To that end, we enlisted some LGBTQ+ cultural pioneers, as well as Time Out writers to assist in assembling a list of the greatest gay films ever made – and the results show that queer life is far from a monolith. But the strides of the last half-century or so deserve to be celebrated. Obviously, there are still many barriers left to breach, and much work to be done to achieve true equality in Hollywood. In 2022, we’ll see Billy Eichner’s Bros, the first romantic comedy penned by an openly gay man for a major studio, while the great Billy Porter will make his directorial debut with a story about a trans high school student.
So, too, have the opportunities for queer stories written by and for the queer communities. Over the last few decades or so, though, the scope of LGBTQ+ experiences depicted on film has expanded greatly. Inasmuch as gay lives and issues were ever allowed to be addressed on screen without devolving into gross stereotypes, for much of the past century, the perspective was limited to that of white, cisgendered men.
