Somehow, the first month of 2023 is already behind us…. I don’t know how or where it went, but we’re now in February, and frankly, I think we all deserve a massive pat on the back for getting there!
February is one of my favourite months of the year because it means it’s time to celebrate LGBT+ History Month here in the UK. This year’s theme is ‘Behind the Lens’, which celebrates the work of LGBTQIA+ people and stories in all aspects of film and TV, both past and present.
Before we get into the specifics of that, though, here’s a reminder of what LGBT+ History month is, and why we celebrate it.
Beginning in 1994, LGBT+ History Month is an annual celebration and remembrance of LGBTQIA+ history. It is a time to reflect and remember how things have changed for the community over the years, from people’s legal rights to the general equality and diversity that as individuals we are surrounded by in everyday life. It is also a time to look to the future, and begin thinking about what more can be done, what other historical moments can be achieved, to improve the lives of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Here's a look back at some of the key LGBTQIA+ moments in our recent history:
1967: It was no longer illegal to be a gay man in England and Wales. Fun fact - female same sex relationships were never actually outlawed. Instead, lawmakers feared that this process would actually promote it to more women, and so thought it was better to keep quiet on ‘the matter’!
1972: The first Pride rally in London, where around 2,000 people took part
1992: The World Health Organisation declassified ‘same-sex attraction’ as a metal disorder. As someone that was born in 1992, it always shocks me that this still existed then!
2003: ‘Section 28’ was repealed, making it no longer illegal to talk about LGBTQIA+ issues positively in school. Also, the Criminal Justice Act criminalised homophobia hate crime (FINALLY!).
2010: The Equality Act protected LGBTQIA+ people against discrimination at work.
2013/4: Same-sex couples were allowed to get married in England and Wales.
2021: The UK Census included questions about gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time, allowing for the first major collection of data about the LGBTQIA+ community - you can read the census in full, here.
Now, let’s get back to things years theme, and take a look at some of the fabulous folk representing the community on screen!
Laverne Cox
With various 'firsts' in her already impressive career, Laverne Cox is a three-time Emmy-nominated actress, Emmy winning documentary film producer and a prominent equal rights advocate. Laverne's groundbreaking role of Sophia Burset in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series "Orange is The New Black" brought her to the attention of diverse audiences all over the world. This role lead to Laverne becoming the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for a Primetime acting Emmy.
Elliot Page
Elliot Page is a Canadian actor who has received various accolades, including an Academy Award nomination, two BAFTA Awards and Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a Satellite Award. Page publicly came out as transgender in December 2020 and in March 2021, he became the first openly trans man to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
Billy Porter
Billy Porter is an American actor, singer, writer, and director. He starred in all three seasons of the television series Pose, for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Primarily known for portraying Mitchel Pritchett in Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, along with his husband Justin Mikita, started the non-profit charity ‘Tie The Knot’. The foundation sells limited-edition bow ties to support and raise funds for organizations that advocate for same-sex marriage.
The Vivienne
In 2019, The Vivienne became the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and has since taken the world by storm both on and off the screen. In 2022 she was announced to be competing in ITV series Dancing on Ice, making her the first drag queen to participate in the shows 15 series run.
Ian “H” Watkins
We all know H from Steps! But did you know he also made some Dancing on Ice history back in 2020? When he took part in the 12th series of the show, he was the first celebrity ever to compete within a same sex couple.
George Takei
To the Trekkies of the world, George Takei is known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS Enterprise in the television series Star Trek and subsequent films. He’s a bit of a legend! In 2005, Takei revealed in an issue of Frontiers magazine that he is gay and had been in a committed relationship with his partner, Brad Altman, for 18 years; the move was prompted by then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of same-sex marriage legislation. He said,
"It's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen. We (gay people) are masculine, we are feminine, we are caring, we are abusive. We are just like straight people, in terms of our outward appearance and our behaviour. The only difference is that we are oriented to people of our own gender."
Tessa Thompson
Marvel fans out there will know Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Marvels first LGBTQIA+ superhero, in the Thor and Avengers movies. Refusing to confirm to gender norms, Valkyrie takes on the title of King of Asgard when handed the throne by Thor. Thompson later confirmed that now she is king, there is only one thing left for her to do… find a wife! Yay!
Valkyrie being a significant, leading character in the franchise marks a change in the way that LGBTQIA+ characters are represented in big movie series’ like this, which had previously been accused of adding LGBTQIA+ characters ‘for the sake of it’, with their parts in the films able to be cut out with no impact to the main storyline. Being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community herself, Thompson has ensured that King Valkyrie will remain a prominent and key character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Jamie Clayton
Clayton starred as one of the eight main characters in the Netflix original television series Sense8 that premiered in 2015. In Sense8 she played Nomi Marks, a trans woman, political blogger, and hacker living in San Francisco. Clayton said that she was primarily interested in Sense8 because of the opportunity for a trans woman to actually play a transgender character. This somewhat rare opportunity shows that despite the number of trans characters on TV increasing (albeit slowly), TV and Film still has a long way to go. Clayton told the U.K. LGBTQ+ magazine Gay Time
“The only difference between a trans character and a cis character is that cis characters aren’t bogged down in language and dialogue about their gender identity. So, in actuality, on any show that you love, any character could be trans if you want them to be.”
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer, and author. In 2012, he married his long-time partner, Grant Shaffer. He told Instinct Magazine,
“I still define myself as a bisexual even though I have chosen to be with Grant. I’m attracted to the female form even though I am with a man, and I just feel that bisexuals have a bad rap.”
