Happy Birthday centers around five very different people who share the same birthday as well as varying problems of self-acceptance, family tensions and unrequited love. There is Kelly, a young lesbian whose life is placed in flux by a phone call from a former close friend; Javed, a Pakistani facing deportation and separation from his American lover to his estranged Islamic family; Tracy, a Taiwanese-born former student whose visit from her overbearing mother forces her back into the closet; Ron, a minister who preaches the ability to convert his sexuality, all the while watching gay porn at home; and Jim, an overweight telemarketer whose success at selling diet pills masks his insecurities. As their birthdays approach, these individuals are forced to confront the struggles that stifle their lives.