Great LGBTQ+ documentaries
by jennifer_lavi | created - 04 Sep 2019 | updated - 04 Sep 2019 | PublicTop LGBTQ+ documentaries
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1. Do I Sound Gay? (2014)
Unrated | 77 min | Documentary
A documentary about the stereotype of the gay voice.
Director: David Thorpe | Stars: David Thorpe, George Takei, Tim Gunn, David Sedaris
Votes: 2,054 | Gross: $0.06M
2. We Were Here (I) (2011)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A deep and reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of this unimaginable crisis.
Directors: David Weissman, Bill Weber | Stars: Ed Wolf, Daniel Goldstein, Guy Clark, Eileen Glutzer
Votes: 2,280
3. Paris Is Burning (1990)
R | 78 min | Documentary
A chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
Director: Jennie Livingston | Stars: Brooke Xtravaganza, André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée
Votes: 17,615 | Gross: $3.78M
4. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
Director: Rob Epstein | Stars: Harvey Fierstein, Harvey Milk, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann
Votes: 6,579 | Gross: $0.01M
5. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
R | 102 min | Documentary, History
A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman | Stars: Lily Tomlin, Tony Curtis, Susie Bright, Arthur Laurents
Votes: 7,517 | Gross: $1.51M
6. Before Stonewall (1984)
Unrated | 87 min | Documentary, History
The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.
Directors: Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg | Stars: Rita Mae Brown, Bruce Nugent, Henry Otis, Donna Smith
Votes: 1,190 | Gross: $0.02M
7. To Be Takei (2014)
Not Rated | 94 min | Documentary, Biography
A look at the many roles played by eclectic actor/activist George Takei, whose wit, humor and grace have helped him to become an internationally beloved figure and Internet phenomenon with 7-million Facebook fans and counting.
Director: Jennifer M. Kroot | Stars: George Takei, Brad Takei, Walter Koenig, William Shatner
Votes: 1,572 | Gross: $0.05M
8. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)
TV-MA | 105 min | Documentary, Biography
Victoria Cruz investigates the mysterious 1992 death of black gay rights activist and Stonewall veteran, Marsha P. Johnson. Using archival interviews with Johnson, and new interviews with Johnson's family, friends and fellow activists.
Director: David France | Stars: Kurt Wolfe, Sue Yacka, Catherine Shugrue Dos Santos, Victoria Cruz
Votes: 3,202
9. Small Town Gay Bar (2006)
Not Rated | 76 min | Documentary
The story of community in the Deep South that is forced to deal with the struggles of ignorance, hypocrisy and oppression.
Director: Malcolm Ingram | Stars: Jim Bishop, Terry Capps, Jackie Cox, Bill Curtis
Votes: 1,174
10. This Is Drag (2015)
60 min | Documentary
-An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at performance, glamor, fame, family, love and sacrifice as some of the world's most renowned drag queens come together for World Pride in Toronto (in Canada).
Director: Mark Kenneth Woods | Stars: Roy Haylock, Danny Noriega, Shane Jenek, Greg Meyer
Votes: 115
11. Daddy and the Muscle Academy (1991)
55 min | Documentary, Biography
Tom of Finland is one of the gay world's few authentic icons. His drawings have had an enormous influence on gay identity. Tom's ultimate leather men are known and seen everywhere. They are... See full summary »
Director: Ilppo Pohjola | Stars: Tom of Finland, Robert Henry Mizer, Nayland Blake, Durk Dehner
Votes: 485 | Gross: $0.11M
12. Queercore: How To Punk A Revolution (2017)
TV-MA | 83 min | Documentary
A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and was distinguished by its discontent with society's disapproval of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender communities.
Director: Yony Leyser | Stars: John Waters, Kim Gordon, Bruce La Bruce, Tom Jennings
Votes: 275
13. (A)sexual (2011)
Not Rated | 75 min | Documentary, Romance
Facing a sex obsessed culture, a mountain of stereotypes and misconceptions, and a lack of social or scientific research, asexuals - people who experience no sexual attraction - struggle to claim their identity.
Director: Angela Tucker | Stars: Aliza, Antonia, Barb, Joy Behar
Votes: 790
14. Dykes, Camera, Action! (2018)
Unrated | 58 min | Documentary
A history of queer cinema from the women who made it happen.
Director: Caroline Berler | Stars: Desiree Akhavan, Janet Baus, Vicky Du, Cheryl Dunye
Votes: 74
15. Genderblend (2017)
68 min | Documentary
A story about five young people who neither feel male nor female, but rather position themselves somewhere in between. They all have their own struggles, but together they create a compelling story about acceptance.
