms, in particular their Very Special Episodes on the subject.
- Moonface is about a gay Korean American man who wants to come out to his mother, but is stopped by the fact that he speaks little Korean and she speaks little English.
- Thirsty Sword Lesbians (it's about disaster lesbians with swords)
- Angels in America (Gay main characters; subject matter includes homophobia, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS discrimination)
- Bare: A Pop Opera
- The Boys in the Band
- La Cage aux folles was adapted on film twice, including The Bird Cage, about a drag club and queer parenting
- The Children's Hour
- Edward II
- Everybody's Talking About Jamie
- Falsettos
- A Frigate Bird Sings (Third gender, by David Fane, Oscar Kightley and Nathaniel Lees)
- Fun Home
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch revolves around a nonbinary character's identity
- In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue
- The Inheritance (gay main characters, about the aftermath of the AIDS crisis)
- The Laramie Project
- The Normal Heart
- The Pass
- Prince Kaguya
- The Prom
- RENT: A play about a group of young New York City artists during the AIDS crisis in the late 1980s/1990s; the ensemble cast is primarily composed of LGBT+ characters; subject matter includes queer romance, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS discrimination.
- The Ritz
- She Kills Monsters
- A Strange Loop
- Streamers
- Torch Song Trilogy
- Zanna, Don't!
- Caper in the Castro
- Desta The Memories Between (non-binary protagonist, themes of misgendering)
- Gone Home: Video game about a college student arriving to her family's new home, finding it empty and uncovering her family's secrets and finding her younger sister's relationship.
- Life Is Strange: Video game about a girl with the power to rewind time and her budding romance with her former friend, the main characters are Max, a bisexual teenage girl and Chloe, a lesbian teenage girl; subject matter includes queer female romance.
- Life Is Strange: Before the Storm Prequel revolving around Chloe and her romance with Rachel, a bisexual girl.
- Life Is Strange 2 (Bisexual male main character, queer male romance, gay and queer male supporting characters)
- Life Is Strange: True Colors has a bisexual female main character Alex who can have a romance with either a lesbian character (Steph) or a male character indicated to be asexual (Ryan). The DLC "Wavelengths" has us play as Steph and discusses her time trying to date WLW in the town, also including a side character coming out as trans.
- The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories revolves around J.J and Emily, who are ambiguously a lesbian or asexual couple. The overarching plot is J.J coming to terms with her identity as a trans woman.
- Moonrise is about sapphic werewolves.
- Mouth Sweet
- A Normal Lost Phone (Transgender female and bisexual main character, transgender, gay, bisexual and queer supporting characters, LGBT youth, coming out story, transphobia, homophobia)
- Tell Me Why: Tyler is a gay transgender man, who flirts with (and eventually dates) a gay supporting character. Much of his story involves processing his emotions about returning to the town that mistreated him as a child for being trans.
- Absolutely Perfect Specimen: Focuses on a lesbian couple where the protagonist is a transgender Robot Girl.
- Adastra (2018): Deals with male/male romance.
- Cryptid Crush, an Urban Fantasy work with non-binary main characters.
- Echo and its sequels/prequels, all dealing with male/male romance.
- Glory Hounds: Main character is a gay superhero with male romance options.
- Lands of Fire, male/male romance in Aboriginal Australian mythology.
- A Masquerade In The Woods (Main character is gay and deals partly with Domestic Abuse).
- Minotaur Hotel, male/male romance in a work featuring multiple mythologies.
- Nerus, male/male romance in Gnostic mythology.
- one night, hot springs (Lesbian, transgender main character, bisexual supporting character, aromantic/asexual supporting character)
- last day of spring
- spring leaves no flowers
- Secret Little Haven (Transgender female main character, transgender female supporting characters, LGBT youth, coming out story, transphobia)
- Super Nova (a gay superhero story with male love interests)
- We Know the Devil
- Yearning: A Gay Story
- In a Heartbeat is about a Sherwin, a middle school boy who is struggling to come to terms with his crush on Jonathan, the most popular boy in school. Sherwin must chase after his own heart to stop it from revealing his true feelings to Jonathan, and the entire student body.