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart has changed the conversation in crucial ways by occupying an important historical niche that perhaps no other LGBTQ+ actor has achieved: She is an out queer movie star who has appeared in many queer-themed films, including The Runaways (2010), Certain Women (2016), Lizzie (2018), J.T. Leroy (2018), and Happiest Season (2020). A queer person playing queer — both often and in high profile productions — is still a rare event indeed, especially in the movies.
However, her films form a cohesive body of work that represents a spectrum of queer characters of all different stripes. She not only gets to play gay, but she’s also avoided doing it as any one particular kind of gay character, which is the best way to challenge stereotypes, especially for viewers who need their horizons expanded.
Wilson Cruz
In 1994, Cruz became the first openly gay actor to plan an openly gay character as a series regular on a television show, the show being ‘My So-Called Life’. Having been kicked out by his father after coming out, he used the show as an opportunity to shed light on LGBT youth issues and give a voice to young people. Off-screen he joined the board of GLAAD, a non-governmental media monitoring organization founded by LGBT people in the media.
Lena Waithe
American actress, producer and screenwriter Lena Waithe has created a brand-new show revolving around queer black women. In a statement, Waithe said: “I wrote [it] back in 2009. I always wanted to tell a story where a queer black woman was the protagonist… Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough. It’s time for us to finally take the lead.”
Sara Ramirez
Sara Ramirez has quietly confirmed their gender identity in a social post with the caption “In me is the capacity to be girlish boy, boyish girl, boyish boy, girlish girl, all, neither. #nonbinary”. The star, who has extensively campaigned for LGBTQ+ rights throughout their career, is best known for their role as Dr. Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy, making history as the longest-running LGBTQ+ character on television, appearing in 11 seasons and 241 episodes.
Ncuti Gatwa
Ncuti Gatwa, who is primarily known for playing loudly and proudly gay teenager Eric Effiong in Sex Education, was announced to be playing not only the first black Doctor, but also the first queer Doctor cult in BBC series Doctor Who.
Lana and Lilly Wachowski
The Wachowskis are American film and television directors, writers and producers, and they’re both Trans women. The sisters are famous for writing the epic film series, The Matrix, as well as being Involved in other hits such as V for Vendetta, Speed Racer, Jupiter Ascending, Cloud Altas, and Sense8.
This list could truly go on, and on, and on, so I’m stopping now before I physically cannot!
A lot of the people I’ve listed above are responsible for some of the most important ‘firsts’ in LBGTQIA+ related film and TV history. All positive steps in the right direction. However, there is still so much more work to be done by the massive production and broadcasting companies, and there is still so much more work to be done by every individual person, to show that they really are supporting the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. Here’s a couple of examples of how just last year, millions failed to support the community.
Kit Conner was forced to come out at bisexual after receiving so much harassment from fans for playing a bisexual character in the show Heartstopper that he had to remove himself from social media completely. In his last post, he said
“Back for a minute. I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye.”
Before Connor’s forced admission, fans accused the beloved talent of “queerbaiting” after they began to speculate about his connection with his A Cuban Girls Guide to Tea and Tomorrow co-star Maia Reficco – who’s also openly queer.
And then, of course, there’s the small issue of the World Cup, which dominated the biggest UK TV broadcasts channels, ITV and BBC, bringing in huge profits as millions around the country tuned into watch, seemingly indifferent to the fact that in Qatar, where the World Cup was hosted, homosexuality is illegal.
Comedian Joe Lycett made waves on the matter after threatening to destroy £10,000 of his own money that was supposed to go towards an LGBT+ charity fund unless David Beckham pulled out of his deal with the World Cup hosts. When Beckham did not respond to Lycett’s threat, he proceeded to shred the (what was later revealed to be fake) £10,000 via live stream. After revealing that the money in fact not been destroyed, but had been donated to charity, he proceeded to actually shred Beckhams Attitude Magazine cover from 2022, the first ever cover of a gay magazine with a premiere league football player on it. Lycett stated that he had asked Attitude if he could shred it, and that they were ‘more than happy to oblige’.
The stunt highlighted concerns about the World Cup being hosted in a country where same-sex relationships can be punishable by seven years in prison.
Later in the year, Lycett revealed that he had finally had a response from Beckhams legal team and read the frankly weak and wet response out live on his TV Shows. While he legally could not respond to the statement, Lycett had this to say…
“I want to talk about allies. In particular companies and celebrities who like to think they are allies to our community, who are happy to slap a rainbow on when it doesn’t cost them anything but looked the other way when it came to the World Cup. What I say is that we need allies, but allies we can rely on, not to run away the moment it looks difficult or when the first yellow card is threatened. We need everyone to be our allies. And we need them to remember that being an ally is for life.”
You can watch the full series of events here:
The celebrities and the TV shows and films they’re involved in highlight some of the most extreme highs and lows of being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. And yes, there is more work to be done, a lot of it. But as we look back over the next few weeks at the huge strides forward that have been made to secure LGBTQIA+ rights, safety, and security over the years, we can be proud of how far we’ve come, we can see that change is possible, we can see what change needs to come next, and we can, all 1.5 million + of us (thanks UK census), do our part, no matter how small, to further improve things for generations to come, just as the past generations have done for us.
Happy LGBT+ History Month everyone! 🌈
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