We take stock of the best queer rom-coms ever – from Fire Island and Love, Simon to But I’m A Cheerleader and The Things About Harry…
By Christopher Turner
Rom-coms tend to get a lot of flak, but let’s be honest: they’re always a good time. They are also a great reminder that not every film you watch has to tackle death, discrimination, trauma, gloom, doom and sadness. That’s why we’ve put together a list of films that perfectly exemplify this beloved but under-appreciated genre…and all have LGBTQ+ storylines!
Whether you’re going through another breakup and desperately need a reminder that true love is out there, or you’re just a romantic at heart, the charming little queer romantic comedies on this list are all guaranteed to put a big smile on your face. From coming-of-age LGBTQ+ movies to more nuanced, but lighthearted explorations of the intricacies of LGBTQ+ relationships…they’re all here! Expect every single one of these films to be a cheerfully formulaic rom-com that fully embraces inclusion without falling back on stereotypes…well, maybe just a few.

Fire Island (2022)
Starring: Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller and Margaret Cho
Director: Andrew Ahn
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Disney+In this modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice, a group of queer best friends set out on their annual summer vacation to iconic gay destination Fire Island – but an unexpected change of events turns their week-long trip into a messy, romance-filled adventure. The film is written by and stars Joel Kim Booster, who plays Noah, a proudly single nurse whose outlook on dating is rocked when he meets the film’s “Mr. Darcy,” Will (Conrad Ricamora). Faced with a similar transformation is Howie (Bowen Yang), whose burgeoning courtship with Charlie (James Scully) gets mixed reviews from his hilarious group of friends, including Keegan (Tomás Matos), Luke (Matt Rogers) and Max (Torian Miller).

Alex Strangelove (2018)
Starring: Daniel Doheny, Antonio Marziale and Madeline Weinstein
Director: Craig Johnson
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Netflix
In this heartfelt teen love story, high school student Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny) is determined to lose his virginity to his girlfriend, Claire (Madeline Weinstein). But when he goes to a party and meets Elliot (Antonio Marziale), an openly gay student, that calls everything he once knew into question. Make sure you watch all the way to the end of this cute gay rom-com – the closing credits feature some real-life coming-out stories that are sure to pull at your heartstrings.

Crush (2022)
Starring: Rowan Blanchard, Auliʻi Cravalho and Isabella Ferreira
Director: Sammi Cohen
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Disney+
Out director Sammi Cohen’s directorial debut is a feel-good coming-of-age flick that delivers a fresh take on a classic high school love triangle. Crush follows budding artist Paige Evans (Rowan Blanchard) as she joins the Miller High School track team to get closer to her unrequited long-time lesbian crush, popular student Gabby Campos (Isabella Ferreira), only to discover she is getting closer to another teammate…Gabby’s twin, AJ Campos (Auliʻi Cravalho), who’s co-captain of the track team.

My Fake Boyfriend (2022)
Starring: Keiynan Lonsdale, Dylan Sprouse, Sarah Hyland and Samer Salem
Director: Rose Troche
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Amazon Prime Video
In Rose Troche’s 2022 rom-com, My Fake Boyfriend, stuntman Andrew (Keiynan Lonsdale, who also appears in Love, Simon on this list) is stuck in a toxic relationship with a self-absorbed narcissist. His best friend Jake (Dylan Sprouse) and Jake’s girlfriend Kelly (Modern Family’s Sarah Hyland) decide the only way to break the cycle is with a white lie: the creation of a new (fake!) online boyfriend. Of course, hijinks and an IRL romance follow.

Anything’s Possible (2022)
Starring: Eva Reign, Abubakr Ali and Renée Elise Goldsberry
Director: Billy Porter
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Amazon Prime Video
Out Emmy-winner Billy Porter’s directorial debut is a delightfully modern Gen Z coming-of-age story. Anything’s Possible follows a confident trans high school student (Eva Reign) as she navigates life during her senior year. When her classmate Khal (Abubakr Ali) gets a crush on her, he musters up the courage to ask her out, despite the drama he knows it could cause.

The Half Of It (2020)
Starring: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire, Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker and Collin Chou
Director: Alice Wu
Where to watch it:
Streaming in Canada on NetflixIn this modern rethinking of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, shy brainiac Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) lives in the remote town of Squahamish with her widowed father (Collin Chou) and runs a side hustle ghostwriting other students’ homework. Of course, everything changes when Ellie’s next-door neighbour, high school jock Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer), hires her to write love letters to his crush, Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire) – who Ellie also has a crush on. But this coming-of-age film is far less concerned with who gets the girl in the end, and really highlights the unlikely friendship between Ellie and Paul as the pair find themselves connecting and learning about the nature of love.