Director: Sophie Dros
Votes: 57
16. Laganja's Dance School (2019)
26 min | Documentary, Short
Laganja Estranja teaches a dance class in London followed by a performance at the West 5.
Director: Selene Kapsaski | Stars: Laganja Estranja, Olivia Burgin, Lola Fierce, Kirsty-Ann Heggie
Votes: 46
17. Jinkx Monsoon: Drag Becomes Him (2015)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary, Biography
Drag Becomes Him provides an intimate glimpse inside the life of internationally acclaimed drag performer Jinkx Monsoon.
Director: Alex Berry | Stars: Jinkx Monsoon, Benjimen Blair, Zan Gibbs, Deanne Hoffer
Votes: 725
18. Bear Nation (2010)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary, Romance
Malcolm Ingram introduces us to gay men who dig big dudes who are stockier and hairier than the airbrushed ideal served by up lifestyle magazines and underwear ads.
Director: Malcolm Ingram | Stars: Douglas Langway, Kevin Smith
Votes: 214
19. Benjamin Smoke (2000)
72 min | Documentary
This highly unorthodox documentary follows the crooked path of Benjamin (no last name). He lives in a hidden neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia called "Cabbagetown." Drag-queen, speed-freak, ... See full summary »
Directors: Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen | Stars: Benjamin Dickerson, Tim Campion, Brian Halloran, Coleman Lewis
Votes: 233 | Gross: $0.04M
20. Becoming Chaz (2011)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, Biography
Documentary following Chaz (formerly Chastity) Bono's gender transition. Includes interviews with family members and friends as the transition is followed.
Directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato | Stars: Cher, Chaz Bono, Georgia Holt, Georganne LaPiere
Votes: 361
21. The Advocate for Fagdom (2011)
Not Rated | 91 min | Documentary
The Advocate for Fagdom unites the puzzle pieces one by one. Testimonies are combined with rare archive images. Art galeries present movie extracts that are succeeded by images shot on ... See full summary »
Director: Angélique Bosio | Stars: Bruce La Bruce, Glenn Belverio, Bruce Benderson, Jürgen Brüning
Votes: 112
22. Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)
79 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman | Stars: Sara Lewinstein, David Mandell, Suzi Mandell, Sallie Perryman
Votes: 1,084
23. Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities (1999)
Not Rated | 87 min | Documentary
Monika Treut explores the worlds and thoughts of several transgender individuals. As with Treuts first film, Jungfrauenmaschine, Gendernauts, enters a minority sector of San Fransisco ... See full summary »
Director: Monika Treut | Stars: Susan Stryker, Texas Tomboy, Annie Sprinkle, Jordi Jones
Votes: 189 | Gross: $0.01M
24. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema (2006)
81 min | Documentary
A chronological look at films by, for, or about (or 'by, for, and about') gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, from Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to Ang Lee's "Brokeback... See full summary »
Directors: Lisa Ades, Lesli Klainberg | Stars: Randy Barbato, Dan Bucatinsky, Jonathan Caouette, Ash Christian
Votes: 840
25. A Jihad for Love (2007)
Unrated | 81 min | Documentary
A documentary on gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims across the Muslim and Western worlds.
Director: Parvez Sharma | Stars: Muhsin Hendricks, A.K. Hoosen, Mazen, Abdellah Taïa
Votes: 713 | Gross: $0.11M
26. Free Havana (2012)
58 min | Documentary
Gay Rights is an issue heard around the world, including Cuba. Free Havana paints a vivid picture of what it has been like to be gay in Cuba through the candid stories of six gay and ... See full summary »
Director: Eliezer Pérez Angueira
Votes: 19
27. Vito (2011)
Not Rated | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The story of Vito Russo, founding father of the gay liberation movement, author of "The Celluloid Closet," and vociferous AIDS activist in the 1980s.
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz | Stars: Phyllis Antonellis, George Bancroft, Richard Barrios, Edmund Bergler
Votes: 773
28. The Case Against 8 (2014)
TV-14 | 109 min | Documentary, Biography, News
A behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White | Stars: Ted Olson, Christopher D. Dusseault, Jeffrey J. Zarrillo, Paul T. Katami
Votes: 1,156
29. Queerama (2017)
70 min | Documentary, Music
Compilation of archive footage from 1919 to the present, from both documentary and fictional sources, set to music, illustrating the huge changes in LGBTQ life in Britain (mainly England) over the 20th century.
Director: Daisy Asquith | Stars: Leigh Bowery, Nicola Bowery, Quentin Crisp
Votes: 211
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