As we approach the end of Pride Month, let's delve into a vibrant array of movies and TV shows that honor our community. I've unearthed some stunning LGBTQ Netflix treasures. Each one is special and hand-selected.

This is no random assortment. These are films and series where LGBTQ+ characters shine brightly at the center. They're not merely sidekicks or token characters. They're the main attractions, the heart and soul of their narratives. Even the supporting roles are portrayed positively, enriching the story with their presence.

I've shared laughter and tears with these characters. Their victories have been mine, and their heartaches too. These are stories that mirror our lives, our triumphs, our challenges. What a joy it is to see us - the LGBTQ+ community - depicted in all our vibrant diversity on the Netflix LGBTQ platform. So, let's take the plunge. Because Pride isn't confined to a single month; it's a feeling that uplifts us throughout the year.

Netflix and Shine: Movie recommendations

1. Call Me By Your Name: Set in the 1980s Italy, the movie unfolds a sensual and transcendent tale of first love. The story revolves around a seventeen-year-old student who falls in love with the older man hired as his father's research assistant​.

2. I Care A Lot: A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears​.

3. The Half Of It: A smart but cash-strapped teen named Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock, not expecting to become his friend - or fall for his crush. The plot thickens as this shy, introverted, Chinese-American, straight-A student finds herself helping the school jock woo the girl they both secretly love​.

4. Prom: A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high-school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom​.

5. The Boys In The Band: The movie is set at a birthday party in 1968 New York, where a surprise guest and a drunken game leave seven gay friends reckoning with unspoken feelings and buried truths​.

6. Dancing Queens: Dylan Pettersson, a 23-year-old young woman from a small island in the Bohuslän archipelago, aspires to be a professional dancer. She's talked into covering cleaning duties at the struggling gay drag club Queens for a week. Victor, the club’s star dancer and choreographer, discovers Dylan's talent, and she desperately wants to be a dancer on the show, but she's a girl — and it's a drag show​.

TV to Be Proud Of: Show Recommendations

1. AJ And The Queen: The show follows "Ruby Red, a bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen who travels across America from club to club in a rundown 1986 R/V with her unlikely sidekick AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy ten-year-old stowaway"​.

2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: The series features Kimmy Schmidt, who was in eighth grade when she was kidnapped by Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. He held Kimmy and three other women captive for 15 years in an underground bunker and convinced them that a nuclear apocalypse had left them the sole survivors of humanity​.

3. Heartstopper: Written by Alice Oseman, the series primarily tells the story of Charlie Spring, a gay schoolboy who falls in love with classmate Nick Nelson​.

4. Sense8: The story of Sense8 begins when the psychic connection of eight strangers of a variety of walks of life from different parts of the world is "birthed" by a woman called Angelica, who kills herself to avoid capture by a man called "Whispers"​.

5. Insatiable: The show follows 17-year-old Patty Bladell who was bullied at school for being overweight, but after a violent encounter with a homeless man and a summer of liquid diet, she becomes thin and determined to exact revenge on her bullies at the start of her senior year​.

6. Sex Education: Sex Education primarily follows Otis Milburn, a student at Moordale Secondary School. Otis begins the series ambivalent about sex, in part because his single mother, Jean, is a sex therapist who frequently has affairs with male suitors but does not maintain romantic relationships​.

7. Young Royals: Young Royals is a Swedish teen drama romance streaming television series on Netflix. Set at the fictional elite boarding school Hillerska, the plot primarily follows the fictional Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, his romance with fellow male student Simon Eriksson, and the drama which results​.

And there we have it! From the sun-soaked Italian romance of "Call Me By Your Name," to the heart-tugging high school drama in "Heartstopper," we've journeyed through a myriad of emotions. We've danced with the delightful cast of "Prom," and navigated the complex corridors of royalty with "Young Royals."

Each of these narratives has painted a vibrant stroke on the canvas of LGBTQ+ representation. They've shown us that our stories are as diverse as we are. As the credits roll on Pride Month, remember, the celebration doesn't end here. Our stories continue to unfold, to inspire, to resonate.

So keep watching, keep celebrating, and most importantly, keep being you. Because at the end of the day, that's what these films and shows are all about - celebrating every shade of the rainbow that we are. Until next time, happy watching!