We’ve gone back through our cinematic archives to mine some of our favorite depictions of Black, queer love in the movies. These films profiled here explore love in all its forms, from friendship to romance to self-love with probing power. From Oscar winners to indie gems, they offer perspectives on race, gender, sexuality, and relationships that touch our hearts, and that we will not soon forget.
Grab the popcorn and someone beautiful, and get ready to stream…
The Skinny
Director Patrik-Ian Polk (remember his name… it will pop up again) gave a young Jussie Smollett one of his best roles in this comedy/romance about a group of friends attending Pride. Just like every great Pride experience, said friends find themselves in some steamy situations, though the real love here is the camaraderie among the group.
Moonlight
Director Barry Jenkins explores male identity and queer male love in this deeply moving tale of lifelong friends Kevin and Chiron. Viewers noticed, and the movie took home a Best Picture Academy Award.
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Pariah
Cinematic powerhouse Dee Rees made an auspicious feature debut with this story of a butch, Black lesbian coming to terms with her feminine and racial identities, as well as her growing attraction to her best friend. To date, it remains one of the frankest and unapologetic movies about queer love ever made.
Tongues Untied
Though it contains no sex scenes, director Marlon Riggs’ masterpiece revels in images of male-to-male affection, as it ruminates on the intersection between masculinity, race, and sexual orientation. Rarely do documentaries get this sensuous, or this profound.
Blackbird
Not to be confused with any number of films that share the same title, this 2014 gem from Patrick-Ian Polk chronicles the story of Randy (Julian Walker), a southern teen struggling with his deep faith and his growing attraction to other men. It also features some of the most outrageous–and passionate–love scenes in cinema.
Naz & Maalik
This love story by director Jay Dockendorf follows the budding romance between two Muslim, immigrant teenagers. The film became a critical darling back in 2015. As the two boys draw closer and closer to one another, an FBI agent begins to believe the couple is plotting a terrorist attack. Little does she know, the pair’s only secret is their love for one another.
Brother to Brother
A baby-faced Anthony Mackie stars in this 2004 story about Perry, a young gay, Black man befriending a founding member of the Harlem Renaissance. Told through a series of explicit flashbacks and flashforwards, Perry comes to discover the parallels between 21st-century racism and homophobia, and those faced by the likes of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.
The Watermelon Woman
Cheryl Dunye caused a sensation with this scripted-documentary hybrid. Apart from being one of the most important LGBTQ films ever made, critics hailed the film for its frank depiction of lesbian sex, with critic Jeannine DeLombard raving that it had “the hottest dyke sex scene ever recorded on celluloid.”
Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom
Patrik-Ian Polk (there’s his name again) followed up his cult TV series with this spin-off movie, which found the title character (again portrayed by Darryl Stephens) getting some proverbial wedding jitters ahead of his nuptials to boyfriend Wade (Jensen Atwood). Hey, honest depiction sometimes means showing the good and the bad.
The Color Purple
While we have to add a certain caveat here that the erotic scenes here are way too tame, we also have to commend Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Alice Walker classic novel as one of the most tender, moving films about the love between two women ever made. Here’s hoping the forthcoming musical remake manages to retain that moving power and turn up the volume on lesbian love.
Related: Ain’t love grand? Valentine’s Day movies for the queer of heart
Kangol2
I imagine few will comment on this thread, but this is a good starter list. I’d put Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom at the top of the list, since it actually includes a Black gay male romance that culminates in same-sex nuptials before they were even legal all over the US.
Also, the brand new film B-Boy Blues, now out, should be on this list for its beautiful, affirming portrait of a Black gay male couple.
Some others to check out (info on Imdb or YouTube or both for many of these) include Rag Tag, Punks, Blueprint, Rafiki, Dakan, Blueprint, Set It Off, Bessie, Madame Satã, Finding Me, Stud Life, and The Ski Trip and The Ski Trip 2, etc.
There are also some great web Black LGBTQ series, like Giants, Conframa, etc. too!
mozzer
Nice to hear B-boy Blues got made into a movie. I’ll have to catch that. Ive been waiting forever for E. Lynn Harris’ novels to be made into movies. Probably never happen.
MISTERJETT
i’ve seen some of these. that kiss at the end of Punks made me tingle all over.
eeebee333
The Watermelon Woman was added to the 2021 National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Deacon
I see you did the let’s show we’re woke move by picking any Black gay film you could think of and call it “10 beautiful, sexy films that celebrate Black queer love”. I don’t know whether to be impressed that you could even came up with 10 films or insulted that you selected any 10 films with a black cast. Brother to Brother had a gay love scene but wasn’t about black gay love and Tongues Untied was a documentary about the black gay experience. I guess I could give you credit for making a effort……maybe.
wiggie
I disagree. Brother to Brother was definitely a gay story. The majority of the people talked about during the Harlem Renaissance were gay or bisexual.
Kangol2
It was half-hearted but I didn’t expect that much. I’m more impressed that people actually commented. I mean, there are films that specifically feature Black gay and queer romance, and they got several of them, but they probably could have dug deeper. If they look at web series, they’d find a lot more, so I was surprised, given that it’s 2022 and people look at the net as much or more than they watch TV or attend films, that they didn’t includes these as well.
MISTERJETT
it seems damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Me2
Decent list, but the film version of B-boy Blues should absolutely be on it. It was so well done that it’s easily a fav of mine now.
JB
Moonlight is indeed a great movie, but it certainly doesn’t CELEBRATE Black queer love. It’s not a celebration of anything. It is much more about the struggles and trials many Black queer men encounter as the navigate their lives. It belongs on many “best of…” lists, but definitely not this one.