9 Gay-Themed Holiday Movies

Keith Jordan and Adamo Ruggiero in 2009’s Make the Yuletide Gay.

It’s a week before Christmas and all through the house, not a holiday movie is playing because you didn’t know such a thing existed. Until now. I scoured the web to round up 10 films that are either totally gay or have prominent gay characters. I even found one starring Miss Richfield 1981.

Red Lodge (2013, 78 min): A man proposes to his boyfriend. The offer of marriage is accepted, and then quickly rejected — all in the days leading up to Christmas. —IMDB

Scrooge & Marley (2012, 91 min.): Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is an all-too-familiar story that has had its fair share of Hollywood adaptations. With Scrooge & Marley, debut directors Richard Knight Jr. and Peter Neville attempt to modernize the well-worn holiday tale by putting a gay spin on it. —Philadelphia City Paper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H19PooygoA

Make the Yuletide Gay (2009, 89 min): Gunn is totally at ease with his sexuality when it comes to everyday life. But going home to spend the holidays with his well-meaning Midwestern parents — who have no idea he’s gay — is a little different. Of course, his closeted charade seems to be working fine until his mom and dad try to set him up with an old flame (Hallee Hirsh) — and his current boyfriend (Adamo Ruggiero) shows up unannounced. —Netflix

Holiday in Handcuffs (2007, 86 min.): During Christmas dinner, the holiday comes to an abrupt end when aspiring painter Trudie’s (Melissa Joan Hart) parents begin to fight, her brother announces that he is gay, and her sister says that she has quit Law School and bought a Pilates studio with her parents’ tuition money. —Wikipedia

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2006, 129 min.): This one doesn’t scream Christmas, but the holidays play a special role in this story about a gay teen trying to come to terms with his sexuality in a family of macho brothers and a bullheaded dad. Instead of yuletide tunes, you’ll be regaled with a great soundtrack of sounds from the ’60s and ’70s, like Pink Floyd, David Bowie and even Miss Patsy Cline.

The Family Stone (2005, 106 min.): A family gathers for their annual holiday celebration at the home of their liberal, New England parents. One of the guests is Meredith, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, which is almost gay enough, but those looking for the extra dose of homodays will enjoy the side story about gay son and his partner who announce to their family that they’re ready to adopt.

Miss Richfield 1981: Fall on Your Knees Christmas Extravaganza (2005, 60 min): Holiday comedy show from Minnesota’s Mistress of Mayhem! This camp production showcases a spectacle of variety, live on stage from her sold out show, and comes with music. Includes Miss Richfield’s candid interaction with audience members at a pre-show celebration. —IMDB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfFx2YXgEfQ

Too Cool for Christmas (2004, 96 min): Sixteen-year-old Lindsay Dearborn (Brooke Nevin) is “too cool for Christmas,” and wants no part of the family celebration being planned by her two male homosexual parents (Adam Harrington and Barclay Hope) and her kid sister Alexa (Jodelle Ferland). —New York Times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvElrGvDzpw

Home for the Holidays (1995, 103 min.): Every year, Claudia (Holly Hunter) dreads her trip home for Thanksgiving. Between her parents (Charles Durning and Anne Bancroft), her sardonic [GAY!] brother (Robert Downey Jr.) and her overdramatic sister (Cynthia Stevenson), things are bad enough. But this year, Claudia has more reason for angst. She’s lost her job and is dealing with her daughter’s (Claire Danes) revelation about her sexual activities. Jodie Foster directs this ode to dysfunction. —Netflix

A Tuna Christmas: The second in a series of comedic plays … set in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas, the “third-smallest” town in the state. … The plays are at once an affectionate comment on small-town, Southern life and attitudes but also a withering satire of same. The plays are notable in that two men play the entire cast of over twenty eccentric characters of both genders and various ages. —Wikipedia