Another Gay Movie: An oral history

Contents:

• THE FIRST GAY FILM: DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS FROM 1919
• IN 1919, THE FIRST PRO-GAY MOVIE WAS MA. A YEAR LATER, WAS BANNED.
• GAY HISTORY – 1919: THE FIRST GAY MOVIE WAS MA OVER 100 YEARS AGO – “DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS” [VIO]
• IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
• 16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
• "I'M GOG TO GIVE THEM THE GAYT MOVIE EVER MA": AN ORAL HISTORY OF ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

THE FIRST GAY FILM: DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS FROM 1919

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.

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. 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.

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 1919, THE FIRST PRO-GAY MOVIE WAS MA. A YEAR LATER, WAS BANNED.

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). 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.

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

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. William Friedk's "Cisg" was reviled by many gay viewers, wh one pamphlet sayg that, the film, "gay men are prented as one-dimensnal sex-crazed lunatics … It is a film about why we should be killed. Gay first-time director Bill Sherwood's "Partg Glanc" is regard as the first film to al wh the AIDS crisis, which had a vastatg impact on gay and bisexual men particular the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the early 1990s, several openly gay directors beme volved pennt cema, creatg a crop of queer movi that treated sexualy as fluid—exampl clu "Orlando, " "My Own Private Idaho, " "Poison, " and many more. Starrg major Hollywood actors like Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, and Wley Snip as drag queens, "To Wong Foo" was the rare, explicly gay stud film that rose to the top of the box office durg s first two weeks theaters. After years of tellg bold stori featurg gay and trans characters, his film "All About My Mother, " which follows a woman who rennects wh her ex-partner (a trans woman) won Bt Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Amy Awards.

IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE

Ang Lee's film about the long-term secret romance between two wboys (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) ma history as one of the first big mastream movi that centered on a gay love story. LGBTQ+ media advocy anizatn GLAAD puts out a yearly report on queer reprentatn media, and s 2019 report showed hopeful signs that media is beg more clive, wh a rerd number of gay characters on screen.

Culled om a longlist of hundreds, movi nsired for the list promently feature gay, lbian, trans, or queer characters; ncern self centrally wh LGBTQ+ them; prent s LGBTQ+ characters a fair and realistic light; and/or be seen as a touchpot the evolutn of queer cema.

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

And we regnize that some of the films the list will re-igne healthy bat that have been fixtur of discsn around LGBTQ+ films — straight actors playg gay characters, cis actors playg trans characters, and the historil domance of whe male perspectiv. For our most recent update to the list, we’ve add mastream edi Fire Island and Bros, thriller Knock at the Cab (featurg two pairs of hbands whose vatn is terpted by the potential apolypse), Disney feature Strange World (wh the stud’s first openly gay lead character), Blue Jean (a Brish drama set durg the Thatcher premiership), the extremely well-reviewed Girl Picture), France’s magil realist The Five Devils, and Cann 2023 buts Monster and Strange Way of Life. Magn Hirschfeld, a Jewish doctor and sexologist who rose to fame at the begng of the 20th century and is remembered most as one of the first major gay rights activists and for foundg one of the first gay anizatns the world, helped make the film.

"I'M GOG TO GIVE THEM THE GAYT MOVIE EVER MA": AN ORAL HISTORY OF ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

While the film certaly touch on the stggl of beg gay and closeted—the tular Simon (Nick Robson) isn’t yet out to his iends or fay— is fundamentally a sweet, earnt high school rom where the guy gets the guy.

The film clus a number of ntroversial scen that uld be triggerg — so, watch at your own Now Advertisement - Contue Readg Below8 'The Bter Tears of Petra Von Kant' (1972) Courty Everett CollectnThe Bter Tears of Petra Von Kant is a sapphic classic that has bee a key entry the largely gay male-domated non of high mp. In I Killed My Mother, Dolan documents the ght relatnship between a gay teenager and his sgle mother dreamy, heart-wrenchg NowAdvertisement - Contue Readg Below13 'Cisg' (1980) ©Uned Artists/Courty Everett CollectnA crime thriller set agast the backdrop of the 1970s leather scene, Cisg is a polarizg film wh a plited legacy. When me out 1980, mastream dienc and gay rights activists alike were sndalized—the former due to the graphic sexualy and the latter on the grounds that portrayed the LGBTQ muny a bad light.