A brief history of LGBTQ representation at the Oscars
5 years ago
Duration 4:52
From Brokeback Mountain's snub to a whole lot of closeted winners, let Peter Knegt break it down.
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Queeries is a weekly column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens. It won the 2019 Digital Publishing Award for best digital column in Canada.
The Oscars have long been associated with having a sizeable gay viewership — but they haven't always been so good at loving the gays back. Which is why — even if just for Sam Smith's future reference — this special video edition of Queeries tries and break it all down for you, because if there are two things I'm an expert on, it's the Oscars and the gays.
Basically, there are a few good things to note (there have actually been dozens of LGBTQ winners) and...many bad things as well (none of those winners have been actors, at least not out actors). And obviously this is a brief history, so it's by no means a comprehensive overview. But hopefully it offers up a little 411 on how generally dismal queer representation at Oscars has historically been as we head into a ceremony where only two of the 200+ nominees (Elton John for his Rocketman song and Canada's own Dean DeBlois for directing How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) are openly LGBTQ.
What do these six LGBTQ film roles have in common? They all won the straight actors who played them Oscars. (Clockwise from top left: Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry, Sean Penn in Milk, Mahershala Ali in Green Book, Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, and Charlize Theron in Monster.) (Courtesy)
Peter Knegt (he/him) is a writer, producer and host for CBC Arts. He writes the LGBTQ-culture column Queeries (winner of the Digital Publishing Award for best digital column in Canada) and hosts and produces the talk series Here & Queer. He's also spearheaded the launch and production of series Canada's a Drag, variety special Queer Pride Inside, and interactive projects Superqueeroes and The 2010s: The Decade Canadian Artists Stopped Saying Sorry. Collectively, these projects have won Knegt five Canadian Screen Awards. Beyond CBC, Knegt is also the filmmaker of numerous short films, the author of the book About Canada: Queer Rights and the curator and host of the monthly film series Queer Cinema Club at Toronto's Paradise Theatre. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @peterknegt.
