June is Pride Month, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, and remembrance of the fight for civil rights that started back at the Stonewall Inn on a June night in 1969 continues to this day. While Pride is often about celebrating with community, there’s no reason why it can’t reflect in your streaming movie and TV choices as well, so here are a few suggestions.
I can’t recommend enough one of my favorite streaming services, WOW Presents Plus. World of Wonder is the production company behind the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” juggernaut, and WOW Presents Plus is the destination for all of the WOW content that isn’t available on VH1, Logo or Paramount+. That includes all of the international seasons of “Drag Race,” which are a dream and a delight. “UK” (two seasons), “Canada,” “Holland,” “Thailand” (two seasons), “España,” “Down Under” and Chile (called “The Switch”) offer more “Drag Race,” but also a cultural immersion in each country via its queer life. Season one of “Drag Race Down Under” and “Drag Race España” are currently airing.
In addition to “Drag Race” and the after-shows, spinoffs and docuseries that make up the bulk of the WOW Presents Plus offerings, there’s also a collection of documentaries about queer life and queer icons, from Big Freedia to Suzanne Bartsch. At $3.99 a month, it’s a steal for any “Drag Race” fan.
On HBO Max, there’s also a collection of movies and series to learn more about queer history. A must-watch is “Queer as Folk” creator Russell T. Davies’ latest miniseries, “It’s a Sin,” which chronicles the AIDS crisis in England via a group of young friends living in London. Pop star Olly Alexander anchors the ensemble in this emotionally devastating series. Also on HBO Max is “Veneno,” a Spanish series about trans pop culture icon Cristina “La Veneno” Ortiz. Actors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi created the series and took care to cast trans actors and real-life friends of Ortiz in telling her story. Plus, it makes for great companion viewing with “Drag Race España,” where Calvo and Ambrossi are judges, with one runway dedicated to La Veneno’s wild looks.