A history of LGBTQ+ representation in film
Fox 2000 Pictures
A history of LGBTQ+ representation in film
Edison Manufacturing Company
1894: ‘The Dickson Experimental Sound Film’ as first gay film
The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company
1915: Charlie Chaplin is ‘A Woman’
Lone Star Corporation
1916: ‘Behind the Curtain’ employs the first gay gag
UCLA Film & Television Archive
1919: ‘Anders als die Anderen’ advocates for LGBTQ+ acceptance
Paramount Pictures
1922: ‘Manslaughter’ includes film’s first ‘erotic’ gay kiss
Nazimova Productions
1922: Gay collaboration during the filming of ‘Salome’
Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation
1927: Two soldiers kiss in the first Best Picture winner
Nero-Film AG
1929: ‘Pandora’s Box’ features cinema’s first lesbian character
Donaldson Collection // Getty Images
1930: In ‘Morocco,’ the leading lady kisses another woman
Deutsche Film-Gemeinschaft
1931: ‘Mädchen in Uniform’ tells an explicitly lesbian story
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
1933: ‘Queen Christina’ includes hints of its subject’s lesbianism
Kurt Hutton // Getty Images
1934: Hollywood’s Hays Code is strictly enforced
RKO Radio Pictures
1938: ‘Bringing Up Baby’ uses ‘gay’ in a queer context
Warner Bros.
1941: A newly queer-coded villain in ‘The Maltese Falcon’
Warner Bros.
1948: Gayness and murder collide in Hitchock’s ‘Rope’
Filmsonor
1950s: ‘Pit of Loneliness’ broaches 1950s lesbianism
Warner Bros.
1955: ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ features the ‘first onscreen gay teenager’
Allied Film Makers (AFM)
1961: ‘Victim’ criticizes British homophobia
The Mirisch Corporation
1961: ‘The Children’s Hour’ portrays sympathetic yet tragic lesbianism
Shirley Clarke Productions
1967: ‘Portrait of Jason’ explores ’60s Black gay identity
Palomar Pictures (I)
1968: ‘The Killing of Sister George’
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive // Getty Images
1968: The Hays Code is officially lifted
Art Theatre Guild (ATG)
1969: ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ explores Tokyo’s gay scene
Cinema Center Films
1970: ‘The Boys in the Band’ centers on a gay friend group
Dreamland
1972: ‘Pink Flamingos’ cements John Waters as the ‘Pope of Trash’
Warner Bros.
1975: ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ brings a real-life gay crime to the Oscars
Twentieth Century Fox
1975: The pinnacle of queer camp
Barbara Alper // Getty Images
1978: ‘Word Is Out’ highlights 26 queer documentary subjects
Lorimar Film Entertainment
1980: ‘Cruising’ inspires backlash
IndieProd Company Productions
1982: ‘Making Love’ sets out to produce gay role models
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
1983: ‘The Hunger’ becomes a queer cult classic
Desert Hearts Productions
1985: ‘Desert Hearts’ gives lesbians a happy ending
Rondo Productions
1986: ‘Parting Glances’ deals with the AIDS crisis
Art Matters Inc.
1990: ‘Paris Is Burning’ spotlights New York ballroom culture
Fred Hayes // Getty Images
1992: B. Ruby Rich coins ’New Queer Cinema‘
TriStar Pictures
1993: Tom Hanks and ‘Philadelphia’ break down barriers
ARTE
1995: ‘The Celluloid Closet’ chronicles LGBTQ+ film history
Universal Pictures
1995: ‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar’ makes drag mainstream
Dancing Girl
1996: ‘The Watermelon Woman’ becomes first film by Black lesbian
Fox Searchlight Pictures
1999: Hilary Swank plays a trans teenager in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’
HECTOR MATA // Getty Images
1999: Pedro Almodóvar wins big for ‘All About My Mother’
Focus Features
2005: Audiences can’t quit ‘Brokeback Mountain’
Bryan Bedder // Getty Images
2010: ‘The Kids Are All Right,’ and they got a Best Picture nomination
Chicken And Egg Pictures
2011: ‘Pariah’ announces an exciting new lesbian filmmaker
Daniele Venturelli // Getty Images
2013: ‘Blue Is the Warmest Color’ wins the Palme d’Or
Duplass Brothers Productions
2015: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor star in ‘Tangerine’
Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal // Getty Images
2017: ‘Moonlight’ wins Best Picture
Kevin Winter // Getty Images
2018: ‘A Fantastic Woman’ wins Best Foreign Language Film
Scott Ehler // Getty Images
2018: ‘Love, Simon’ tells a gay high school love story
Pascal Le Segretain // Getty Images
2018: ‘Rafiki’ becomes the first Kenyan film at Cannes
Neon
2019: A record year for representation, with notable asterisks
Netflix
