While it's not the focus for most Christmas classics, making the yuletide gay is - literally - at the forefront for films, especially those of the last decade. Queer characters are becoming much more mainstream in film and television, and that includes holiday movies to make your spirits extra bright.

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Whether it's Kristen Stewart's first-ever queer character, a holly jolly RuPaul Christmas spectacular, or Jonathan Bennett's groundbreaking Hallmark Channel roles, if you're looking for some gay, happy meetings with LGBTQ+ characters, there are plenty of movies to choose from this holiday season.

'Happiest Season' (2020)

happiest-season-hulu-mackenzie-davis-harper-social-featured
Image via Hulu

After Kristen Stewart publicly came out in 2020, her first role as a queer character came in that year's Happiest Season, a GLAAD Award-winning film starring alongside fellow LGBTQ+ actors Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza and drag queens BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon.

This heartwarming lesbian romance follows Stewart's Abby who gears up to propose to her girlfriend Harper over Christmas at her family's house, until she learns Harper has yet to come out to her conservative parents and begs her to pretend to be her straight roommate for the holidays.

'The Christmas House' (2020)

The Christmas House

The Christmas House is a 2020 Hallmark Channel movie that followed two competitive brothers on their journeys to decorate their parents' house and turn it into "the Christmas house" that they and their childhood neighbors are used to when their parents no longer wish to make the effort.

But when the film isn't focusing on one brother rekindling with his old high school sweetheart, it stars Jonathan Bennett as one of the channel's first gay characters. Bennett's character Brandon is seen awaiting news of his and his husband's impending adoption in this groundbreaking Hallmark Channel film.

'The Christmas Setup' (2020)

The Christmas Setup

2020 was the year for queer Christmas films, and Lifetime's The Christmas Setup is another prime example of making the yuletide gay. Starring Fran Drescher as an overbearing but accepting mother, the film also introduces real-life husbands Ben Lewis and Blake Lee as the leading couple.

As Lifetime's very first LGBTQ+ Christmas film, it follows Lewis' Hugo as he comes home for the holidays and reconnects with his high school crush, played by Lee. After the two start to rekindle their old romance, Hugo is faced with a tough decision about staying with Lee's Patrick or moving to London for business.

'The Bitch Who Stole Christmas' (2021)

The Bitch Who Stole Christmas

RuPaul is a drag queen superstar known for appearing in dozens of TV shows and films, and in 2021, he starred in MTV's The Bitch Who Stole Christmas along with a slew of notable names in both the LGBTQ+ and the drag community like Ross Matthews, Carson Kressley and Ginger Minj.

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When a fashion journalist is sent on assignment to a small town obsessed with Christmas, she winds up caught between housewives, a drag competition and someone's evil plot to destroy the holiday season, all while she attempts to dig up a story.

'Make The Yuletide Gay' (2009)

Make The Yuletide Gay

An older queer Christmas romcom is 2009's Make The Yuletide Gay, starring Keith Jordan and Adamo Ruggiero as the leading couple alongside openly gay soap opera star Ian Buchanan as Ruggiero's on-screen father and actress Hallee Hirsh as Jordan's on-screen BFF.

Similarly to Happiest Season, in Make The Yuletide Gay, Jordan's Gunn is openly out of the closet while at college, but when he returns home for Christmas and receives an unexpected visit from his boyfriend, Ruggiero's Nathan, he must decide whether to keep their relationship a secret or finally come out to his family.

'Single All The Way' (2021)

Make The Yuletide Gay

In 2021, Netflix released its first LGBTQ-themed Christmas film with a very Hallmark-like story. Single All The Way stars Michael Urie and Philemon Chambers as Peter and Nick, with Kathy Najimy, Jennifer Coolidge and Hallmark Channel alum Luke Macfarlane.

Unlike other queer romcoms about a couple hiding their relationship over the holidays, in Single All The Way, when Peter comes home for Christmas with his family, he convinces his best friend Nick to pose as his boyfriend in order to not be shamed by his overbearing mother for still being single.

'A Very Salem Christmas' (2021)

A Very Salem Christmas

A Very Salem Christmas was Days of Our Lives' very first Christmas movie, airing on Peacock in 2021. While the movie followed different Christmas-themed stories about well-known characters like Sami Brady, Marlena Evans and Kristen DiMera, the film primarily centered around husbands Will and Sonny.

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As a film writer, Will struggles to finish his Christmas movie on time, enlisting the help of Sonny to create a Christmas story themed around their loved ones back in Salem, and end the film with a met deadline and a kiss by the tree.

'A New York Christmas Wedding' (2020)

A New York Christmas Wedding

The queer Christmas romcom genre may seriously lack some lesbian representation here and there, but A New York Christmas Wedding takes care of that. You can't go wrong with a movie set in New York City at Christmastime, especially one that centers around the love between two women.

In this A Christmas Carol-esque story, the night before her Christmas Eve wedding, Jennifer is visited by an angel who shows her what life would have been like had she admitted her true feelings for her female best friend from childhood.

'Spoiler Alert' (2022)

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Image via Focus Features

Spoiler Alert, the latest film from The Big Bang Theory star and openly gay actor Jim Parsons, hits theaters in December 2022 and may not solely center around Christmas, but largely features scenes set around the holiday season for Parsons and Ben Aldridge's fictional relationship.

Based on the memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies by Michael Ausiello, Spoiler Alert tells the true story of a photographer's cancer diagnosis and the love between him and his partner during his remaining months as they live life to the fullest before the inevitable happens.

'The Holiday Sitter' (2022)

'The Holiday Sitter'

Jonathan Bennet is taking Hallmark Channel by storm in 2022 when he stars in the first-ever LGBTQ-led Christmas movie in the channel's history. Alongside romcom actor George Krissa, the two create a budding romance between their characters Sam and Jason in The Holiday Sitter.

When he's called upon to babysit his niece and nephew over the holiday season, Bennett's Sam enlists the help of their neighbor, Krissa's Jason, but never expects a Christmastime romance to form between them as they celebrate Christmas with the kids in this Hallmark Channel groundbreaker.

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