LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream cinema has arrive a long way since the '90s. Now, we spot more and more queer films existence awarded at the Oscars, reaching wider audiences, and achieving international acclaim and success. Streaming services are constantly adding more inclusive titles, such as Horseplay, Fanfic, Lonesome, and You Can Dwell Forever. This is partially due to the '90s existence a stepping stone and marking a change in filmmaking, with LGBTQ+ content becoming more mainstream through flicks such as The Birdcage and Philadelphia.
While films such as those mentioned previously were achieving more commercial success, there was also a surge happening in less accessible works through the rise of New Queer Cinema, a movement of LGBTQ+ movies that produced impactful titles, thus paving the way for more popular content. From Heavenly Creatures to Paris is Burning, here are the best LGBTQ+ movies of the '90s.
Updated June 2023: If you are interested in queer cinema, you're in luck. This article has been updated with additional content and entries by Mona Bassil.
11 Heavenly Cr
The 50 Best LGBTQ Movies Ever Made
50
Love, Simon (2018)
AmazonApple
If it feels a bit like a CW version of an after-school exceptional, that's no mistake: Teen-tv super-producer Greg Berlanti makes his feature-film directorial debut here. It's as chaste a love story as you're likely to see in the 21st century—the hunky gardener who makes the title teen question his sexuality is wearing a long-sleeved shirt, for God’s sake—but you know what? The queer kids of the future need their wholesome entertainment, too.
49
Rocketman (2019)
AmazonHulu
A gay fantasia on Elton themes. An Elton John biopic was never going to be understated, but this glittering jukebox musical goes way over the top and then keeps going. It might be an overcorrection from the straight-washing of the previous year's Bohemian Rhapsody, but when it's this much fun, it's best not to overthink it.
Advertisement - Persist Reading Below
48
Handsome Devil (2016)
NetflixAmazon
A charming Irish movie that answers the question: "What if John Hughes were Irish and gay?" Misfit Ned struggles at a rugby-obsessed boarding school until a mysterious new kid moves in and an unlikely fri
Ahead of Glorious Call Me By Your Name, Here are 9 LGBT Coming-of-Age Films From the ’90s
The LGBT coming-of-age production has come a drawn-out, long way. In 2016, the world watched in astonishment (and some initial confusion) as Moonlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was an incredible moment in which African-Americans and LGBT people saw a story about their communities embraced by mainstream culture. A year and half later, another LGBT coming-of-age movie, Call Me by Your Name, is a powerful front-runner in this year’s fast approaching awards season. The ways in which sexual orientation or gender expression initiate us into the adult world seems, at last, to own gained the stature of a universal story.
LGBT coming of age movies came of age themselves in the 1990s. Prior to then, they weren’t unheard of, just too few and far between. Once the 90s arrived, however, both gay and non-gay filmmakers took full advantage of newfound cinematic and societal freedoms. Here are nine from the 90s – among many others – that merit a watch back.
Paris Is Burning(1990). This groundbreaking documentary explores Harlem’s once-underground ball scene, in w
Before playing queer characters became surefire Oscar bait, movies about LGBTQ+ existence were scarce and underseen — but those that existed were still powerful. In 1993, Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of a lawyer fighting a battle against his have employer, having been dismissed due to his sexuality and for being HIV positive, in Philadelphia. A new era of effusively homosexual 1990s cinema was, by this signal, already in motion, but they were operating on a less mainstream level than the awards-friendly big studio features.
Many have, over hour, crafted huge legacies: Paris is Burning remains a gender non-conforming classic over 30 years later, despite being criticised for its probing and cishetero-friendly framing by many who manifest in it. And despite its (assumedly) hetero leads, My Own Private Idaho holds a distinct place in many queer hearts.
But what about the underground movies, the subdued budget affairs, that didn’t get the love they deserved back then? Adequately, here are 10 of them you can catch up with and stream in present day.
1. Butterfly Kiss (1995)
This sapphic romantic-thriller was the big screen directorial debut of prolific British filmmaker Michael Winter