Tacoma Community College Library: LGBTQIA+ Support and Resources: Films

Films online

Streaming Films Online

Use the links below to find lists of relevant movies, and consider the tabs in the box for other featured videos - such as TED Talks or StoryCorps.

Movie Lists

Best LGBTQ Movies - IMDB list
The IMDB does not have "LGBT" films as one of its standard genres. However, you can find a list (and user ratings of films) on the this page. Once there, scroll down to "Explore by keyword." Unfortunately, the many individual episodes of television series can make this list less valuable.
IndieWire
Indiewire is an online magazine is produced for "independent-minded" filmmakers and film fans. It includes the "Bent" blog which is focused on LGBTQ films.
Most Interesting LGBTQ films of the Decade - Film Transistions
Film Transitions is an online film magazine published by European film studies students. Here's a list they recently put together: Most Interesting LGBTQ films of the Decade up to 2015. There is also an annual list.

Top 10 gay films
Dr. Craig Cowden from TCC's Psychology department, created this thoughtfully annotated list of films; however he has not updated it since 2008 (and is not intending to do so!).

TED Talks on gender & sexuality

Use the links below to view some featured videos from TED (Technology, Education, Design)

TED Talks
TED Videos have a CC BY NC ND 4.0 license, and TED encourages users to freely view, share, and download the videos without restraint. The website is provided as a public service to promote the spread of good ideas.
TED Talks: On coming out
A playlist from TED Talks
TED Talks: This is what LGBT life is like around the world
A 2015 talk by Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols - from TEDWomen
TED Talks: Celebrating (and deconstructing) the gender spectrum
A playlist from TED Talks
TED Talk: Homosexuality: It's about survival - not sex
A 2016 talk by James O'Keefe at TEDxTallaght
TED Talk: Why kids need to learn about gender and sexuality
A 2019 talk by Lindsay Amer - Streaming on YouTube
TED Talk: Harvey Milk's radical vision of equality
A TED Ed animated talk by Lillian Faderman

StoryCorps

StoryCorps is a great place to hear the voices of those impacted by the larger issues, events, and concepts presented in this guide. You can search through collections of personal stories, podcasts, interviews, animations, videos, and more.

StoryCorps - Stonewall OutLoud
Search videos, podcasts, and other resources in this collection focusing on Stonewall
StoryCorps - LGBTQ
View or listen to LGBTQW stories from this collection

(click on image to enlarge)

StoryCorps
"StoryCorps mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives."

Additional sources to consider

Looking for more interviews or personal stories. Go to the Websites tab in this guide and choose Images, Interviews & Oral Stories

YouTube

Use the links below to see some of the featured videos on YouTube.

YouTube
YouTube provides millions of Creative Commons-licensed videos (among their billions of video collections). The key is filtering them to isolate the Creative Commons-licensed ones.
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Search tip: Once you search using keywords, use the filter to narrow down to the CC licensed videos.
Sex & Sexuality: Crash Course Sociology #31
Streaming on YouTube
Gender Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #32
Streaming on YouTube
Let's Talk About Sex: Crash Course Psychology #27
Streaming on YouTube
Why Gender Pronouns Matter
Streaming on YouTube
TED Talk: Harvey Milk's radical vision of equality
A TED Ed animated talk by Lillian Faderman
Trans 101 - The Basics
A 2017 video by Minus 18

Ebooks about LGBTQ+ film - Click on book covers to get to ebook

In the library's collection

Academic Video Online

This database houses streaming films on a wide range of topics - including some LGBTQ+ focused ones like those featured below.

(click on the images to enlarge & use the links below to access these films)

Academic Video Online
Over 67,000 videos covering a wide variety of subject areas. Programs include documentaries, interviews, performances, news, raw footage, and archival materials. Also includes The PBS Video Collection of over 600 titles.

The Freedom to Marry
A 2016 film streaming on Academic Video Online
TransMilitary
A 2018 film streaming on Academic Video Online
The Lavender Scare
A 1996 film streaming on Academic Video Online
Out In The Open
A 2013 film, streaming on Academic Video Online
For Love and For Life: The 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights
A 1988 film streaming on Academic Video Online
Just Married: The Epic Battle Over Gay Marriage
A 2006 film streaming on Academic Video Online
Finding Family: Gay Adoption in the U.S.
A 2007 film streaming on Academic Video Online

Streaming films in the library's collection

The library subscribes to a number of streaming film platforms, each with different content. Consider the collections featured in here, such as Films on Demand, Feature Films for Education, Academic Video Online, Kanopy, Swank Feature Films, and more. Use the links in each tab to see suggestion films, or click on the database title to go there to search directly.

Films on Demand

Films on Demand
Over 20,000 streaming videos appropriate for academic research. Videos can be watched in their entirety, or as individual segments.

