YA LGBT Books discussion

I'm posting a list I saw (and hereby stole) for general reference: Be aware, some of these may not be YA- appropriate; I don't have that information

Gay-themed films

Drama
A Home at the End of the World (2004) -Colin Farrell
A Single Man (2009)
Aleksandr's Price (2013)
Any Day Now (2011) - Allan Cumming
August (2011)
Bangkok Love Story (2007)
Before Night Falls (2000) - Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem
Bent (1997)
Between Love & Goodbye (2008)
Beyond the Walls (2012)
Big Eden (2000)
Boys' Love (2008) - manga
Boy Culture (2006)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Broken Sky (2006) - "El Cielo Dividido"
Burnt Money (2000) - "Plata Quemada" - het and m/m
Cal (2013) - sequel to Shank
Ciao (2008)
Capital Games (2013)
Christopher and His Kind (2011)
Come Undone (2000) - Presque Rien
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
David's Birthday (2009) - "Il Compleano"
Denied (2004)
Des/Esperando (2011)
Dog Tags (2008)
Edge of Seventeen (1998)
Eyes Wide Open (2009)
Five Dances (2013)
Free Fall (2013) - "Freire Fall"
From Beginning to End (2009) - "Do Comeco ao Fim" - sensitive theme
Gods and Monsters (1997)
Gone But Not Forgotten (2003) - Matthew Montgomery
Hate Crime (2005)
Hawaii (2013)
Heavenly Touch (2009)
Holding Trevor (2007)
House of Boys (2009)
I Want Your Love (2010) - explicit
In The Family (2011)
In the Name of (2013)
It's My Party (1996)
Judas Kiss (2011) Charlie David
Just a Question of Love (2000) -"Juste une Question D'Amour
Just Say Love (2008)
Kawa (2010)
Lan Yu (2001)
Like a Brother (2005) - "Comme un Frere"
Loggerheads (2005)
Lucky Bastard (2009)
Maurice (1987)
Milk (2008)
Mixed Kabab (2012)
Morgan (2012)
Mulligans (2008) - Charlie David
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Mysterious Skin (2004)
No Regrets (2006) - "Huhwihaji anha"
Our Paradise (2011) - "Notre Paradis"
Out in The Dark (2013)
Philadelphia (1993)
Pit Stop (2013)
Private Romeo (2011)
Redwoods (2009) - Matthew Montgomery
Rent (2005) - musical
Romeos (2011) - transgender
Save Me (2007) -Chad Alen
Schoolboy Crush (2007) - Boys Love Gekijouban
Sebastian (1995) - "Nar Alla Vet"
Shank (2009) - sequel is Cal
Shelter (2007)
Shortbus (2006) - gay, lesbian, bisexual- explicit
Socket (2007) - Matthew Montgomery
Soldier's Girl (2003) - Lee Pace
Solo (2013)
Soundless Windchime (2009)
Spinnin' (2007)
Strapped (2010)
Test (2013)
The Conrad Boys (2007)
The Falls
The Falls: Testament of Love (2013)
The Seminarian (2010)
The Stranger in Us (2010)
The Visitor (2011) - "Cibrail"
The War Boys (2009)
Three Dancing Slaves (2004) - "Le Clan"
Three Day Weekend (2008)
Undertow (2009) -"Contracorriente"
Velvet Goldmine (1998) - Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Myers
Watercolors (2008)
Weekend (2011) - explicit
We're All Angels (2007) - documentary
When Love Comes (1998)
Wrecked (2009)
Yossi & Jagger (2002)
Yours Emotionally (2006)

