If you’ve ever typed “lesbian film” into a search bar and hoped for better results, OML has been doing the digging for you since 2009. What started as onemorelesbian.com has become one of the biggest homes for sapphic film and TV online, with 1.2 million YouTube subscribers and nearly 800 million views.
This week OML launched its own platform, OMLHQ.com. It has free films in the Screening Room, libraries of sapphic films and books, and The Frequency, OML’s weekly newsletter. And on Thursday 12 November 2026, the 2009 drama Hannah Free, starring Sharon Gless, returns to OML.
We spoke to founder Shirin Etessam about leaving the algorithm behind, paying filmmakers properly and the lesbian films that deserve a much bigger audience.
The story
OML started in 2009, when lesbian content online was hard to find. What gap were you trying to fill, and what did the early days look like?
“There was certainly a dearth of LBQ+ online video content in 2009, but that was just part of the issue. Search engines at the time weren’t as sophisticated as they are now. If you punched ‘lesbian film’ or ‘lesbian television’ into Google, the result would be endless porn sites. Now of course when you type the same, you see actual TV shows, film festivals and so forth. The results were frustrating and upsetting, so I thought there should be a site where one could find quality lesbian content, and that’s how onemorelesbian.com, OML’s original name, was born.
“In the early days, we would scour the internet for lesbian content and curate it on the site. The platform became quite popular fairly quickly because it was entirely unique. There were a few popular online lesbian publications at the time – AfterEllen, SheWired, Autostraddle – but none of them offered what we did, which made collaborating with them very easy. A few copycats popped up in the following years, but none survived.
“OML has always prided herself on turning competitors into collaborators. We are a niche within the LGBTQIA+ community, which is already a niche, so we are much stronger together and there is plenty of room for all of us.”
You’ve built nearly 800 million views on YouTube. Why move to your own platform now, and what has relying on an algorithm cost you along the way?
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“YouTube will always be an important part of what we do, and we are very grateful for the audience we’ve been able to build there. However, everything we do there ultimately relies on a third-party platform, controlled by corporate interests that often don’t align with the interests of the community we’re trying to serve. The algorithm is volatile and unpredictable. We’ve seen lesbian content get unfairly shadow banned, and films that were performing well one day completely removed from search results the next.
“YouTube is also limited in what it can offer. It’s a great place to promote films and web series, but not nearly as effective for books, games, music or small businesses, and the built-in community features are pretty weak. We want to build something much more expansive and resilient than we can with YouTube alone: a discovery platform for LBQ+ women’s media and culture, with an engaged community around it.”
What was the moment you knew OMLHQ.com had to happen?
“The question behind OMLHQ was: what would we build if we started with everything this community actually needs, rather than what fits on a YouTube channel?
“Someone who loves one of our films might also love a particular book, or want to follow the filmmaker’s next project. At the same time, many creators want to connect with the people their work resonates with. We wanted somewhere all of those connections could happen.
“Our first foray into this was The Frequency, a weekly newsletter we launched earlier this year to help our audience find their next favourite books, movies and shows, on the OML channel and beyond. The response was really great, and people started telling us they wished there was one place to search everything we’d featured. That’s where the idea for the new site started, and we quickly realised it could be so much more than a catalogue.”
The platform
Talk us through OMLHQ.com. What will someone find on their first visit?
“If you want to watch something immediately, the Screening Room is a good starting point. You can watch free short films, series and even a few feature films directly on the site. No account required.
“The Watch and Read libraries are there to help you dive deeper and find something that fits your exact mood. As well as our licensed content, which you can watch on the site, they catalogue the wider world of sapphic film and books. You can browse by mood or genre and filter by the streaming platforms you already use. Each profile gives you a sense of what to expect and points you towards somewhere to watch or buy it. You can create a free account to save things for later and leave reviews.
“The Frequency is our free weekly newsletter. It brings new discoveries to your inbox, and as the catalogue grows each week it’s the best way to keep up with what’s being added.
“In the near future, we plan to add music, podcasts, games and more pop culture. Sapphic organisations and businesses will follow, with an integrated shopping experience that will let visitors buy directly from creators whose values they align with. We’ll also keep adding community features, so people can create and share their own recommendation lists, start discussion threads and form groups like book clubs and watch parties.”
Is the Screening Room free for UK viewers too?
“Yes, absolutely! All of the films in the Screening Room are hosted through our YouTube channel and are free for all viewers. Some individual titles may have region-specific restrictions, but the vast majority don’t. We anticipate a global audience, so we’ve built locale filters into the platform, making sure you can always find the best way to watch what we feature, wherever you are.”
You share YouTube ad revenue with the filmmakers you license. Why was that important to you, and how does it work?
