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Four LGBTQ media options for rainy April afternoons

In partnership with Spinsify.

By Alastair James

Pictures: Pexels

April usually marks the beginning of spring. In addition to the sunny days and blossoming greenery, April showers are also fairly common. Here, we have four media tips for cheering up those gloomy days with some LGBTQ media.

Online casino

The traditional casino and gambling scene has been filled with conservative gender roles. The introduction of online casinos has created more room for diversity in the gambling market.

One example of this inclusive gambling market is the world’s first transgender professional poker player Michelle Nastasis. The ability to gamble on your own terms has allowed target groups that were previously left out of ‘serious’ gambling circles to take initiative and join the market.

Apart from their gender-inclusive approach, online gambling platforms such as Spinsify offer a wide variety of excitement. Platform entertainment ranges from various slot machines, to live board games such as poker or blackjack.

You could spend the entire afternoon simply browsing through and testing out the assortments like a cheese platter!

Books

What’s better than curling up with a warm cup of tea and a good book under a blanket on a rainy day? There are plenty of various options for LGBTQ literature, and you can choose whether you want to read historical works or more modern romance fiction.

For the former, we recommend James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room (1956), which was nominated by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential novels in 2019.

For lighter modern romance books, two of the most well-known works have been Becky Albertalli’s Love, Simon (2015) and Casey McQuiston’s Red, White, and Royal Blue (2019).

Movies

In terms of movies, there are plenty of adaptations of literary works, including some of those mentioned above. However, there are also other classics that have been made for the screen.

Start with a history lesson by learning more about the New York drag scene of the 80s through the praised documentary Paris Is Burning (1990).

Then take time to watch the critically acclaimed 2016 coming-of-age movie Moonlight. The movie was groundbreaking as it took an important step for diversity: it resulted in the first African American woman to be nominated for editing a movie, and the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.

TV shows

Of course, we also need to list the largest hobby the world knows today; binge-watching TV shows. Alone or together, with a takeaway or a fancy cheese platter – you just can’t go wrong. There are also plenty of drama-filled LGBTQ series to dig into.

The first option is a return to the classics: RuPaul’s Drag Race. The sass, the shade, and drama. If you’re looking for something with a bit more plot but still packed with comedy, we recommend the light-hearted Sex Education.

If you fancy something more dramatic, then the action-packed thriller American Crime Story, specifically season two – The Assassination of Gianni Versace.