Romantic Comedy or lighter themed
A Four Letter Word (2007) Charlie David
Adam & Steve (2005)
Alex and Leo (2010)
Another Gay Movie (2006)
Back Soon (2007) - Matthew Montgomery
Beautiful Thing (1996)
Bedrooms & Hallways (1998)
Big Eden (2000)
Birdcage (1996)
Breakfast on Pluto (2005) - Cillian Murphy
Breakfast with Scot (2007)
Cowboys & Angels (2003)
Chicken Tikka Masala (2005)
Cut Sleeve Boys ( 2006)
eCupid (2011)
East Side Story (2006)
Eating Out (and sequels)
Finding Mr. Wright (2011) - Matthew Montgomery
Going Down in La La Land (2011)
Guys and Balls (2004) - "Manner wie Wir"
Hollywood Je T'aime (2009) Chad Allen
I Want To Get Married (2011) - Matthew Montgomery
In & Out (1997)
Is It Just Me (2010)
Latter Days (2003)
Long-Term Relationship (2006) - Matthew Montgomery
Love, Valour, Compassion (1997)
Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)
Mambo Italiano (2003)
Mr. Right (2009)
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
Plan B (2009)
Role Play (2010) - Matthew Montgomery
Slutty Summer (2004)
Summer Storm (2004) -"Sommersturm"
Tell No One (2012) - "Come non detto"
The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994)
The Love Patient (2011)
The Man I Love (1997) - L'homme Que J'aime
The Men Next Door (2012)
The One (2011)
The Perfect Wedding (2012)
The Sum Of Us (1994) - Russell Crowe
The Trip (2002)
The Wedding Banquet (1993) - "Xi Yan"
Times Have Been Better (2006) - "Le Ciel Sur la Tete"
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything (1995)
Touch of Pink (2004)
Trick (1999)
Violet Tendencies (2010)
Were the World Mine (2008) - musical
You Should Meet My Son (2010)

TV series
Queer as Folk - US and UK
Spartacus
Dante's Point - Charlie David
Noah's Arc
Angels in America
Donald Strachey Mysteries - Chad Allen
Oz
Sirens (BBC)
Will & Grace

Soap Operas - gay storylines (past &present)
(and can usually be found on youtube)
Days of Our Lives - Sonny & Will
Eastenders - Christian and Syed
Botineras - Manuel & Lalo
Verbotene Liebe - Christian & Oliver
Alles was zahlt - Roman & Deniz
El cor de la cuitat - Max & Iago
Hollyoaks - John-Paul & Craig
Hollyoaks - John-Paul & Kieron

I'm not even trying to tackle right now all the additions I might suggest for the other lengthier categories, but, for the soaps, As the World Turns' Noah/Luke(/Reid) storyline is still viewable on YouTube, and General Hospital has past Felix/Brad and current Brad/Lucas.

Thanks - anyone who wants to add should feel free - And if someone wants to edit for YA - appropriateness too...

Let me know what should be removed if you're aware of some of these being too explicit for YA.

Drama but with an HFN ending
Naked as We Came (2013)

TV Series
The Fosters (2013)TVPG (Two moms, emerging gay teen)
Teen Wolf (2011) TV14 (frequent f/f and m/m teen couples as secondary characters and guest stars)
Looking (2014) TVMA (3-4 single gay guys and their lives)

For movies:
Dream Boy (2008): talks about sexual abuse
GBF (2013): is a comedy, really funny if I say so myself
Getting Go: The Go Doc Project (2013): is about this guy that is in love with a go-go dancer and pretends to be a film student in order to make a 'documentary' about the go-go life and asks him to be his muse

For TV shows:
In The Flesh (2012): Talks about a zombie rising, the government has came up with a cure for it, it follows Kieren, a gay boy who killed himself because his boyfriend Rick went to war.

Empire is a new tv with a gay main character. It also seems there are lesbian characters.

Re: Roger's comment, I like G.B.F. too, and I'd add Geography Club, which was the lovely movie based on Brent Hartinger's eponymous book. I helped crowdfund and did enjoy Getting Go but wouldn't suggest it for the YA audience. In the Flesh is one of my favorite shows and a really heart-wrenching drama; I'd warn for the obvious zombie-related violence and gore, although there's less than in something like The Walking Dead.

An obvious T.V. addition, although in its final season, is glee, with multiple gay teen regular characters, pretty-much-loves-everyone-but-currently-engaged-to-another-girl regular character Brittany, and one teen recurring and one adult recurring trans* character.

This list is fab :) I have a few more...

TV:
Tipping the Velvet
Skins (UK- s1 Maxxie)
Hollyoaks (Ste)
Coronation Street (Sean Tully. Todd Grimshaw. Sophie Webster)
*Haven't watched Corrie or Hollyoaks in years and years, so may have been more recent relevant storylines, IDK*


Film:
Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)
Get Real (1998)
North Sea Texas (2011)
Glue (2006)

Thanks everyone :)

To go a little old school (for me!). (This is all TV.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Willow/Tara) (Willow is bi)
Dawson's Creek (Jack)
Degrassi: The Next Generation (a bunch of characters)

More recent stuff (well...some of it's more recent):

Supernatural has a recurring lesbian character (Charlie).