The Play Within: An LGBTQ Documentary
A 2017 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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This film presents the premiere of the stage adaption of the award winning film, The Play Within, an emotional and issue-focused fictional drama based on the lives of two real people—Matthew Shepard and Tyler Clementi—and their tragic, untimely deaths. After the play, an audience talkback allows for an exploration of this experience. This is followed by a wide-ranging discussion by psychiatrists, social service providers, clergy, and others who illuminate the history, evolution, and current circumstances that face the LGBTQ community.
Drawn this Way
A 2017 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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From Tom of Finland to Bugs Bunny in a dress, animation has long been a place where artists can unleash and explore their sexuality. In this documentary, Andy Cheng and Cara Connors dive into the pages of comic books, animated series, films, and even video games to discover the LGBTQ characters portrayed, and to answer questions such as, how did these artists get their start; how did the genre develop; are these portrayals taken seriously in the mainstream?
America’s Most Unwanted: LGBTQI Foster Youth in America
A 2011 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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This documentary explores the lives of LGBTQ youth in California's foster care system. Many LGBTQ foster youth are thrown out of their homes for defining as LGBTQ before entering the foster care system, where they often encounter further abuse and homophobia. The statistics are staggering: 75% of LGBTQI foster youth in state care have experienced physical abuse and 66% preferred to live on the streets. America's Most Unwanted lends the case for more access to LGBTQ foster parenting and adoption by providing a human face to youth whose lives would have benefited from such support.
Not a Boy, Not a Girl
A 2027 film - stream on Flims on Demand
Being Gay: Coming Out in the 21st Century 24:37 Being Gay: Coming Out in the 21st Century
A 2003 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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Today, while gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders are no longer forced to hide their sexual orientation, there is still prejudice and discrimination which can make coming out a difficult decision. And there are always internal pressures as well. This program presents the accounts and stories of people who have recently taken the step of coming out. Interviewees and experts discuss the benefits of this important transition by examining the six stages of coming to terms with one’s sexual identity. They also look at the dangers of running away from sexual self-acceptance—such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide—and how finding support can greatly assist the process.
Gay in Middle America: One Town's Struggle with Religion and Bigotry
A 2005 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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DESCRIPTION
An excellent sociological case study, this ABC News program examines the plight of Michael Shackelford, a 17-year-old homosexual struggling for acceptance in small-town Oklahoma. The video outlines the development of Shackelford’s situation: his early awareness of his sexual orientation, his inability to conform and placate his mother, the attention he receives in a Washington Post article, and the subsequent media abuse he and his church endure as a result. Complex and surprising in its observations—especially those concerning Shackelford’s Bible Belt community—the program sheds light on America’s increasingly troublesome cultural divisions
Global Gay
A 2014 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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Whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West, after years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. This film follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal, and South Africa. Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world and a global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and President Barack Obama call “the final frontier in human rights”—the universal decriminalization of homosexuality
Transgender and Gender Identity: Clinical Conversations for the Human Sexuality Classroom
A 2015 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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Many people confuse the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity. Gender identity is the term describing your sense of your gender expression – do you identify as male or female or both or neither? Matt and Denise are F to M and M to F persons who are transgendered. They give insight into their transitions and their lives. Cailynn and Chris use “gender queer” and “agendered” to describe themselves. Where do you fit on the gender continuum?
Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?
A 2016 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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This program explores the divisive debate over whether a child should be free to make permanent changes to their gender. Dr. Kenneth Zucker once ran the largest public clinic in Toronto for treating children and adolescents with gender dysphoria, an often violent feeling that the body they were born in does not match their true gender. But then Zucker was fired and his clinic closed down amid comparisons to a religious zealot trying to "cure" homosexuality. His supporters believe he is a victim of a virulent form of transgender politics that stifles freedom of speech. The program features interviews with Zucker, his patients, the families, the clinicians and transgender activists.
Transgender
A 2014 film - stream on Flims on Demand
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DESCRIPTION
Imagine your husband of 25 years comes home one day and says he wants to change his gender and become a woman. Experience the remarkable story of Gayle, a small-town wife whose husband PJ did just that. Is love truly blind? Follow the pair to their high school reunion, when they have to break the news to surprised classmates.

Feature Films & Documentaries

The databases below largely house films selected by instructors for specific courses. Log in to the portal to stream any of the feature films in the databases linked below. Search by title, keyword, or genre.

Feature Films for Education

Kanopy Films

To access the films in this database, you will need to log into the portal, as well as registering for an account. If you have questions or issues accessing it, chat with a librarian.

Kanopy
TCC Library subscribes to Kanopy streaming films that have been requested by faculty to support their online and hybrid classes.

Swank Motion Films

Swank Motion Pictures
TCC Library subscribes to Swank streaming films that have been requested by faculty to support their online and hybrid classes.