Finding ways to watch LGBTQ+ content can be hard if you don’t know where to look. Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a “gay Netflix”?
Look no further, because we’re here to introduce you to GagaOOLala, the one and only Asian streaming platform for LGBTQ+ content from around the world.
The site is based in Taiwan, the first place in Asia to achieve same-sex marriage, GagaOOLala is available worldwide for $6.99 a month. All films currently are equipped with English and Chinese subtitles, with other languages being added continuously.
Why makes GagaOOLala so special?
Despite the popular rise of BL, Asian LGBTQ+ content and representation can feel especially inaccessible in the West. In particular, heavy censoring of queer content in China complicates access.
So for people who have always wanted to see themselves reflected in queer media, GagaOOLala is a godsend. CEO Jay Lin understands.
In a conversation with Variety, Lin said, “Of course there are LGBT-focused services in Europe and the U.S., but they’re almost exclusively Western. There are very few Asian titles, and if there are, they’re more Asian American, or from a U.S.-centric or Western-centric point of view.”
GagaOOLala is the first streaming service available globally with such a diverse range of uncensored Asian queer content.
What can you watch on GagaOOLala?
GagaOOLala hosts an incredible variety of titles. From BL dramas and comedies, to social documentaries and coming-of-age shorts, to romcoms and fantasy movies.
You can sort by category, region, and genre to find exactly what you want to watch.
Here are a few of the Oscar-worthy gems you can't find anywhere else.
1. Until Rainbow Dawn
Until Rainbow Dawn is an award-winning Japanese film based on the true story of an openly lesbian deaf director. It follows two deaf girls who meet each other through a sign language group.
Unfortunately, mainstream media often overlooks the intersection of queerness and disability. So, Until Rainbow Dawn, a landmark film with a deaf cast and crew, showcases the beauty found within intersectionality.
2. Small Talk
Small Talk is a heart-wrenching documentary about queerness through the lens of generational gaps, that hits anyone who has struggled to connect with their parents deep in the gut.
In Asian and immigrant families, queerness often feels unspeakable. This divide can add to the silence that stretches on between ourselves and the people we love.
As a result, watching the tentative conversations in Small Talk is like watching the sky finally break open with light.
3. A Woman Is a Woman
A Woman Is a Woman is an award-winning Cantonese film that explores gender, transness, and love in Hong Kong through the portrait of a family.
a conservative and ignorant society that invalidates self-identification. Furthermore, trans people are invisible in China’s health care system, forcing many young people to seek unsafe gender-affirming surgery.
Being transgender in China goes right up againstJust as there are Chinese trans individuals and activists fighting for trans rights, visibility, and legal recognition, there are many closeted trans people torn between family and living authentically.
Therefore, A Woman Is a Woman is beautiful and groundbreaking for centering a frank exploration of transness, making visible the invisible.
This Pride Month and beyond, what will you watch on GagaOOLala?
For more recommendations, check out GagaOOLala’s compilation of LGBTQ+ shorts:
“From the exploring of sexual orientation to a loving gaze that freezes time, these 10 exquisite flash stories from all around the world can be finished within the time of a single trip or a meal.”
We hope that throughout this Pride Month and beyond, GagaOOLala helps you find a story that truly resonates.
0 Comments