Bros (2022)
Starring: Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Netflix
Bros was notoriously the first major studio release to feature an all-LGBTQ+ principal cast. The story revolves around neurotic podcast host Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner), who’s happy to go on non-stop Tinder dates and content not to have a serious relationship. That is, until he meets Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane), an equally detached lawyer who likes to play the field. Repeatedly drawn to each other, the pair have to navigate the complexities of a budding romance in Manhattan, and eventually begin to show their vulnerable sides as their undeniable attraction turns into something resembling a commitment.

Happiest Season (2020)
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Daniel Levy, Mary Holland, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen
Director: Clea DuVall
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Crave
Clea DuVall wrote and directed this holiday romantic comedy, a semi-autobiographical take on her own experiences with her family. Happiest Season follows long-time lesbian couple, Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis), who make plans to visit Harper’s family for the holidays. The catch? Harper requests that Abby hide their relationship from her conservative parents for the visit. It’s a charming, sweet and gay addition to the long list of holiday romance films that can be watched year-round. Plus, this was the first lesbian Christmas rom-com produced by a major Hollywood studio.

Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)
Starring: Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Clifton Collins Jr., Sarah Shahi, Rachel Hilson, Stephen Fry and Uma Thurman
Director: Matthew Lopez
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Amazon Prime Video
Red, White & Royal Blue is based on the 2019 bestselling novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston, which depicts the long-running feud and staged truce that sparks something deeper between Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the president of the United States (Uma Thurman), and Britain’s Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine). Things become a little more complicated when the couple, considering their high-profile public lives, must keep their relationship a secret at all costs.

Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen, Scott Cohen, Jackie Hoffman and Tovah FeldshuhDirector: Charles Herman-WurmfeldWhere to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Disney+Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt) is at the end of her emotional rope until she happens upon an intriguing personal ad, whose only drawback is that it’s in the “women seeking women” section. On a daring whim, she decides to answer it and meets funky downtown hipster Helen Cooper (Heather Juergensen) for drinks – and, to her surprise, they click instantly. The pair then proceed to muddle through an earnest but hilarious courtship, making up the rules as they go.

Dating Amber (2020)
Starring: Fionn O’Shea, Lola Petticrew, Sharon Horgan and Barry Ward
Director: David Freyne
Where to watch it: Available in Canada on Apple TV
Set in 1995 in The Curragh, Ireland, Dating Amber (originally titled Beards) is David Freyne’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film that revolves around Eddie (Fionn O’Shea) and Amber (Lola Petticrew) – two closeted teenagers who start a fake straight relationship in an effort to fit in and to escape school bullying and prejudice from the people in their conservative rural town.

Love, Simon (2018)
Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Talitha Bateman, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp and Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
Director: Greg Berlanti
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Disney+
Based on the 2015 novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Love, Simon was the first film by a major Hollywood studio to focus on a gay teenage romance. It tells the story of 17-year-old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), a soft-spoken high schooler; he has a close-knit group of friends but is reluctant to come out to them. When an anonymous coming-out confession is posted to the school’s message board, Simon reaches out to the anonymous classmate and eventually falls in love with them as the two write back and forth. In trying to figure out that person’s identity, Simon discovers more about his own, but not without more than a few complications along the way.

But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey, RuPaul Charles, Eddie Cibrian, Wesley Mann, Richard Moll, Douglas Spain, Katharine Towne and Cathy Moriarty
Director: Jamie Babbit
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Amazon Prime Video
This cult classic satire centres on 17-year-old Megan (Natasha Lyonne) a – you guessed it! – cheerleader who has a football-playing boyfriend and hasn’t yet come to terms with her sexuality. The dark twist comes when her conservative parents suspect she’s gay and send her off to a gay conversion camp, where, ironically, she begins to truly accept herself and begins to fall for fellow camper Graham (Clea DuVall). But I’m a Cheerleader is truly charming and is renowned for its campy aesthetic, vibrant color palette and sharp humour.

The Thing About Harry (2020)
Starring: Jake Borelli, Niko Terho, Britt Baron, Karamo Brown and Peter Paige
Director: Peter Paige
Where to watch it: Streaming in Canada on Disney+
Topping off our list of LGBTQ+ rom-coms is this adorable queer rom-com that centres on Valentine’s Day. It was written by Queer As Folk’s Peter Paige and was the first queer rom-com in TV movie history. The Thing About Harryfollows Sam (Jake Borelli), a young gay man who is forced into a road trip with his former high school bully, Harry (Niko Terho), who has changed quite a bit since high school. It’s soon revealed that Harry now identifies as pansexual, and the two eventually form a friendship. As romance begins to bloom, the plot becomes filled with unexpected roadblocks, a little drama, and plenty of comedy. The perfect rom-com recipe.
CHRISTOPHER TURNER is the editor of IN Magazine. He is a Toronto-based writer, editor and lifelong fashionisto with a passion for pop culture and sneakers. Follow him on social media @Turnstylin.
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