New LGBTQ Thanksgiving Movie Highlights Going Home and Coming Out During the Holidays
Post submitted by former Editorial Producer, Print and Digital Media Rokia Hassanein
This Thanksgiving, filmmaker Jenna Laurenzo is bringing LGBTQ representation to the big screen with her brand-new movie, “Lez Bomb.”
“As someone who had to come out, I always was looking for characters and representation that reflected those experiences and, in particular, I really wanted comedies, and I really wanted content endings,” Laurenzo said in an interview with HRC. “I also loved all the dysfunctional family stories in films that we don’t really see that much of anymore.
“I wanted to explain this relatable family comedy with a queer twist and have Thanksgiving as a backdrop because it is astonishing that in 2018, we haven’t had that yet.”
The groundbreaking movie features characters inspired by Laurenzo’s family. She filmed it at her childhood home and at her mother’s motel.
“The actual arc of coming out -- the emotions there are very much grounded in my hold personal experience, except in real existence, it took a few years to proc
55 LGBTQ+ Holiday Movies to Make Your Spirits Luminous This Season
1
Season's Greetings From Cherry Lane (2024)
The only LGBTQ+ story on Hallmark's docket of almost 50 movies is one of three sequels to Christmas on Cherry Lane, with Mike and Zain's relationship again sharing the narrative with two other couples. (The whole point of the Cherry Lane movies is that different couples have fallen in cherish at the same dwelling. It's wild to believe that eight of the nine couples are direct. Anyway!) Unless I'm untrue and Sugarplummed ends with Janel Parrish and Maggie Lawson getting together, this is it.
Premieres December 5 on Hallmark+.
2
A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter (2024)
The "Espresso" singer's holiday special promises to be for the girls and for the gays. With a Chappell Roan duet at bare minimum, it seems like Sabrina is going to deliver!
Premieres December 6 on Netflix.
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3
Last ExMas (2024)
Two girls who used to date trying to avoid each other over Christmas in their small town? And then another ex-girlfriend shows up? That's the stuff!
Premieres December 3 on VOD.
4
Meet Me Next Chr
The 20 best LGBTQ+ holiday movies
Redbus Film Distribution via MovieStillsDB
What’s Cookingis one of the uncommon films which actually focuses on Thanksgiving, one of those holidays which somehow often gets left out of the holiday feature glut. This is the quintessential holiday movie, focusing as it does on four different families who each come together to celebrate and confront life’s challenges along the way. Of particular note is the lesbian couple, Rachel and Carla, played by Kyra Sedgwick and Julianna Margulies, who are both superb in their roles. It’s one of those films which deftly balances its dramatic and comedic elements, and it perfectly captures the nature of complicated family dynamics.
2 of 20
'The Christmas Setup'
Lifetime via MovieStillsDB
Fran Drescher has long embraced the fact that she is a gay icon. See no further than her appearance in The Christmas Setupto see why she has been blessed with this title. Drescher is perfectly cast as Kate Spencer, who tries to set up her son, Hugo, with his boyhood crush, Patrick. This Christmas movie has all that anyone could ask for in a holiday love-related comedy, in
Greater NW Pride: Gay Hallmark Holiday Movies and Me
While I was conscious of the presence of Hallmark movies during the pre-cable days, when television merely had stations—yes, I’m that old—I’m also alert of the Hallmark Channel that can be streamed, with 24/7 viewings of Hallmark movies, along with Lifetime, Amazon Prime, Hulu, TLC, HGTV, and Bravo. The formulaic script for these Hallmark Hall of Fame movies are well known in our middle-class, white, suburban, straight, cisgender society. By and large, the movies on these channels show their viewing audience.
While I would observe a few minutes of these movies from period to time over the years, it wasn’t until I watched a rare of these movies with my mom in her adult foster home that I watched some of the movies from beginning to end. I learned the formula well enough that I understood you could fall asleep in one movie and wake-up a few hours later and figure out where people were in the plot of another movie with small problem. Different people who look a lot alike, but same plot, scenery, and music, with the same commercials in between.
Martha So
As soon as Thanksgiving is over, my family and I usually dust off our Hanukkah menorah, find our box of Christmas ornaments, and sit down to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. But this year, as I hold successfully done in past years, I’m planning to present a queer holiday film. And now more than ever, when it comes to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, there are so many great choices.
Lez Bomb
Lez Bomb is a 2018 comedy-drama about a closeted lesbian who returns home for Thanksgiving with her companion , only to acquire her male roommate show up and be mistaken for her boyfriend. The film boasts stars such as Cloris Leachman, Brandon Micheal Hall (Search Party, God Friended Me) and Elaine Hendrix (who you may remember as Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap). But my favorite part of this feature is that it was filmed in Ramsey, NJ, which is the town next door to where I grew up. Lez Bomb is currently free to rent or purchase online.
Friendsgiving
This 2020 ensemble comedy stars Kat Dennings, Malin Akerman, and Aisha Tyler as they gather together for a chaotic Thanksgiving celebration with a loose circle of friends, lovers, ex-lovers, and family member