- Queer Duck
- Assigned Male
- Between the Lines (2006)
- Blur the Lines
- Drop-Out is about Sugar and Lola, two nonbinary lesbians who decide to take a cross-country roadtrip to the Grand Canyon, where they will then jump to their deaths. Throughout the comic their struggles with gender and sexuality are some of the topics that come up prominently.
- The Evolutions of Homosexuality and Suicide: Non-fiction comic theorizing about how homosexuality and suicide could have evolved.
- Foxes in Love
- High Class Homos
- Inside Out: A Yuri Tale
- Khaos Komix
- Magical Boy (Gay transgender male main character, lesbian supporting characters, gay male supporting character, nonbinary supporting characters, LGBT youth, homophobia, transphobia)
- Moratorium On My Gender (Asexual agender main character)
- My Husband Was Actually a Woman (Pansexual female main character, transgender female main character; subject matter includes LGBT marriage, coming out, LGBT acceptance, and transitioning)
- Nortverse (Main characters are queer women)
- The Princess (2009) (Transgender female main character)
- QUILTBAG
- Rainverse
- Rain (2010) (Transgender female main character)
- My Impossible Soulmate (Demiromantic lesbian main character)
- Seaglass (Trans man main character, LGBT+ supporting cast, themes of transition)
- Shot and Chaser: Slice of Life comic about a trans man and his storm-chasing partner.
- Taiki the Webcomic
- Thinking Too Much to Think Positively, about the author's experiences as a trans woman, her gender-diverse friends make appearances throughout.
- Transformed!, by Al Neun (Transgender male main character)
- Trans Girl Diaries
- Trans Girl Next Door: A Slice of Life comic about life as a trans woman.
- Transcendent
- Validation (2013)
- Venus Envy
- Welcome to Room #305
- What Happens Next: A Psychological Horror about a trans man trying to come to terms with being an accessory to murder in his teens, an incident which has become infamous online.
- What's Normal Anyway?
- Aces is a sitcom web series about several asexuals and their trials in life.
- ContraPoints: Trans woman creator/host Natalie Wynn talks about a variety of topics from transgender issues to politics to philosophy; subject matter includes transphobia, gender topics, transitioning, LGBT acceptance, LGBT awakening and coming out.
- The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo: The main character is the titular Caleb, a gay struggling actor navigating through his friendships and love life. His friend group are mostly queer, both in sexuality and gender expression, themes include queer romance, queer sexuality, and exploring queer identity.
- Gay Comic Geek: Gay creator/host Paul Charles reviews comic books from a gay male perspective.
- Husbands: Online web series about two boyfriends who drunkenly marry when gay marriage is made legal in the United States.
- Needs More Gay: Video Review Show specifically devoted to gay media and media depictions of LGBT people.
- Out With Dad: A series about a teen then young adult lesbian, who comes out as does her best friend/love interest (as bisexual). Along with the coming out topic, homophobia, general LGBT youth, LGBT people's families, transgender identities (including transphobia), asexuality, queer female relationships and LGBT acceptance by heterosexuals are themes.
- Philosophy Tube: Trans woman creator/host Abigail Thorn discusses philsophy and politics; subject matter includes coming out, transitioning, LGBT acceptance, LGBT awakening.
- Pretty Dudes: Most of the cast are queer, with their romantic troubles fueling most of the story.
- Queer Kid Stuff: LGBT youth-oriented web series, queer and non-binary creator/host Lindsay Amer, subject matter includes LGBT topics and issues for children.
- Sassy Gay Friend
- Tales of a Homoromantic Ace
- UNHhhh: Web series hosted by two drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya taking about a variety of topics including LGBT-related issues.
- Flee: Dutch animated documentary feature, about a gay man from Afghanistan who fled persecution and wound up in Denmark
- Out, part of Disney/Pixar's SparkShorts: Animated short about coming out revolving around two gay men with one coming out to his parents, subject matter includes coming out, and LGBT acceptance.
- Q-Force: The main cast is almost entirely LGBT, features both lesbian and gay romances.
- Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World: Stop-motion animated series about a married gay couple, additionally there are several gay and lesbian supporting characters.
- Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling: Reveals that the character formerly known as Ralph Bighead is a trans woman who changed her name to Rachel during a journey of self discovery. A major story element is her father Ed having to accept her new identity)
- Super Drags (Drag queens, three gay main characters)