Everything queer coming to streaming platforms in May

Another month staying at home means another month of binge-watching all of your favourite TV shows and movies. Here’s a list of everything queer coming to your screens this month to help feed all of your streaming addictions. From RuPaul’s Drag Race’s first Australian venture to Jim Carrey playing a gay convict, check out this diverse list of LGBTQ2S+ films and TV shows that will be available to view this month. 

Bound 

May 1 on Amazon Prime

Bound, the 1996 directorial debut by the Wachowski sisters and eventual creators of The Matrix, will be ready to stream on Amazon Prime on May 1. Although not well-received at the box office upon its initial release, the film quickly rose to cult status in the queer community. The sexy neo-noir feature follows femme fatale Violet (Jennifer Tilly) and ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon), two women who fall in love and collaborate to steal $2 million from Violet’s mobster boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano). 

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under 

May 1 on WOW in the U.S., Crave in Canada, TVNZ in New Zealand and Stan in Australia

The first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Australia edition is sashaying to screens in the United States on WOW Presents Plus on May 1. Rupaul’s Drag Race Down Under will run for eight episodes and feature special guests like Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue and Taika Waititi. The cast includes Indigenous drag queen JoJo Zaho, Kita Mean, fan favourite Coco Jumbo, Maxi Shield, Anita Wigl’it, Art Simone, Elektra Shock, Etcetera Etcetera, Scarlet Adams and Karen from Finance. 

I Love You Phillip Morris 

May 1 on Hulu

The darkly comic 2009 biopic, I Love You Phillip Morris—the directorial debut of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra—will be released on Hulu on May 1. The film is based on a 1980s and ’90s real-life con artist, impostor and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Rusell. Steven (Jim Carrey) falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor) while incarcerated. After Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes four times in an effort to be reunited with him. The film was adapted from the 2003 book I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker. 

Pose (Season 3) 

May 2 on Netflix

Pose, the popular drama series by FX, is releasing the first two episodes of its third season on Netflix on May 2. The show starts at the height of the AIDS crisis in the ’80s and, following a cast of mainly trans women of colour, showcases how these women took the ballroom scene by storm. An Instagram post by Pose actor Billy Porter (who plays Ball emcee Pray Tell in the show) shows Dominique Jackon, the Tobagonian-American trans actress who plays Elektra Abundance, saying, “Season three is about social justice, anti-discrimination, hope [and] family, of course.”

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 6)

May 2 on The CW Network in the U.S.

Season six of the series Legends of Tomorrow, based on DC Comics’ Arrowverse (a spinoff of Arrow and The Flash), will premiere in the U.S. on The CW Network on May 2. The series stars two openly bisexual main characters, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) and John Constantine (Matt Ryan), among many other LGBTQ2S+-identified characters. Sara and Ava (Jes Macallan) have a long romantic storyline in the series, and the latest season is hinting at a new showmance to obsess over between queer characters Zari Adrienna Tomaz (Tala Ashe) and Clotho a.k.a. Charlie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers). 

Tu me manques (I Miss You)

May 4 on DVD and Video on Demand

Tu me manques (I Miss You), the Bolivian queer drama directed by Rodrigo Bellott is being released on DVD and Video on Demand on May 4. Following the death of his son, conservative father Jorge (Oscar Martínez) travels from Bolivia to New York City to confront his late son’s boyfriend Sebastian (Fernando Barbosa). The film follows the emotional storyline of three men as Jorge struggles to accept his son’s life and sexuality and Sebastian tries to direct his feelings of grief and mourning somewhere. 

Legendary (Season 2)

May 6 on HBO Max in the U.S.

Legendary, the ballroom voguing series that pits 10 houses against each other in competition, returns for another season—and we are gagging.

Shrill (Season 3) 

May 7 on Hulu

The third and final season of Shrill by SNL’s Aidy Bryant will debut in its entirety on Hulu on May 7. The show follows Annie (Bryant) a plus-size woman struggling to get her life together. Her best friend, Fran (Lolly Adefope) is a Black lesbian woman who helps Annie navigate boyfriends, her career and her relationship with her micromanaging mother (Julia Sweeney).

Dance of the Forty One 

May 12 on Netflix

The Mexican film Dance of the Forty One directed by David Pablos will be available to watch on Netflix starting May 12. The film portrays the events leading up to a 1901 party of gay men, half of whom were dressed in drag, known as the Dance of the Forty-One (El baile de los cuarenta y uno). The fictionalized retelling follows a gay congressman, Ignacio de la Torre y Mier (Alfonso Herrera), who marries the Mexican president’s illegitimate daughter. Drama begins when he leaves to cavort with a young man at a secret club. 

