The Best Black LGBTQ+ Movies
Voting Rules
Vote up your favorite black LGBTQ+ movies.
The best black LGBTQ+ films explore and deconstruct a character’s experience. The cinema provides a spectator the opportunity to witness lives that are different from their own. The big screen allows us to travel to the moon, see what it’s like to live in other countries, and even go forward in time 200 years. This list of black LGBTQ+ movies is a cultural roadmap for storytellers and spectators to share on the pathway to enlightenment.
Barry Jenkins’ 2016 film Moonlight reads like a poem, a coming of age story told in three parts, of a man’s journey to find his sexual identity. The low-budget film shocked the world by winning the Best Picture Oscar in 2017 over the big-budget darling La La Land. The victory was even more momentous because Moonlight became the first movie with an all-black cast and first gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people film to win Hollywood’s most prestigious award.
Although Moonlight is clearly among the best black LGBTQ+ movies, is it the greatest? That’s for you to decide. Vote up the top black LGBTQ+ movies.
Latest additions: Mississippi Damned, Dirty Laundry, Punks
Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Black LGBTQ+ Movies
- 1Mahershala Ali, Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton SandersMoonlight is a profound, genre-defying drama that unfolds in three acts. The film follows the life of Chiron, portrayed at different stages by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes. In the heart of Miami's rough neighborhood, young Chiron navigates his tumultuous home life and grapples with his emerging sexuality. Naomi Harris plays his drug-addicted mother, while Mahershala Ali shines as the caring drug dealer who becomes a father figure to him. This Oscar-winning masterpiece explores themes of identity, masculinity, and love with nuanced sensitivity and compelling storytelling.More Moonlight
- 2Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren KaragulianAfter hearing that her boyfriend/pimp cheated on her while she was in jail, a transgender sex worker and her best friend set out to find him and teach him and his new lover a lesson.More Tangerine
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NEW#23Rustin- NEW#30My Name is Pauli Murray
- 3André Christian, Freddie Pendavis, Willi NinjaThis documentary focuses on drag queens living in New York City and their "house" culture, which provides a sense of community and support for the flamboyant and often socially shunned performers. Groups from each house compete in elaborate balls that take cues from the world of fashion. Also touching on issues of racism and poverty, the film features interviews with a number of renowned drag queens, including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija and Dorian Corey.
- 4
Blackbird
Lindsay Seim, Isaiah Washington, Mo'NiqueRandy, a devout high school choir boy, struggles with his sexuality while living in his conservative Mississippi town. His mother blames him for his sister's disappearance as his father guides him into manhood. - 5
Naz & Maalik
Curtiss Cook Jr., Kerwin Johnson Jr., Annie Grier - 6Ving Rhames, Alfre Woodard, Jesika Quynn ReynoldsAfter losing his police officer lover, Christian drag queen Holiday Heart (Ving Rhames) meets 12-year-old Niki (Jessika Quynn Reynolds) and her drug-addicted mother, Wanda (Alfre Woodard). Heart finds relief from heartache and a renewed sense of purpose when he steps in as a father figure to Niki and welcomes the two women into his life. But when Wanda becomes romantically involved with her drug dealer, Silas, it may endanger Niki and threaten to destroy the makeshift family.More Holiday Heart
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- 7Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret AveryThe Color Purple is a period drama, steeped in the southern atmosphere of rural Georgia. It follows the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a young African-American woman, from her childhood to adulthood. Born into poverty and subjected to severe abuse, Celie's journey is one of resilience and survival. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg and features an exceptional cast including Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey. This poignant narrative swept the 1986 Academy Awards with eleven nominations, testifying to its cinematic brilliance. Its vivid portrayal of racial and gender issues remains relevant even today.More The Color Purple
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- 8Wilson Cruz, Jussie Smollett, Shanika Warren-MarklandThe Skinny is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film from the creator of the LOGO television series, Noah's Arc. It was released on April 6, 2012 in select theaters.
- 9
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin is a 2003 documentary film written by Marc Weiss and directed by Nancy D. Kates and Bennett Singer. - 10
Stud Life
Vineeta Rishi, Kathleen Bryson, Doña CrollStud Life is a 2012 drama romance film written and directed by Campbell Ex. - 11Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Valarie WalkerAn aspiring black lesbian filmmaker researches an obscure 1940s black actress billed as the Watermelon Woman.
- 12Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha DavisTeenage Alike (Adepero Oduye) lives in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood with her parents (Charles Parnell, Kim Wayans) and younger sister (Sahra Mellesse). A lesbian, Alike quietly embraces her identity and is looking for her first lover, but she wonders how much she can truly confide in her family, especially with her parents' marriage already strained. When Alike's mother presses her to befriend a colleague's daughter (Aasha Davis), Alike finds the gal to be a pleasant companion.More Pariah
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- 13Anthony Mackie, Roger Robinson, Lawrence GilliardPerry (Anthony Mackie) is a would-be painter struggling to find his voice as an artist and his identity as a black gay man. When his disapproving father kicks him out, he winds up in a homeless shelter where he meets a sympathetic gay poet named Bruce (Roger Robinson). As they get to know each other, Perry learns that Bruce was at the center of the 1920s and '30s Harlem Renaissance and faced many of the same prejudices and challenges in his day that Perry faces now.
