Grab a blanket and get yourself all cosy, it’s time to binge the best queer Christmas movies of all time. From recent releases to old classics, this list won’t disappoint.

The Holiday Exchange (2024)
The film stars Wilde (Taylor Frey) who shakes up the holidays by swapping houses with Oliver (Rick Cosnett) through an LGBTQ+ app. Both end up meeting locals who ignite a romantic flame and turn their lives upside down.  

Meet Me Next Christmas (2024)
Despite its conventionally straight narrative, which features Layla (Christina Milian) racing through New York City to get her hands on sold-out concert tickets with the help of a handsome and friendly concierge (Devale Ellis), drag queens steal the show in this movie.

Made For You (2019)
This short film tells the story of two men in a long-distance relationship, one American and one English, who keep in contact through messages and FaceTime. The film explores the couple’s relationship as it blossoms and develops throughout the year, showing the romantic moments they share together through their phone screens. 

The Holiday Sitter (2022)
Jonathan Bennet is back for yet another Hallmark queer Christmas film! This time Bennett’s character spends the holidays babysitting his niece and nephew with the help of their attractive neighbour, Jason. 

A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter (2024)
Sabrina Carpenter delivers a Netflix Christmas special full of music and outstanding duets with remarkable artists such as queer favourite Chappell Roan.

The Christmas Setup (2020)
Lifetime’s first queer Christmas movie, The Christmas Setup, which stars real-life married couple Blake Lee (Parks and Recreation) and Ben Lewis (Arrow, The Handmaid’s Tale), is about a New York City lawyer who goes to Milwaukee with his best friend, to spend the holidays with his mother.

Carol (2015)
Since its release in 2015, Carol has become a staple in Christmas viewing for many reasons, but Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett certainly help. The romance film is set in 1950s New York and sees a department store clerk, played by Mara, fall in love with an older married woman, played by Blanchett. 

Scrooge & Marley (2012)
This modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol reimagines Scrooge and Marley as ex-boyfriends. And just to make the yuletide a little gayer, it’s also a musical!

Last Exmas (2024)
The problem with small towns is that its easy to come across your ex. This is exactly what happens to these two characters, despite their efforts to avoid each other over Christmas.

Tangerine (2015)
​​On Christmas Eve, trans sex worker Sin-Dee Rella is released from a 28-day prison sentence. Upon being released, she finds out that her. boyfriend has been sleeping with a white cis woman. This causes Sin-Dee to go on a trek across Los Angeles to find the unfaithful pair. Despite not following the traditional narrative, even when it comes to queer Christmas movies, Tangerine is not only set during the holiday season but at its core is a movie about family.

A Jenkins Family Christmas (2021)
The Jenkins family is preparing for their first Christmas after their father’s death, trying to stay jolly and keep their festive traditions alive. But there’s some news the family wasn’t expecting: Kenny (Anthony Chatmon II) brings his boyfriend home, although he has never come out to his mother.

The Christmas House (2020)
Before The Holiday Sitter, gay actor Jonathan Bennet starred in The Christmas House, a movie about a couple who are trying to enjoy the holidays, despite being anxiously awaiting a call about the adoption of their first child.

The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls (2021)
The original The Christmas House film became the first-ever Hallmark movie to prominently feature a gay character when it aired in 2020. The 2021 sequel, Deck Those Halls, sees the original cast brought back together as two brothers compete in a décor-off to see who can create the best Christmas house.

Carnage for Christmas (2024)
This is not a classical joyful Christmas queer movie. In this horror film, true-crime podcaster and sleuth trans woman Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning. Under those circumstances, she finds herself solving a murder.

Single All The Way (2021)
The plot of this film follows a gay man (Michael Urie) who somehow manages to convince his best friend (Philemon Chambers) to pretend to be his boyfriend when he goes home for Christmas. However, his mother (Kathy Najimy) has other plans when she tries to set him up on a blind date…

The Jinkx & DeLA Holiday Special (2020)
Providing the ultimate dose queer cheer, The Jinkx & DeLA Holiday Special offers singing, dancing, comedy and much more to get you in the mood for the festive season.

With Love (2021)
While With Love might not be an actual film, it is a groundbreaking miniseries. It’s Prime’s first series featuring an LGBTQ+ cast and storyline, and one of the first transgender love stories to ever be featured in a holiday rom-com. 

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Starring none other than Ella Hunt (Dickinson’s own Sue Gilbert), Anna and the Apocalypse is a British Christmas zombie musical film. The story is set in a town named Little Haven that is struck by a zombie apocalypse leaving Anna (Hunt) and her friends to save their loved ones. Director John McPhail has said that he took inspiration from West Side Story, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Breakfast Club when crafting this unique toe-tapping holiday movie.

