Rory Wei (10) | STAFF REPORTER
Although it has been pre-established to celebrate LGBTQ+ representation and accomplishments in the media all year round, June is the preeminent month for preeminent pride! Many would agree that the most influential vessel of minority representation and normalization would be the entertainment industry since billions of people around the world tune into blockbuster films and viral music videos on social media. As a result, these billions of people will be exposed to depictions of the struggles and successes of multifarious kinds of communities. Much to our dismay, LGBTQ+ people in the past were not accurately depicted and were never featured as protagonists in films; they were just there as certain tropes (e.g. the gay best friend) or for comedic relief, rarely as characters central to the film’s thematic, significant message. It has only been a bit more recent that these characters identifying with the community have been properly placed into the spotlight, and here are some milestones in the entertainment history:
To honour the past, there are two marvellous milestones made within the diverse identity and sexuality representation of film and music. Firstly, the first explicitly lesbian movie, “Madchen in Uniform”, released in 1931 in Germany tells a story of a young female pupil falling in love with her female teacher. Nazi officials attempted to destroy all copies of the film for queer content and anti-government agendas but were unsuccessful in doing so, making this film an inclusive, humanitarian form of rebellion against authoritarian homophobia.
1975 classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is dubbed the pinnacle of queer camp. This concept of the queer camp was a rebellion undertaken by LGBTQ+ individuals in defiance of a heteronormative, discriminatory society. One of the most popular “midnight movies” of all time flaunts bisexuality and features Tim Curry playing pansexual, trans scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
To honour how far the entertainment industry has come all the way to 2022, here are two more milestones: in 2017, “Moonlight” was announced as Best Picture winner at the Academy awards, remarkably being the first LGBTQ+ themed and the first all-black cast movie to obtain this acclaimed award.
The LGBTQ+ positive “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is sung by the iconic Lil Nas X. It was released in 2021 and nominated for three Grammy awards at the 64th annual Grammy Awards. Although the internet fell in a love-hate relationship with this song that took social media by storm, Lil Nas X has helped catapult LGBTQ+ themes into the mainstream music industry.