- 14Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle GallnerA campus culture war between blacks and whites at a predominantly white school comes to a head when the staff of a humor magazine stages an offensive Halloween party.More Dear White People
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- 15
Finding Me
Eugene Turner, Derrick L. Briggs, Ronald DeSuzeFinding Me is a 2009 drama film directed by Roger S. Omeus Jr. The film released on March 3, 2009 and stars RayMartell Moore as Faybien Allen, a young gay man that must navigate through a series of complex relationships while dealing with everyday struggles. - 16Charles S. Dutton, Courtney B. Vance, Kadeem HardisonJohn Williams (Courtney B. Vance) is an African-American attorney remembering one of his earliest and most personal cases -- in 1957, his own teenage nephew, Charlie (Garland Whitt), was charged with the murder of a white student. Charlie admits he committed the crime, but John believes the police bullied him into confessing. Charlie insists he is guilty, and the outraged public is more than ready to see the boy punished. Still, John believes Charlie is innocent and defends him in court.
- 17Samantha Mugatsia, Sheila Munyiva, Neville MisatiRafiki is a 2018 Kenyan drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu. Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva) are the daughters of two political rivals who fall in love amidst family and political pressure.More Rafiki
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- 18John Waters, Divine, Mink StolePink Flamingos is a 1972 American transgressive black comedy exploitation film written, produced, scored, shot, edited, narrated, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy due to the wide range of perverse acts performed in explicit detail. It has since become one of the most notorious films ever made and made an underground star of the flamboyant drag queen actor Divine.More Pink Flamingos
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- 19Sophie Okonedo, Eamonn Walker, Frances BarberYoung Soul Rebels is a 1991 critically acclaimed coming-of-age/drama British film written by Derek Saldaan McClintock, Isaac Julien and Paul Hallam, and directed by Juilen. The film examines the interaction between youth cultural movements during the late 1970s in the UK. Namely skinheads, punks and soulboys along with the social, political and cultural tensions between them. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 9 August 1991, followed by a North American release on December 6, 1991. The film is also the feature film acting debuts of Sophie Okonedo and Eamonn Walker.
- 20Laura Harring, Oded Fehr, Jill Marie JonesDrool is a 2009 American film, starring Laura Harring, Jill Marie Jones, Oded Fehr, Ashley Duggan Smith, and Christopher Newhouse. The film itself speaks of sexual assault, teenage sex, homosexuals, verbal abuse and physical abuse.
- Filmmaker Daniel Peddle looks at how much the language, culture and visibility of the trans community has evolved during the last 25 years.
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- 22Seth Gilliam, Dwight Ewell, Rockmond DunbarThe never-ending search for Mr. Right takes a surprise detour into totally unexplored territory with "Punks." This sparkling, rhythm-and-blues-driven romantic comedy is the story of four close-knit friends trying to find that mythical relationship that will make finally make things right. But if you think that sounds familiar, think again, because "Punks" is the first-ever comic love story set amidst the world of African-American gay men.
- 23Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn TurmanBayard Rustin, adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., dedicates his life to the quest for racial equality, human rights and worldwide democracy. However, as an openly gay Black man, he is all but erased from the civil rights movement he helped build.More Rustin
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- 24Tessa Thompson, Malcolm Goodwin, Michael Hyatt"Forever damned in Mississippi: two young coloured children burdened with the history of a family rife with addiction, violence and abuse, attempt to evade this apparently unalterable fate. Based on actual events, this moving film follows a large Afro-American family on the verge of dealing with its own foreboding past or becoming the victim of a crippling destiny: to remain forever imprisoned and without prospects in run-down Mississippi. Kari, a bright young girl, seems to be the only one who can escape this destructive world without risking the loss of her family." Quoting the synopsis on the Zurich Film Festival site.
- 25Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn TurmanMa Rainey's Black Bottom is a 2020 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe, based on the 1982 play by August Wilson. During a recording session, tensions rise between "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), her ambitious horn player (Chadwick Boseman), and the white management.
- 26
Kiki
Loretta Coombs, Takima Coombs, Afrika Juicy CoutureIn New York City, LGBTQ youth-of-color gather on the Christopher Street Pier to practice the performance-based art form Ballroom, which was made famous in the early 1990s by Madonna's music video "Vogue" and the documentary "Paris Is Burning." - 27Victoria Cruz, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia RiveraThe Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson is a 2017 documentary film directed by David France. This documentary uses never-before-seen footage and rediscovered interviews in a search for the truth behind the mysterious 1992 death of black transgender activist and Stonewall veteran Marsha P. Johnson.
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- 28Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Malcolm XI Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 French, American, Belgian and Swiss documentary film directed by Raoul Peck, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript Remember This House. Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as his personal observations of American history.
- 29Ledisi, Barbie-Q, Stephanie MoseleyLeave It On the Floor is a 2011 musical film written by Glenn Gaylord and directed by Sheldon Larry.
- 30Pauli Murray, Brittney Cooper, Rosalind RosenbergA look at the life and ideas of Pauli Murray, a non-binary Black lawyer, activist and poet who influenced both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall.
- 31Queen Latifah, Michael Kenneth Williams, Khandi AlexanderBlues singer Bessie Smith (Queen Latifah) rises to fame in the 1920s to become a musical legend.More Bessie
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Black is... Black Ain't
Angela Davis, Cornel West, Essex HemphillAfrican-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis. - Filmmaker Yoruba Richen examines the reaction of the black community to the debate over legalizing gay marriage.
- 34Loretta Devine, Veronica Webb, SommoreDirty Laundry is a 2006 drama film written, directed, and starring Maurice Jamal. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and distributed by Codeblack Entertainment. It is available on DVD and is rated PG-13.More Dirty Laundry
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