June is the annual celebration of Pride Month. And people all over the world celebrate the joy and freedom of the LGBTQ+. This stands for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. This all started with the uprising at the Stonewall Inn in June, 1969 that sparked a movement to achieve equality, liberty, and justice for all people of all genders and sexual orientation.
Since Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ community have achieved great progress in their quest for equality. And this journey has been manifested in various movies since 1920. Since we celebrate the Pride month, whether you’re trans, bi, ace, poly, pan, intersex, nonbinary, or anywhere else on the gender and sexual identity and expression spectrum, or just proud and love the queer community, here is quite a history for you.
LifeHacker lists down 10 of the most important queer movies of all time.
1. Before Stonewall (1984)
Understanding history of the queer community dates back to years and years ago. This 1984 documentary by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg features interviews of activists and writers. These people are those who contributed to the movement. This movie has been an essential part of queer history as it has captured various voices both inspiring and joyous. No worries, it may be a pretty old film but it has undergone HD restoration for a better quality. You can watch it at Prime Video.
2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
This remarkable film shows a celebration of all forms of queerness. It definitely shows the fun and festivity of the queer community. This can be viewed and rented on YouTube and other platforms.
3. Desert Hearts (1985)
Movies in the mid-1980s somehow connect queer identity to extreme violence. But this film is nothing like that. Desert Hearts shows a much better view of queer love in the story of Vivian, an English professor in the middle of a divorce. She meets Cay, an uninhibited sculptor, and never expected to be attracted to her. This romantic drama shows you all the better side of queer love. You can watch this on HBO Max.
4. The Birdcage (1996)
One of the best movies to watch for a view of how funny and joyful it is being in the queer community, and not that tragic. It stars Robin Williams in his role as an outsized drama queen. It was able to capture a broad audience during its airing paving way to future queer-positive movies. You can watch this on various platforms like Hulu, Prime Video, and Peacock.
5. Saving Face (2004)
Another feel good movie that you have to watch is Saving Face by Alice Wu. This tells the love story between a closeted surgeon and her boss’s daughter. The premise of the movie shows romance and comedy combined with the struggles of being in a traditional family and community. You can watch this both in Prime Video, and Tubi.
6. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Another remarkable movie that started a discussion between filmmakers. This showed the film industry that queer content can be viewed as mainstream and make great sales too.
7. Moonlight (2014)
This is one critically-acclaimed movie among the list. As a recipient of the Best Picture Award in Oscars and others awards, this film really made an impact as the first film with a lead queer character and an all-black cast. You can witness this masterpiece in Prime Video, Hulu, and fuboTV.
8.The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)
Marsha P. Johnson is one of the people who witnessed the Stonewall uprising. Johnson is a drag queen and a sex worker who self-identified herself as gay and as a transvestite who generally used female pronouns. For you to know more about this momentous event as well as a recent investigation towards her mysterious death, you can check this out on Netflix.
9. Happiest Season (2020)
Another recent movie showing queer love is Happiest Season. It features about the story of a lesbian couple going home for Christmas. However, one of the characters get shocked as her girlfriend is unknown to be part of the queer community. It shows struggles and judgment of family and other people and if they can surpass it. You can watch this on Hulu.
10. Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020)
Last among the movies will provide clarity as this provides a much accurate and realistic view of transgender stories in film and on TV. This is way different from how media represented transgender people. You can stream this on Netflix.
Acceptance and equality are slowly being achieved as queer community can be seen in various fields like entertainment, mobile games, politics, and others. Let’s not forget that this community also deserves the love and acceptance that we all deserve.
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