Episode
Episode 438- 1st Film with Gay Characters
- Podcast
- Forgotten Hollywood
- Published
- Jun 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 630
- Processing state
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Summary
For Pride Month June 2026, James Lott JR guest stars. The film most often considered the first major film to feature an explicitly gay character/storyline is Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern), a 1919 German silent film. It starred Conrad Veidt as a gay violinist whose relationship with a male student leads to blackmail and tragedy. It was also made with sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and is often called the first gay-rights film in history. For American/Hollywood film, it gets more complicated because gay characters were often coded for decades because of censorship. A major milestone is The Boys in the Band from 1970, one of the first mainstream American films to openly focus on gay male characters and gay life.