UPDATED APRIL 2020
The BBC’s iPlayer has a number of LGBT focussed programmes and titles on it. We’ve listed the most current list of LGBT content available to stream from the BBC.
LGBT Documentaries on the BBC
Believer follows Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds on a new, personal, mission to explore how The Mormon church treats its LGBTQ members. With the suicide rate rising amongst teens in the church’s home state of Utah, his concern with the church’s teachings forbidding same-sex sexual behaviour sends him on path of acceptance and change. Believer follows Dan and openly gay ex-Mormon and lead singer of Neon Trees, Tyler Glenn, as they create LoveLoud, a festival they hope will reconcile the church and members of the LGBTQ community. Directed by Don Argott.
Caitlyn Jenner: Honesty WATCH NOW
The world’s most famous transgender woman Caitlyn Jenner explains why honesty is the key to peace of mind. In 1976, Caitlyn – then known as Bruce – won Decathlon gold at the Montreal Olympics. She was called ‘the world’s greatest athlete’. Fame and adulation followed but gender dysphoria – where there’s a mismatch between someone’s biological sex and their gender identity – was always bubbling away under the surface. In 2015, Caitlyn finally came out as a transgender woman. In this episode Simon Mundie and Caitlyn discuss some of the lessons she has learnt throughout her incredible life. They talk about the importance of honesty, and being true to yourself and your family around you. About not judging a book by its cover, as someone who apparently has it all may well be suffering inside, and about why it’s all about the challenges you overcome, not the heights you attain. You can hear the full one-hour 20 minutes unedited version of this interview on BBC Sounds – just search for the Radio 4 podcast Don’t Tell Me The Score.
Gareth Thomas: HIV and Me WATCH NOW
Rugby legend Gareth Thomas lifts the lid on living with HIV. In an emotional and hard-hitting documentary he finally goes public about his condition and reveals how hiding the truth about his health left him feeling depressed and contemplating taking his own life.
Now he is on a journey to change perceptions about HIV by raising awareness, fighting prejudice and taking on the biggest physical challenge of his career – running the world’s toughest Iron Man.
With the help of family, friends, medical experts and others with HIV, he sets about tackling the stigmas, myths and misunderstandings surrounding the condition. Modern medicine may have made the virus treatable and non-transmittable, but old ideas about HIV still persist and Gareth is on a mission to smash the stereotypes and show that ‘he has HIV and it’s OK’
Generation Activism: Transgender Rights WATCH NOW
Fox and Owl define as non-binary and have dedicated their lives to campaigning for trans rights. They filmed a typical week in their lives, revealing the highs and the lows of life as a trans activist.
Hate And Pride In Orlando WATCH NOW
Stacey Dooley travels to Orlando in the aftermath of the Pulse Bar shootings in 2016.
She attends vigils, marches and funerals to see how America responds to this latest atrocity and she’ll ask if this could be the one to finally make a difference. Stacey explores the levels of prejudice and homophobia faced daily by the LGBT community in America, levels that are often compounded if you belong to an ethnic or religious minority.
With revelations that the shooter may himself have been gay, she will also try to track down and talk with gay Muslims to understand the conflict they face between their religion and their sexuality.
Insider’s Guide: Glasgow WATCH NOW
Lawrence Chaney is a drag queen who lives in Glasgow. If you’re looking for entertainment in the city, Lawrence has you covered with an independent cinema, music hall and gay club. If vintage clothes are your thing, Lawrence has the insider’s tip on where you can get unique clothes from days gone by.
And if, at the end of all the exploring, you need a good, old-fashioned chippy – it’s on the table.
Late Night Line-UP WATCH NOW
Michael Dean hosts a discussion about the two-part Man Alive report on homosexuality in Britain. The panellists, writer Maureen Duffy, social psychologist Michael Schofield, Conservative MP Ray Mawby and an unnamed general practitioner, debate whether it was appropriate to show the programmes at 8pm and question the broadcasts’ balance in only including homosexual contributors. The conversation also covers wider issues, including people being blackmailed because of their sexuality, homosexuals working in positions of trust and the consideration that one in 20 people might be gay.
