A collection of queer characters, representations, and sensibilities on film. From queer masterpieces to camp classics, documentaries to romantic comedies, horror flicks to historical biographies. From independent art house films to multiplex popcorn blockbusters, epic sagas to festival shorts, Oscar winners to Direct-To-Video. From the realistic to the stereotypical, the explicit to the subtexted, the uplifting to the oppressive. We really are everywhere. (Except, of course, in the millions of films that pretend that we aren’t.)
Note that this is not exactly a “Pride” list, since it is not limited to films that present us in a positive manner. Some of these films include extremely violent gay bashings and killings. Others have very minor blink-and-you’ll-miss-them LGBT cameos or only include…
A collection of queer characters, representations, and sensibilities on film. From queer masterpieces to camp classics, documentaries to romantic comedies, horror flicks to historical biographies. From independent art house films to multiplex popcorn blockbusters, epic sagas to festival shorts, Oscar winners to Direct-To-Video. From the realistic to the stereotypical, the explicit to the subtexted, the uplifting to the oppressive. We really are everywhere. (Except, of course, in the millions of films that pretend that we aren’t.)
Note that this is not exactly a “Pride” list, since it is not limited to films that present us in a positive manner. Some of these films include extremely violent gay bashings and killings. Others have very minor blink-and-you’ll-miss-them LGBT cameos or only include us in a tangential fashion. Still more portray us in any number of ways that meet the demands, fantasies, projections and amusement of a heteronormative and cisgendered power structure. Indeed, even some of the films that seemed liberatory in their own time, context or culture may offend us today (just as ours will to the next generation).
This is not a list of movies that I have seen personally, but rather a reference guide compiled from as many sources as I could find. The list is constantly growing, so please do suggest additions in the comments!
The list is too extensive to try to rank, but Letterboxd does allow you -- the reader -- to sort this list by title and release date if you prefer something more orderly, by popularity and rating if you want to find the best, and even by length if you are a size queen!
WARNING: Due to society’s continued “surprise” that queer people even exist, and many filmmakers’ use of that surprise for dramatic or comedic effect, in some cases the mere inclusion on this list may be considered a SPOILER. (Can you imagine a world where I’d have to add a SPOILER WARNING to tell you that a film has at least one straight character in it?)