Today marks the end of LGBTQ History Month, an annual month-long observance that provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the invaluable contributions of the LGBTQ community. To cap off the month, GLAAD is highlighting documentaries and docuseries that delve into the complex history of LGBTQ representation on screen!
Depictions of LGBTQ people have been present since the inception of film and television, evolving alongside political, social and cultural shifts. Throughout time, LGBTQ representation has mirrored the values and beliefs embedded into American culture—often conditioning non-LGBTQ people’s false ideas about queer people and queer people’s ideas about themselves. While great strides have certainly been made, historical stereotypes and tropes have left a complicated and coded legacy on modern LGBTQ representation.
GLAAD’s most recent polling underscores the power of media and storytelling to accelerate acceptance, finding that “portrayals in entertainment media” is one of the greatest positive influences on people’s attitudes towards transgender people, second only to personally knowing a trans person. With a record number of anti-trans laws being introduced and less than 30% of non-LGBTQ American adults reporting that they know a trans person, it is crucial that Hollywood tells stories about trans people that show them as complex people with full and complicated lives, just like everyone else.
Learn more about the storied past of LGBTQ representation with the documentaries below!
Disclosure (2020)
The award-winning documentary Disclosure—produced by GLAAD’s own Senior Director of Entertainment & Transgender Inclusion Alex Schmider—provides an unprecedented look at depictions of transgender people in TV and film, exploring how decades-old portrayals in media continue to shape the cultural narrative surrounding the community. In the doc, leading trans creatives, including GLAAD Media Institue Vice President Nick Adams, highlight the dynamic interplay between trans representation on screen, society’s beliefs, and the reality of trans lives. Stream Disclosure on Netflix now!
The Celluloid Closet (1995)
Based on film historian and GLAAD co-founder Vito Russo’s landmark 1981 book of the same name, The Celluloid Closet examines the entertainment industry’s role in shaping perceptions of the LGBTQ community. From early “sissy” characters to the censorship of the Hays Code, the documentary highlights the historical contexts that LGBTQ people have occupied in cinema history. The groundbreaking doc remains the bedrock for analysis of early LGBTQ portrayals in Hollywood films; watch The Celluloid Closet on Prime Video or Apple TV+ today!
Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror (2022)
From executive producers Bryan Fuller and Steak House, the four-episode docuseries Queer for Fear dissects the history of the LGBTQ community in the horror and thriller genres. From its literary origins with queer authors Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde to the “pansy craze” of the 1920s that influenced Universal Monsters and Hitchcock; from the Lavender Scare alien invasion films of the mid-20th century to the HIV/AIDS obsessed bloodletting of 80s vampire films, this doc re-examines horror stories as tales of survival that resonate with queer audiences everywhere. Don’t miss Queer for Fear on Shudder!
Visible: Out on Television (2022)
Ryan White’s documentary miniseries Visible: Out on Television investigates the importance of TV as an intimate medium that has shapes the American conscience. Produced by Wilson Cruz and Wanda Sykes, the series combines archival footage and interviews of LGBTQ people in the television industry, both on-screen and behind the camera, to look at homophobia, the evolution of LGBTQ characters, and coming out in the TV world. Each episode of the docuseries is broadly chronological, centering on different themes, from “The Dark Ages,” which explores early TV portrayals of LGBTQ people as homicidal maniacs and sexual deviants, to “The New Guard,” which celebrates today’s mutli-faceted LGBTQ creators. Stream Visible on Apple TV+ now!
Visions of Us: LGBTQ+ Latine Representation in TV & Film (2021)
The four-part digital documentary series Visions of Us, featuring GLAAD’s Senior Director of Spanish Language and Latine Media Monica Trasandes, celebrates and uplifts some of the most groundbreaking queer Latine characters and scenes in TV and film throughout history. Directed by trans Dominican-American filmmaker Kase Peña, the series features interviews with extraordinary talent, including Stephanie Beatriz, Wilson Cruz, Tanya Saracho, Steven Canals, and more, who share their deeply personal journeys in bringing authentic queer representation to life in their work. Find all four episodes on Netflix’s YouTube Channel!
For more LGBTQ History Month content, check out GLAAD’s spotlights of unsung LGBTQ icons!
