How did the rise of LGBTQ visibility, political progress, and digital technologies in the 2000s come together to offer the abundance of complex queer and transgender representations we see today? Media scholar Katherine Sender shows how LGBTQ visibility and political progress have combined with new digital media technologies and television platforms to produce an increasingly complex range of queer and transgender representations.

0.0Stonewall veterans (including prominent trans activist Sylvia Rivera) and HIV-positive New Yorkers take up residency on the Hudson River piers as cranes raze vacant buildings for a new skyline.
3.7Mourning his boyfriend Frédéric's death from an overdose, the French filmmaker David Teboul goes to Siberia on a ritual journey. Out here, under the enormous dome of the skies, he finds the free space to disentangle his thoughts again. And in the villages, both young and old people unexpectedly turn out to be prepared to respond to his invitation to talk about an event that changed their lives. Life, death, love and existence.
3.0A young gay Romani couple from a remote village in Hungary has a dream so absurd that it seems impossible: making a musical film based on their lives.
0.0A misunderstood and isolated transgender teenager takes revenge upon his unaccepting parents. A powerful supernatural entity known as the Bug God contacts him to help him do the deed. A mysterious organization produces a largely fictitious made-for-TV docudrama on the subject.
5.0Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi is a play retelling the Jesus story, with Jesus as a gay man living in the 1950s in Corpus Christi, Texas. This documentary follows the troupe, playwright, and audience around the world on a five-year journey of Terrence McNally’s passion play, where voices of protest and support collide on one of the central issues facing the LGBT community: religion.
0.0The Rejected is a made-for-television documentary film about homosexuality, the first of its kind to be broadcast on American television. It was first shown on KQED on September 11, 1961, and was later syndicated to National Educational Television (NET) stations across the United States, receiving positive critical reviews.
10.0An inspiring love story about a self-described “poor, gay, black man from North Philly” on his historic run for the United States Senate. But this race is about more than taking on the political competition. It’s about taking on an entire system.
0.0Lake gazes down at a still body of water from a birds-eye view, while a group of artists peacefully float in and out of the frame or work to stay at the surface. As they glide farther away and draw closer together, they reach out in collective queer and desirous exchanges — holding hands, drifting over and under their neighbors, making space, taking care of each other with a casual, gentle intimacy while they come together as individual parts of a whole. The video reflects on notions of togetherness and feminist theorist Silvia Federici’s call to “reconnect what capitalism has divided: our relation with nature, with others, and our bodies.”
0.0A tender exploration of friendship, identity, and transformation, this film follows Brahel and Andoeni, who met as children and grew up together in Guadalajara. Though their romantic relationship eventually ended, their deep friendship endured. Years later, after Brahel’s gender transition, the two reconnect and rediscover their bond. Through a rich tapestry of archival footage, music, intimate moments, and unspoken emotions, the narrative unfolds as a heartfelt journey of reconnection, vulnerability, and lasting affection.
0.0Drag Race star Peppermint takes center stage in this up close and personal documentary about her journey with fame, identity, and the art of drag. Sharing her story alongside a close network of trans individuals, one of the world’s favorite drag performers takes you inside her rise from humble beginnings to her current reign as outspoken trailblazer for the trans community.
4.9Sex Positive explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M hustler turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Mr. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic demanding a solution to the problem before the outside world would take heed. Now destitute and alone, Mr. Berkowitz tells his story to a world who never wanted to listen.
5.5The three-decade-old annual Manhattan gathering of drag queens and their fans is portrayed in this colorful documentary. The film concentrates on the spectacle of the event, providing abundant examples of the elaborate costumes, flamboyant wigs, and campy musical performances that characterize the event.
10.0Student documentary exploring the world of burlesque as a space for artistic expression and personal liberation, where performers channel their creativity and sensuality. Through their voices, they speak about the power of the stage to reconnect with their bodies and establish a deep connection with the audience. Burlesque is presented as a feminist, inclusive, and supportive environment, celebrating gender and body diversity. The action takes place at the Wiggle Room, located in Montreal. It is the only burlesque cabaret in Canada, known for its warm atmosphere and strong sense of community.
8.3Featuring exclusive access to their recent tour and their new album, this documentary reveals the fascinating world of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.
0.0A video essay about the personal and political context of a landmark lesbian feminist documentary film from 1977 called "In the Best Interests of the Children" about lesbian mothers fighting to regain custody of their children in the 1970s. As a nearly forgotten period of LGBTQ+ history, this documentary short introduces us to now retired filmmaker Frances Reid (award winning cinematographer and director) and her “step-daughter” Julie Stevens while they look through the film’s archives, discuss the making of the film and their personal relationship.
0.0The art of drag represents an artistic transformation where individuals create characters by amplifying gendered traits, challenging established social norms. This practice, known for its spectacular performances, has evolved through periods of repression and acceptance. Through humor and self-mockery, drag disrupts conventions and is deeply rooted in the history of LGBT+ movements. This documentary traces the history of Drag in France and around the world, from William Dorsey Swann—a young emancipated slave considered the first drag queen—to RuPaul, Nicky Doll, and Paloma. Featuring contributions from historians, anthropologists, and sociologists specialized in drag, as well as testimonies from drag artists who are shaping or have shaped this history.
5.7In 2019, some still consider homosexuality as a disease that needs to be cured. Focusing on movements with roots in the United States, which draw on both religion and psychiatry to justify so-called conversion therapies, an investigation into the devastating consequences of certain practices that seem to successfully avoid any control by European public authorities.
0.0On 29 March 2014 same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales. Take a front row seat at one of the first gay weddings which will be an extraordinary ceremony in more ways than one - it's a musical.Grooms Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor have written and staged their entire wedding as a musical – with sung vows, sung readings, a singing registrar and show-stopping ensembles featuring the whole congregation of family, friends and special guests. Even the grooms’ mums sing a heartfelt duet.
3.8A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.