Saint Maud 

May 13 on Amazon Prime

The 2019 British psychological horror film Saint Maud, written and directed by Rose Glass in her feature directorial debut, will be available to watch on Amazon Prime starting May 13. The story follows hospice nurse Maud (Morfydd Clark) who recently became a Roman Catholic after an incident where she saw and spoke to God. She is assigned to care for Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a lesbian dancer and choreographer from the U.S. who is terminally ill with stage four lymphoma. Maud comes to believe that God has tasked her with saving Amanda’s soul, who’s an atheist. 

Halston 

May 14 on Netflix

Master producer Ryan Murphy’s latest pop culture-inspired mini-series showcases the life of Studio 54-era fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick (Ewan McGregor) in the Netflix global premiere of Halston on May 14. Directed by veteran HBO director and I Shot Andy Warhol screenwriter Daniel Minahan, the five-episode limited series is the true story of a Midwestern gay kid who reinvents himself in the big city. It looks like a feast of kitschy retro glam fashion, sex, drugs and celebrities like Liza Minelli (Krysta Rodriguez) and Joel Schumacher (Rory Culkin). Tragically, AIDS, too, will rear its terrifying head; Halston died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 57.  

Pride

May 14 on FX and Hulu

Six queer directors explore a variety of aspects of being LGBTQ2S+, including the FBI surveillance of queer people spanning over the 1950s’ Lavender Scare and the culture wars of the 1990s, in the six-part docuseries Pride, premiering on FX and Hulu on May 14. The series addresses the queer legacy of the Civil Rights movement, the battle over marriage equality and the evolution of trans rights and identities through pioneers like Christine Jorgensen, Flawless Sabrina, Ceyenne Doroshow, Susan Stryker, Kate Bornstein, Dean Spade and Raquel Willis.

Ziwe

May 19 on Showtime in the U.S. on Crave in Canada

Comedian Ziwe Fumudoh’s new late-night variety cum talk show launches May 9 at 11 p.m. EDT. Returning players include Jane Krakowski, Cristin Milioti, Jeremy O’Hara and Laura Benanti. Writers include Cole Escola (who also appears), Jordan Mendoza and Michelle Davis.

Special (Season 2) 

May 20 on Netflix 

Ryan O’Connell’s semi-autobiographical Netflix comedy series Special will be releasing all eight episodes of its second season to Netflix on May 20. The series follows Ryan Hayes (O’Connell), a young gay man with cerebral palsy on a mission to chase his dreams and reinvent himself. Season 2 will start two months after the ending of season 1 and focus on Ryan’s struggle with writer’s block and the ongoing silence between him and his mother.  

Twenties

May 21 on CBC Gem in Canada

From creator Lena Waithe, this eight-part comedy series follows Hattie (Jonica T. Gibbs), a queer aspiring screenwriter, and her two straight best friends Marie (Christina Elmore) and Nia (Gabrielle Graham) as they pursue their dreams in L.A. The show was nominated for outstanding comedy series at the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards.

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story

May 21 on CBC Gem in Canada

The award-winning one-hour doc directed by Posy Dixon looks at the life and music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, the American-Canadian trans musical genius.

Nail Bomber: Manhunt

May 26 on Netflix

A new true-crime documentary on Netflix, Nail Bomber: Manhunt revisits a series of hate crimes that terrorized Londoners over three weekends in April 1999. It will be available to watch on May 26. The doc examines the improvised bombs containing around 1,500 four-inch nails that detonated in areas populated by Black, Bangladeshi and LGBTQ+ people in London. The attacks killed three and injured 140, including four people who lost limbs. The feature documentary explores how the affected communities bonded in the wake of the attacks, and looks at the arrest of 22-year-old David Copeland—a self-described racist and homophobe—who became known as the “London nail bomber.” He was convicted of murder in 2000 and given six life sentences.

The Bold Type (Season 5)

May 26 on Freeform and May 27 on Hulu in the U.S. 

The American series The Bold Type will be premiering its fifth and final season on Freeform on May 26 and on Hulu on May 27. The final chapter follows characters Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), Kat Edison (Aisha Dee) and Sutton Brady-Hunter (Meghann Fahy) as they develop Scarlet magazine, inspired by real-life Cosmopolitan. Unlike past seasons, this one will only feature six episodes. Viewers will see Jane, Kat and Sutton on the brink of defining who they are and how they’ll leave their mark on the world. 

Lucifer (Season 5, Part 2) 

May 28 on Netflix

The second part of Lucifer’s fifth season will be released on Netflix on May 28. The show follows Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) who abandoned his throne and retired to Los Angeles to take down criminals with detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) of the LAPD. For those who haven’t seen the surprisingly queer and inclusive show, Lucifer is openly bisexual and his demonic companion Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) is a pansexual woman. The newest season kicks off with a full-blown musical episode titled “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam.” Eve (Inbar Lavi), the original sinner, will make an appearance this season, hinting at a possible reconnection with her past love, Maze.