The First Gay Film: 'Different From the Others' From 1919

Contents:

• GAY HISTORY – 1919: THE FIRST GAY MOVIE WAS MA OVER 100 YEARS AGO – “DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS” [VIO]
• HOW HOLLYWOOD'S FIRST OUT GAY STAR CHOSE LOVE OVER REER
• THE FIRST GAY FILM: DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS FROM 1919
• 16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

GAY HISTORY – 1919: THE FIRST GAY MOVIE WAS MA OVER 100 YEARS AGO – “DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS” [VIO]

Throughout the film, the characters’ attractns are fluid, makg this one of the earlit films to feature lbian, gay, bisexual/pansexual, and transgenr them.

There his sexual tratn manifts the makg of nu statu out of breadcmbs, but also some homoerotic tensn wh fellow mate Aled Marquis. While gay characters were equently ed for lghs or not explicly stated to be queer the earlit mastream Hollywood films, a brief relaxatn Germany's film productn the early 20th century allowed for LGBTQ+ classics like "Different om the Others" and "Mädchen Uniform. In Hollywood, the strict Hays Co forba explic pictns of homosexualy film for three s, durg which there was a slew of queer-d villas.

Later, the New Queer Cema the 1990s flourished as many pennt filmmakers (many of whom were gay) told fluid, empathetic stori about queer dividuals. The film, which featur an all-Black st, was one big step toward makg gay cema that isn't whewashed, featur a range of inti, and don't make s queer characters one-note or vehicl of sufferg.

HOW HOLLYWOOD'S FIRST OUT GAY STAR CHOSE LOVE OVER REER

The history starts 1894, wh the very first gay film, and ends 2021 wh a mastream children's movie featurg a ma character who is queer. The German film "Anrs als die Anrn" (English: "Different om the Others") is one of the olst survivg movi wh a gay protagonist and was ma durg a rare perd when German film censorship was relaxed after World War I. It centers on a vlist who tak his life after gettg blackmailed for his sexualy and ends wh an appeal for gay tolerance by German gay rights activist Magn Hirschfeld.

Charl Bryant's adaptatn of gay wrer Osr Wil's play of the same name reportedly featured several queer llaborators—namely, bisexual lead actor Alla Nazimova and set signer Natacha Rambova (her mored lover).

In one scene om the 1938 screwball edy "Brgg Up Baby, " the word "gay" was ed a queer ntext for likely the first time (possibly thanks to queer performers' e of "gay" as a slang term). When a woman asks reputedly bisexual actor Cary Grant's character why he's wearg a feathery bathrobe, he rponds, "Bee I jt went gay all of a sudn! "For all s efforts, the Productn Co didn't erase homosexuals om the screen; jt ma them harr to fd, " "The Celluloid Closet" stat.

THE FIRST GAY FILM: DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS FROM 1919

Loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murr se, Aled Hchck's "Rope" tells the story of two heavily d gay men who murr one of their classmat for the sheer thrill of . "Victim" opens 1960s London, where a man's ath leads the film's gay ma character (Dirk Bogar) to disver a blackmail scheme agast several gay men.

Homosexual relatns between nsentg adults were illegal England and Wal until 1967, makg the film a radil cry agast Brish homophobia.

16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

While "The Children's Hour" is notable for prentg a sympathetic queer ma character a time when that was rare, has also been cricized for rercg the "tragic gay endg" stereotype.

"Portra of Jason" was shot over 12 hours, as experimental filmmaker Shirley Clarke terviewed Jason Holliday, a Black gay sex worker and aspirg baret dancer. Although one uld argue that such a gelg terview procs was exploative, Holliday's mgs about his life, dreams, and art the face of societal anti-Blackns and homophobia provi the kd of tersectnal look at LGBTQ+ inty that '60s media sorely lacked. Produced durg the fal months of the Hays Co, Robert Aldrich's film about the breakdown of an agg lbian TV actor clud a lbian sex scene that broke down a major taboo associated wh the Co's erasure of gay characters on screen.