One of my favorite characters ever: Captain Jack Harkness from Torchwood and Dr. Who is bisexual. (Torchwood has other LGBT characters, too.)

Angela on Bones is bisexual.

These aren't really YA appropriate, but...

On Shameless (US) one of the main kids (Ian) is gay. I think he's 16 this season—maybe 17. His counterpart on the UK version was also gay. It's too bad this isn't more YA-friendly, because they deal with some good issues.

Michael C. Hall (Dexter) played a gay main character on Six Feet Under.

On Sons of Anarchy, there's a handful of LGBT characters. Probably most notably, one of the club members (Tig) has a relationship with a trans* prostitute in the last couple of seasons.

I love Captain Jack, yeah. (Got sad over (view spoiler)[the one I finally just saw, where they killed off Ianto (hide spoiler)])

Kaje wrote: "I love Captain Jack, yeah. (Got sad over...)"

Yeah, big sad tears over that. :(

I'd say most of those are not YA suitable LOL. I'd add "All Over The Guy", which is a cute romantic-comedy and one of the first M/M films I've ever watched. I'm pretty sure it's available on Netflix.

I've heard that Pretty Little Liars has a lesbian main character (I haven't seen it, so I can't confirm, and also can't say if it's good, though I hear it is!).

The 100 is a newish show, and the female lead was just revealed to be bisexual, and one of the other major female characters seems to be a lesbian, though it's never explicitly stated. I personally love the show, though it's a little cliché at times :)

Also, for movies:

Mosquita y Mari (Spanish movie about two teenage lesbians)
Tomboy (French movie about a 10-year-old transgender boy. just a warning, the ending is horrible and pretty transphobic, but the rest of the movie is decent.)
Show Me Love (Swedish movie about a teenage lesbian with a crush on a possibly straight girl; haven't seen this one, but i've heard it's good!)

Thanks for the info - I haven't seen Liars either.

Kaje wrote: "Thanks for the info - I haven't seen Liars either."

Gandalf wrote: "I've heard that Pretty Little Liars has a lesbian main character (I haven't seen it, so I can't confirm, and also can't say if it's good, though I hear it is!).

The 100 is a newish show, and the f..."

PLL does have a lesbian main character- Emily Fields. amazing show!!!
also, Faking it is great

Also, Glee

Re Stonewall: I haven't seen the trailer, but I've read the mixed comments - there is real concern that the movie white-washes the participants at Stonewall and changes its history. Many of the most active participants at Stonewall were trans or flamboyant or drag queens, including quite a few LGBT folk of color - the most marginalized of the community coming together out of anger and frustration, leading the way. There is concern that the key roles may be given to white gay men because that's more sympathetic and palatable for the general population, who are willing to have gay heroes (like Brokeback) but don't want their boundaries pushed.

I think as long as we're just commenting on a trailer, it may be like judging a book by the blurb. We'll see how it actually pans out, and I'm waiting for reviews. On the plus side, a movie celebrating a watershed time in gay rights deserves some applause. But it may come at an unacceptable cost...

I started a discussion about this film in Hot Topics - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

"About Ray" will be a movie about a trans teen boy who also has a lesbian grandmother.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/08/07/...

An interesting-sounding documentary:

Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church.

http://www.newnownext.com/bet-address...

:) I hope it's good.

And of course there's "I Am Jazz" on TV (TLC)

I saw a sweet documentary short film last year at the Dayton, Ohio, LGBT Film Festival, called Tomgirl : "Jake, a gender non-conforming seven-year-old, invites us into his world to explore the transforming power of love and support on our children."

The prior year I particularly enjoyed this full-length foreign film, Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho/The Way He Looks (based on an earlier short film, Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho/I Don't Want to Go back Alone): "Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans."

A good short film a couple years ago at the festival was one that I helped crowdfund, Alone with People : "The film follows Andie, a high-school girl growing up gay in Georgia. Andie handles being a lesbian in the south the only way she can: secretly being in love with all of her sister’s friends, having a boyfriend so no one suspects her of being gay, and watching the L Word on volume 3. She’s not ready to talk about it with her family and friends, who she worries would disown her if they found out. Too afraid to confide in anyone she knows, Andie finds comfort in a therapist who helps her to realize that she has to first accept herself before she can expect anyone else to."