At the time of this programme’s broadcast, doctors were not allowed to be identified on BBC television in case this was interpreted as an advert for their practice. It is for this reason that the GP is not named here. (1967)
Love and Hate Crime WATCH NOW
After complaining for years of homophobic bullying, teenager Abel Cedeno takes a knife to his New York school for the first time “for protection”. Within hours one of his classmates is dead and another seriously wounded. With Abel claiming self-defense, the story causes a sensation in the press and divides the city, pitting the black community against the gay community.
Filmed with access to the accused and the victim’s family in the run-up to the trial, cameras follow the lawyers as they battle it out in the press and the court of public opinion.
This fascinating murder mystery challenges our prejudices and asks: when is a killer the victim, and how does the victim become a villain?
Louis Theroux: America’s Most Hated Family In Crisis WATCH NOW
Following up on his 2007 documentary, The Most Hated Family in America, Louis Theroux returns to Topeka, Kansas, for a week-long visit with the Westboro Baptist Church.
He again joins the Phelps family on their controversial pickets where they try to antagonise communities with offensive slogans and anti-gay placards. But four years on from Louis’s last visit, there are signs of disarray in the Phelps clan. A series of defections of family members has shaken up the church.
Louis Theroux: Transgender Kids WATCH NOW
Louis Theroux travels to San Francisco where a group of pioneering medical professionals help children who say they were born in the wrong body transition from boy to girl or girl to boy at ever younger ages.
At the Child and Adolescent Gender Center at UCSF Hospital Louis meets children who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Louis is told that children as young as three can show signs of rejecting the gender they were assigned at birth, leaving parents with a difficult dilemma – do they start transitioning a child who is still developing their own identity or do they wait and risk making the change once their body has gone through the transformations of puberty?
It is a decision that can be the start of a complex series of medical interventions, from puberty blockers to hormone replacement therapy and eventually gender reassignment surgery. Louis spends time with children and their families as they negotiate their way along this life-changing journey.
In the second part of this Man Alive special report about homosexuality, Angela Huth interviews lesbians about their lives. ‘Stevie’ has been living as a man since her teens, even entering into heterosexual relationships with other women. Julie and Cynthia have lived together for many years and claim they see no difference between their relationship and that of a married couple. In a private club in Chelsea, lesbians can enjoy a safe haven that allows them to be themselves without risking condemnation from society. (1967)
Andrew is a 17-year-old student from Glasgow. After years of feeling different to his peers and hiding his sexuality from his family, he recently came out as gay. On the cusp of adulthood and with college life quickly approaching, Andrew wants a new look to reflect the new him.
In Sophia’s chair, Andrew confesses he’s experimented lots with colour but has never found the perfect shade. Apart from ‘cool and iconic’, Andrew is unsure of exactly what he wants. Luckily colour expert Sophia, is on-hand to curate a new hairstyle in denim blue.
As his hair goes blue, Andrew reveals that at school he was the ‘fat kid’ and felt isolated. Two years ago he lost a lot of weight but admits to stylist Twinks, that he’s still hiding in oversized clothes. Meanwhile, make-up artist, Paige, shows Andrew how guy liner can enhance his new blue hair.
Andrew wanted to come out to the world with a look that was truly him. He left Misfits Salon with a sharp blue hair and pinstriped style to build on.
Panorama Sex Education: The LGBT Debate In Schools WATCH NOW
Who should decide what our children learn about sex and relationships? Is it parents or the government? From next year, children as young as five will learn about LGBT relationships in lessons designed to promote greater tolerance in society. But in fact such classes have caused division – with conservative religious groups protesting against lessons they say ignore their belief that being gay is not allowed.
BBC Midlands correspondent Sima Kotecha meets the mainly Muslim protestors in Birmingham on the school gates, and travels across the country to hear from parents and campaigners from other faith communities who believe the secular state is ignoring their right to practice religion.
Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay WATCH NOW
Recent figures show that more than 40 per cent of LGBT+ people will experience a significant mental health problem, compared to around 25 per cent of the whole population, and are more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide.
In this eye-opening film, young pop culture icon Olly Alexander explores why the gay community is more vulnerable to mental health issues, as he opens up about his own long-term battles with depression. As the outspoken frontman of British band Years and Years, Olly is a powerful voice on mental health, bullying and LGBT+ rights. He has broken taboos with music videos that celebrate queer identities and spoken openly about his own sexuality as well as his ongoing struggles with anxiety.
