📽 The #Oscars are tonight!
But with no significant LGBT+ representation, why aren't queer films and actors gaining the recognition they deserve? 🏳️🌈
Let’s look back at pivotal moments in the long history of LGBT+ representation in cinema 🎞️
Thread 👇
🚔 Manslaughter (1922)
Although not an LGBT-themed film, Cecil B DeMille's American silent drama broke new ground in gay representation.
During a fantasy orgy scene in ancient Rome, two women can be seen kissing – the first same-sex romantic kiss in cinema 👩❤️💋👩
👨❤️👨 Victim (1961)
Groundbreaking in its own way, Basil Dearden's survey of gay life in '60s London was the first English-language film to use the word 'homosexual'.
Censored at the time, it was later credited with helping to decriminalise gay sex in the UK a few years later 🧑⚖️
🌹 Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)
Loosely adapted from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Toshio Matsumoto's trans-centric underground classic examined queer subcultures in '60s Tokyo 🇯🇵
🔥 Paris is Burning (1990)
Filmed over seven years, this intimate portrait of New York's voguing scene shone a spotlight on a subculture that influences pop culture to this day
In the midst of the AIDS crisis, the film was a triumphant statement of freedom, love and creativity
👩❤️👩 Fire (1996)
One of the first mainstream films in Bollywood 🇮🇳 to explore homosexuality – and the first with a lesbian relationship – Deepa Mehta sparked conversations and controversy when she put intimacy between two women front and centre in her landmark film
🧑⚖️ Philadelphia (1993)
@tomhanks won the first of his two #Oscars for his portrayal of a gay lawyer fired for being HIV+, making it the one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis
🇨🇳 Farewell My Concubine (1993)
A Chinese classic, Chen Kaige's epic explored gender, performance and homosexuality in ways unseen before in Chinese film
The first Chinese movie to win the Palme d'Or in Cannes, it helped bring China's contemporary cinema to the world stage
⚧️ Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Based on the real life, and tragic death, of Brandon Teena, Kimberly Peirce's film was the first mainstream film to focus on a trans man
Recently, it has faced criticism for casting cisgender actors, sparking a debate over trans representation in cinema
🇦🇷 XXY (2007)
A rare depiction of intersex life in cinema 📽️, Lucia Puenzo's Spanish-language film tells the story of the challenges and decisions facing a teenager navigating gender binaries
👩❤️💋👩 Rafiki (2018)
@wanuri Kahiu tells the tale of two teenage girls' secret relationship, torn between love and the fear of being found out in anti-LGBT+ Kenya 🇰🇪
The film was banned in its native country due to its gay themes and "intent to promote lesbianism"
#OscarsSoWhite trended in 2015 after the academy nominated white actors to all 20 acting categories
With no LGBT+ actors nominated and no recognition for films like @Disclosure_Doc, should there be another shake-up to recognise the work of Hollywood's queer community? 🏳️🌈
There are so many other great LGBT+ 🌈 films that deserve to be mentioned 📽️
Which are your favourites?
Tell us below 👇
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