A well-done documentary that I also helped crowdfund was tough to watch but worth it, Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine : "MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE explores the life and tragic death of Matthew Shepard, the gay student brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming, in one of the most notorious hate crimes in U.S. history. Framed through the personal lens of friends and family, it’s a story of loss, love, and courage in the face of unspeakable tragedy."

I really liked this lovely recent foreign film that I was able to borrow from my library too, Jongens/Boys: "BOYS tells the story of Sieger, a sporty, rather quiet 15-year-old boy who discovers love with a jock named Marc during the summer holidays."

Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves. It's a Swedish three part mini series and I think it should be available with English subtitles online somewhere since the BBC aired it a while back. It's about when AIDS first came to Stockholm; it obviously contains lots of death and heavy themes overall but it's hands down the best show I have ever seen!

Boys!!!! (Jongens) It's one of my favourite films, the cutest thing ever, and the cinematography is beautiful.

Here's a trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn8rV...

I suggest everyone go watch the film now!!!! I could literally watch it every week




Please Like Me is an Australian tv show that I watch online and it's really good. It's probably a love or hate thing because of the humour but I suggest anyone to at least watch a season (or two) because it really is great, and not only deals with sexuality, but also family, friends, mental health and just general life in a quirky way.

Here's a trailer for season 2 (there are three seasons so far) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpWT1...




My favourite gay tv character is Aaron Livesy! He's in an English soap Emmerdale (that I don't even watch!) but I watch all of his parts on youtube because the actor Danny Miller is sooooo good!

The actor left the soap for a couple of years but came back last year

Here you can find all of the old videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/kimbafor...
(This includes him being in the closet / very angry and aggressive towards others and himself / family problems / coming to terms with being gay / love interests / criminal behaviour / frinendships / but most notable the assisted suicide storyline between him and a partner. Danny Miller does all of it justice, such a great talent!)

The most recent storylines can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvG... (the character has a lot of issues including self harm, Danny Miller is so good at acting I think the exects took one look at him the first time he cried on camera and were like 'Ok, that settles it. Aaron Livesy is gonna have to be at least a little messed up for the rest of time' - seriously, that dude can cry!)




Another tv storyline that was brilliantly acted is Brendan and Ste in Hollyoaks

Watch here! Seriously, I'm spoiling you guys, you won't have enough time to read! - http://www.dailymotion.com/user/froze...
(If you want to watch remember to go to the bottom of the page and set --Age Gate--under 'help' to OFF - I don't know why it has an age mark on half of the videos, this tv show airs at 6.30 in the afternoon so it's clearly acceptable for younger viewers)
Having said that this storyline also involves a lot of darker elements (but hey, that's soaps for you!) Including emotional / physical / sexual abuse of various different characters)




Another film - Patrik age 1.5 - the tale of a same sex couple adopting what they think is a baby (1 and a half years old) but turns out to be a 15 year old with all that angst that teenagers are known for

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXR1-...



Another of my faves are Fer and David from a show called Física o química (Physical or Chemical) I know no way of watching the whole show with subtitles but this helpful Tumblr post shows where you can find all of the Fer and David storyline

http://foqmylife.tumblr.com/Playlist (Some have been removed from the links provided but a quick search for e.g. 'Foq season 4 episode 12' or 'David and Fer part 3' etc on youtube or Dailymotion can help find most of them)

Here's a little video showing how adorable they are - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNXJf... (But possible spoilers if you want to watch the show but don't want to know where they end up - so if you get half way through this video and think you want to watch the whole story then stop watching this and go to that! - Deals with relationship between boys but also lots of friends and family type things going on as well)

Carrie-Anne wrote: "Boys!!!! (Jongens) It's one of my favourite films, the cutest thing ever, and the cinematography is beautiful.

Here's a trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn8rV...

I suggest everyone go..."

I read somewhere that they are doing a remake of "Patrik 1.5" in English.

Kim wrote: "I saw a sweet documentary short film last year at the Dayton, Ohio, LGBT Film Festival, called
Tomgirl
: "Jake, a gender non-conforming seven-year-old, invites us into his world to explore the t..."

"The Way He Looks" is a great film!

Thanks for all the new suggestions <3

there's a wonderfully done ftm storyline I loved. it's on hollyoaks the character was Jason Costello

Saw someone mention their PFLAG was going to screen ""D.E.B.S.",
according to their post -
" an action-comedy that's both a parody and an emulation of the Charlie's Angels format...with queers! "

Anyone seen this one?