Queer Britain Series 1 WATCH NOW
Riyadh Khalaf looks at body image pressures in the gay community. He meets Jamal, who finds himself femme-shamed, and Rye, who has recovered from bulimia, and he also gets his kit off for a naked photo shoot with the Gay Times.
Storyville The Rise And Fall Of A Porn Star WATCH NOW
When 23-year-old Israeli Jonathan Agassi arrived with a bang on the gay porn scene in the late 2000s, his rise to fame was stratospheric, revolutionising the industry. After a traumatic childhood growing up gay in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, the man behind the performer claims that porn saved his life, but at a cost.
The Rise and Fall of a Porn Superstar charts Agassi’s journey from prolific adult superstar to male escort, battling many demons. Filmed over seven years, this unflinching, emotional and at times funny and shocking film explores the deeper and more devastating reasons for Agassi’s self-destructive behaviour with sensitivity and compassion.
The film also provides a rare and intimate insight into an industry that prioritises hedonism and fantasy above all, but at its core, this rollercoaster tale is a rare portrait of a damaged family and its lasting impact on those who are part of it
Two Minute Masterpiece: From His Perspective WATCH NOW
This film is a snapshot of the seemingly normalised and sometimes deliberate transphobia that a young man Matthew has to endure as he transitions in today’s society.
In this Two Minute Masterpiece film Caleb Roberts showcases the transphobia that young transgender people like himself face on a daily basis and the effect that this has on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.
Young, Welsh And Pretty Religious WATCH NOW
Religious hate crime in Wales has soared by 40% in the past twelve months. Why are we seemingly such an intolerant nation? And what is it like to be on the receiving end of the abuse?
Niqab-wearing Sahar speaks out about being abused on the streets and how she tackles it head-on, Hannah talks about the rise in antisemitism and the lengths the Jewish community have to go to in order to protect themselves, and bi-sexual Christian Will and a group of his LGBT+ friends share their experiences of being rejected by the church.
The BBC’s LGBT correspondent Ben Hunte speaks to one man who nearly died trying to achieve the perfect body and to others who have taken risks to achieve the “perfect body”.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised, support and advice is available via BBC Action Line.
LGBT Drama on the BBC
Blanca takes on a new fight when she insists on being served at a popular gay bar where trans people are denied access. She also finds the time to enter into open competition with Elektra at the Ball, and to give young Damon some sound motherly advice on love and sex, after he is asked on a date for the first time. Meanwhile, Stan’s attraction for Angel becomes ever stronger. But leaving his straight life is not an option
LGBT comedy on the BBC
Absolutely Fabulous: Gay WATCH NOW
Award-winning sitcom set in the world of fashion and PR.
Patsy is now chief buyer for a new designer shop called Jeremy’s. She goes to New York Fashion Week to find ideas but her plans are subverted by Edina’s search for Serge, Saffy’s long-departed older brother and their encounter with social counsellor Goldie (Whoopi Goldberg).
Meanwhile, Bo and Marshall are running a Christian TV show and Saffy has been observing the world from inside a cupboard to help her career as a writer.
Guests stars: Debbie Harry, Graham Norton, Christopher Ryan, Josh Hamilton, Danny Burstein, Mo Gaffney, Rufus Wainwright, Harriet Thorpe and Helen Lederer.
RuPaul brings the award-winning global phenomenon to the UK for the first time. Ten of the country’s most fabulous drag queens will compete in the Olympics of drag in the hope that RuPaul, queen of queens, will crown them as the UK’s first Drag Race superstar.
LGBT Arts on the BBC
New Creatives – Wink WATCH NOW
A small group of queer punks find safety and comfort in their local pub, but their world is turned upside down. A group of normative heterosexuals have obnoxiously taken over the pub. Tate and Bunny lead a mission to take it back.
New Creatives is supported by Arts Council England and BBC Arts.
A film by Abel Rubinstein Produced by Ludwig Meslet Production Designer – Ashton Attzs Director of Photography – Izzie Jones
Cast – Sukey Willis
Music by – Pxssy Liquor