“Supporting and empowering creators, such as filmmakers, is a core part of OML’s mission and a big part of why we’re doing this. We firmly believe that creators should profit from the attention their work brings to our platform. Exposure is nice, but it can’t pay the bills or fund the next project.
“We license work for our channel and share the advertising revenue it earns with the filmmakers or rights holders. That means audiences can watch for free while the people behind the work earn from it. We’ve already been supporting creators this way, and OMLHQ is a chance to extend that to more kinds of creative work, and eventually to queer-owned businesses.”
Hannah Free and lesbian cinema
Why choose Hannah Free for the relaunch, and why does bringing older lesbian films back into circulation matter?
“Hannah Free gives older lesbian love the screen time it rarely gets. Sharon Gless plays Hannah, who has loved Rachel for most of her life and now finds herself shut out of Rachel’s final days, because Rachel’s daughter has the standing of next of kin and Hannah has none. The film asks who counts as family when the law decides, and the answer it shows is brutal. That question cut deep in 2009. With queer rights under renewed legal attack in the US and around the world, it cuts just as deep today.
“We’re bringing Hannah Free to OML on 12 November, two days after our site launch, because this film belongs to the history we’re building on. A film like this shouldn’t vanish once its release window closes. Hundreds of thousands of people are discovering lesbian cinema right now, and most of them have never had the chance to see it.”
Which lesbian films or shows deserve a bigger audience than they ever got?
“Gosh, so many! The Handmaiden, Circumstance, Rafiki, Saving Face, Mosquita y Mari, Pariah, High Art, Show Me Love, Go Fish, Water Lilies, Chutney Popcorn, Fire, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, Kiss Me, Aimée & Jaguar, Feel Good, First Kill, Vida, Lip Service, Betty… we could go on and on.”
The business of queer media
Queer media keeps losing outlets and funding. What have you learned about building something sustainable for an audience advertisers often overlook?
“Being overlooked by advertisers doesn’t mean an audience has no value. But everything we’ve seen over the last few years highlights the importance of building our own platforms and networks, powered by a genuine connection to and belief in the audience we’re building for, not by marketing trends.
“We need a direct relationship with our audience and more than one source of income. Revenue sharing is part of what we already do. Longer term, we see opportunities in partnerships and in helping people discover and support queer-owned businesses.
“Despite everything, the purchasing power of queer communities is growing fast, and so is the desire to spend that money with businesses that share their values. The hard part, and what we’re trying to do, is connecting those two groups.”
LGBTQ+ stories are facing challenges to visibility and access right now. How do you see OML’s role in that?
“When queer books are being removed from shelves and queer movies are being removed from mainstream platforms, making our stories easier to find becomes all the more urgent. That’s what we’re here to do.
“It’s not sustainable for our community to keep depending entirely on tech giants whose business or political interests can change overnight. We need places built around our community, where we have a say, and we need those places to be much more visible than they are now.
“Even within queer media spaces, lesbian stories can often feel like an afterthought. At OML, they’re the main reason we’re here.”
What’s next
Pick three things on OMLHQ.com a Nonchalant reader should watch first.
“Other than Hannah Free, here are a few places to start:”
- Jamie & Jessie Are Not Together – “Start here if you want another feature, from the same director as Hannah Free but with a very different vibe. It’s a romantic musical about friendship and inconvenient feelings, set in Chicago and centred on two best friends and the complicated feelings they have for each other.”
- Shyness – “An art-gallery date gets complicated when Zara notices another woman. This short has no dialogue: the story and feelings are told entirely through glances and subtle facial expressions. It’s a great, flirtatious introduction to the Screening Room.”
- Ayaneh – “A young Afghan refugee in Switzerland meets a woman at a swimming pool, and their attraction runs up against her family’s expectations. It’s a much heavier short, and a good place to begin exploring the international work in the library.”
What’s next for OML after the launch?
“We’ll keep adding films, shows and books, with new discoveries in The Frequency each week. We want people to help shape that growth by telling us what we’re missing and whose work deserves attention.
“Beyond that, we want to bring in more creators, including musicians and artists, and build out our cultural coverage. We’re talking to a few writers and content creators who are interested in coming on board. Queer-owned businesses are also an important part of the longer-term plan, with an integrated shopping experience that makes supporting them easier.
“The ambition is for OML to become the place you turn to when you want to discover something sapphic, or talk to like-minded people about what you’re discovering or creating… or both.”
Where to watch
Head to OMLHQ.com to explore the Screening Room and the Watch and Read libraries, and sign up to The Frequency for weekly picks. Hannah Free arrives on OML on Thursday 12 November 2026. Follow OML on Instagram and TikTok.
Nonchalant x
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This article was written by one of our creative team writers here at Nonchalant Magazine.