My favorite "YA" aged movie that gay-ish themed is My GBF (Gay Best Friend), it's sweet how the school b!tch learns that the GBF is a real person not just an accessory, and can truly be a friend.

Can we have a list with all the ones with happy endings?

Then I think we'd need to qualify what that meant for the list's purposes. For example, would "happy endings" have to include intact romantic relationships, or could the main character(s) be alone but strong and moving forward?

If someone wants to organize them in any way, feel free to make sub-lists. Just say what you mean.

No one-dies happy endings. Couple is together happy endings.

Or any other way - gay/lesbian/trans/other ; or those that are okay for under16's...

I'm not a movie buff - saw 4 in the past year total. So I'm never going to know enough to make this a really useful list. But I'm happy if anyone wants to comment/sort/suggest/add

Just a side note: Record number of transgender nominees for 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards

http://www.glaad.org/blog/record-numb...

And I saw a recommendation for 2014's "Boy Meets Girl" ( Eric Schaeffer )

Kaje wrote: "Saw someone mention their PFLAG was going to screen ""D.E.B.S.",
according to their post -
" an action-comedy that's both a parody and an emulation of the Charlie's Angels format...with queers! "
..."

I LOVE DEBS. It's campy and fun.

"But I'm a Cheerleader" is so good, the main actress is now on Orange is the New Black, much younger when this film was made, but definitely not for under 16 yrs old I believe it's R, I would say at age 16 they should be able to watch it. Has a Happy Ending, if you're rooting for the lesbian/gay relationships & for the characters to realize that being gay is okay!



This will give a better idea.
IMDB page

Storyline
"Megan is an all-American girl. She's a cheerleader and has a boyfriend, but she doesn't like kissing him very much, and she's pretty tactile with her cheerleader friends, and she only has pictures of girls up in her locker. Her parents and friends conclude that she *must* be gay and send her off to "sexual redirection" school, full of admittedly homosexual misfits, where she can learn how to be straight. Will Megan be turned around to successful heterosexuality, or will she succumb to her love for the beautiful Graham?" Written by Martin Lewison

Taglines: A Comedy Of Sexual Disorientation

Genres: Comedy | Drama | Romance

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for strong language and sexual content involving teens

AvidReader1987 wrote: ""But I'm a Cheerleader" is so good, the main actress is now on Orange is the New Black, much younger when this film was made, but definitely not for under 16 yrs old I believe it's R, I would say a..."

This is one of my favorite movies! I found it in the "Coming of Age" section of a great video store in Vermont when I was in high school and rented it all the time. I need to buy a copy.

Kaje wrote: "Saw someone mention their PFLAG was going to screen ""D.E.B.S.",
according to their post -
" an action-comedy that's both a parody and an emulation of the Charlie's Angels format...with queers! "
..."
It's a fun movie and Jordana Brewster is in it.

ABC Family Channel (now known as Freeform) had a reality show last year called Becoming Us about a high school kid whose dad is transgender and there were other trans people in it too.

I just came across the show American crime, each season apparently is basically it's own show (I guess like American horror story) and the 2nd season is quite gay themed. It revolves around a high school boy being raped and how it's handled by people. Sex is obviously mentioned repeatedly throughout the show but there's been no sex scenes shown but be warned that the subjects addressed, though very important, can be very emotional and possibly triggering for some people. I think some of the things that are addressed in the show are extremely mind opening.(view spoiler)[ For example how just cause someone is interested in bdsm doesn't mean they can't be raped, that there's a difference between rough consensual sex and rape. (hide spoiler)]

the british show Cuffs, it's about cops, the constable's son is gay (he's one of the MCs) and he's in a relationship for part of the show, another MC is a woman cop (not sure if she's les or bi or pan) who's married to another woman. then there's a teen boy who's caught by his father kissing another boy.

Both of these are great shows Reed!

The link below has tons of gay storylines from multiple different shows, it's awesome for if you just want to watch the gay storyline not the whole show

http://gaystorylinesarchive.tumblr.com

@Carrie-Anne I totally agree :)

Does anyone know where I can find "Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves" without having to buy it off amazon? I've been searching for literally over an hour by now. I found an un-subbed version.

Unfortunately I don't but I hope someone else will - good luck!

I found it

It's making me cry