Christmas on the Square (2020)
​​There might not be any LGBTQ+ relationships or plot in this movie but it has got Dolly Parton and Christine Baranski so I mean, it most definitely counts as a queer Christmas film to us! And wait until you hear what this one is about. An embittered scrooge of a woman (Baranski) returns to her hometown with plans to sell it regardless of the consequences for the people who live there. However, a warm and kind angel (Good Golly Miss Dolly!) arrives to show her what would happen if she did so.

Dashing in December (2020)
Looking for queer cowboys, feel-good scenes, and Christmas delights? Well, move over Brokeback Mountain, because Dashing in December is the feel-good gay cowboy movie we have been looking for. Starring Juan Pablo Di Pace and Peter Porte, Dashing in December follows a New York businessman who falls for the gruff ranch hand after returning to his rural roots for Christmas.

A Very Salem Christmas (2021)
Set in the world of Days of Our Lives, this queer festive film follows Will and his husband Sonny as they try to write the script for a Christmas movie on a tight deadline. Fun fact! Will and Sonny’s wedding on Days of Our Lives was actually the first-ever same-sex wedding between men to appear on US daytime drama television. 

The Higher Spirit (2022)
Coming home for the holidays might be a challenging experience for the Higher-Mills family. Mixed backgrounds, lesbians, adopted daughters and their partners all come together in this queer Christmas movie full of deep and meaningful messages about love, pain and family.

Happiest Season (2020)
This release follows the story of Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (McKenzie Davis), a lesbian couple dealing with the ups and downs of visiting conservative relatives over the Christmas period. Directed and co-written by Clea DuVall, Happiest Season is not one to be missed! 

Let It Snow (2019)
When a snowstorm hits a small town on Christmas Eve, a group of high school seniors finds their friendships and love lives unexpectedly colliding.

Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)
A university student is out on his college campus but hasn’t told his parents that he’s gay. When he goes home for Christmas, his closeted act seems to be going fine until his current boyfriend shows up unannounced.

Friends & Family Christmas (2023)
Overwhelmed by Christmas events and a surprise visit from her parents, photographer Dani asks lawyer Amelia for help. Pretending to date is the perfect solution, until real feelings develop.

Season of Love (2019)
This queer holiday rom-com follows three very different couples as they deal with their love lives. Their loosely interrelated tales are set right before Christmas through to New Year’s.

Red Lodge (2013)
Also known as The Unattainably Perfect Gay Christmas, this flick follows a man who is preparing a Christmas Eve proposal to his boyfriend of two years. In true rom-com fashion, however, things don’t exactly go to plan.

Imagine Me & You (2005)
A married woman, Rachel, starts falling for Luce as soon as she knows she’s a lesbian. Soon, Rachel herself starts questioning her sexual orientation and suddenly she must decide between her stable relationship with Heck or her new romance with Luce.

Lucky Fares (2014)
One of the Three Kings and Santa Claus spend Christmas in jail, talking about what their future will be like. This is a short film on social exclusion and the struggle of being oneself in a hard world.

Some of My Best Friends Are… (1971)
This story takes place in a Manhattan gay bar on Christmas Eve of 1971, where local queer folk gather to celebrate the festivities with their loved ones. As the film goes on, truthful conversations and reflections about the past year are brought up.

The Bitch Who Stole Christmas (2021)
If you love Drag Race, this one’s for you! In one of the draggiest queer festive films ever made, a workaholic big-city fashion journalist is sent to a Christmas-obsessed small town to dig up a story. Unexpectedly, she finds herself in the middle of cut-throat housewives, a high-stakes Winter Ball competition, and a sinister plot that could destroy Christmas for-evah.

I Hate New Year’s (2020)
Music star Layne decides to head home to Nashville for New Year’s Eve, looking to find her ex by jumping between bars and parties with her best friend Cassie. In an unexpected turn of events, she realises that the love of her life has been right in front of her all along.

Under the Christmas Tree (2021)
Under the Christmas Tree follows two women who cross paths because of their unique careers. The film’s description mentions an enchanting tree, some Christmas fairy dust, and a pâtissière extraordinaire. Say no more because we’re hooked. Definitely one to add to your list of queer Christmas films to watch.

Rent (2005)
“Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes, is Rent really, a Christmas movie?” It sure is! The timeline begins on Christmas Eve 1989, and concludes on Christmas Eve 1990 – exactly one year later. The late Jonathan Larson wrote this poignant musical (he also wrote Tick, Tick…Boom!) and it is a devastating account of a group of New Yorkers who struggle with their careers, their love lives and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their community.

A New York Christmas Wedding (2020)
When a bride-to-be gets a special visit from an angel on the night before her Christmas Eve wedding, she discovers what might’ve happened if she hadn’t denied her feelings for her childhood female best friend. 

Christmas on Cherry Lane (2023)
This delightfully queer Hallmark film stars Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Vincent Rodriguez III. Christmas on Cherry Lane follows three couples trying to celebrate the holiday season while simultaneously navigating crucial turning points in their lives.

This was our list of queer Christmas films we recommend you watch this holiday season – happy viewing!