june: proud media

monthly creative curations | queer tv, movies, music, etc.

being proud of my own queer media 🌈📕

I love June because of the weather, the watermelon, and Pride! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ I was a little, queer kid from the southeastern U.S., coming of age in the last quarter of the 1900s. This isn’t necessarily a recipe for having models for queerness in my life. I didn’t know anyone who was out and proud (especially not women), and I didn’t see or hear positive queer characters in media. Representation and visibility are critical and lifesaving! That’s why I’m dedicating this month’s curated post to queer representation in all sorts of media.

On the first day of each month, I share a vibe for the month ahead with prism’s paid subscribers. These posts include my curations of poetry, music, art, fashion, beauty, and/or other areas of expression.

Below you’ll find a list of my personal favorite pieces of queer media, from tv to movies to books to podcasts to musical artists. This list is in no way comprehensive — just stuff I’ve enjoyed, and most (but not all) of it is sapphic in nature. At the bottom of this post, you’ll also gain access to June’s playlist 🎧 , which is my favorite part of each month because it gives me a new sampling of tunes to listen to in the car… and this one is extra awesome! 🌈

Television

• The Wilds - I am sooo sad this show got cancelled just as it was getting juicy! There are 2 seasons, and it’s so worth the watch!

• A League of Their Own - What a stellar TV show that more deeply and honestly explored sexuality and race than the movie. And got cancelled. Ugh, Netflix.

• Sex Education - Love love love this show!

• Heartstopper - My genderfluid, queer teen says they’ve never related to anything more than this show. It’s so heartopening.

• Vida - A story of Mexican-American sisters with the backdrop of the queer scene in LA

• Somebody, Somewhere - Beautiful, humorous, touching

• Love, Victor - Another queer teen show (based on the movie, Love, Simon)

• The L Word - I mean, it’s a classic. (I didn’t really get into the reboot Generation Q version, myself…)

• Queer Eye - Always makes me laugh and cry.

• Sort Of - I love this touching Canadian show about a genderfluid, Pakistani millennial

• Feel Good - …because Mae Martin

• Anne+ — Lesbian twentysomethings in Amsterdam. There’s a TV show that should be watched BEFORE the movie because the movie ends the story. It’s hard to find, but very worth it!

• season 3 of the Netflix series Master of None, which does *not* build upon the previous seasons of that show, so it can be watched independently, and centers a black, queer couple. It's slow and contemplative and lovely.

• The Ultimatum: Queer Love - finally a dating reality show ventured into lesbian territory. It was as much of a shitshow as the hetero versions of dating shows, but it made for entertaining, smutty, reality TV.

Movies

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire - Stunning! (and the first movie I saw in a movie theater with my girlfriend.)