Pride Month & Why LGBTQ+ Stories on Screen Matter

Pride Month is a time to celebrate love, identity, and everything that makes the LGBTQ+ community so diverse and vibrant. Over the years, we’ve seen some real progress in how queer stories are told in film, and that visibility means more than just entertainment. It creates understanding, empathy, and lets people in the community know they’re not alone.

For a long time, LGBTQ+ characters in movies weren’t given the spotlight. Often, queer people were side characters, comedic relief, or figures who experience tragedy who don’t make it to the end of the movie. But luckily, things are changing for the better. More films are showing queer people as the full, complex humans whose sexual identity and gender identity are just a part of who they are, but not their entire being. Now, we’re seeing more films where queer characters are falling in love, fighting back, cracking jokes, messing up, and growing. And it’s about time.

The film Alto, for example, is a super fun LGBTQ+ rom-com with a mob twist. The story follows Francesca “Frankie” Del Vecchio, who’s got strong opinions (especially about a cheesy TV show called Mob Hit) and a pretty stable life... until a dead body shows up in her car trunk. Oh, and she’s also falling for a woman. It’s quirky, it’s charming, and it treats Frankie’s sexuality as just one part of her layered, funny, and chaotic life. That’s what makes Alto feel so refreshing—it’s not trying to make a big statement, it’s just telling a story where queer love exists naturally.

Then there’s Red Ribbon Blues, which takes a much more serious route but is just as important. Starring RuPaul & Debi Mazar, This one’s about Troy and his friends, who are fed up after losing so many loved ones during the AIDS crisis. They’re done waiting around for drug companies to care, so they take action by stealing medication and starting their own distribution network. It’s bold, heartbreaking, and full of purpose. And even though it’s a fictional film, it reflects a very real part of LGBTQ+ history, when communities had to look out for each other because no one else would.

These two movies might be totally different in tone, but they both show just how wide the range of queer storytelling can be. It’s not all coming-out stories or tragedy. Sometimes it’s a romantic comedy with a little mob drama. Sometimes it’s a heist film with grief and hope. What matters is that these stories are being told, and told well.

Representation in film isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s about people seeing themselves and their experiences reflected on screen in a way that feels real. It’s about younger generations watching a movie and realizing they’re not alone. And it’s about breaking down stereotypes, so audiences of all kinds can connect with stories they might never have imagined mattered to them.

So this Pride Month, while we’re celebrating, dancing, and showing up for one another, let’s also make time to watch and support films that tell LGBTQ+ stories.  Whether you’re part of the queer community or not, you will find some level of relatability.  They’re funny, moving, complicated, romantic, and sometimes a little messy, just like life. 

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TheArchive channel is dedicated to aficionados and lovers of story, craft, and silver screen fun – streaming rare, retro, and restored films and classic TV. From indies and series to Oscar-winning documentaries, unearthed MOWs, and a killer horror library, TheArchive delivers forgotten, never-before-seen gems for free and many in 4K. Marilyn, Karloff, and Orson Welles stream alongside Reese, Keanu, and Samuel L. Jackson. Find true stories of Queen, Hendrix, and Sinatra, an LGBTQ library, MLK bios, and world history docs. TheArchive has the movies and shows you either saw, should’ve seen, or should be watching now!