Pioneers of Pride

Andrew Beckett - Philadelphia (1993): One of the first major Hollywood films to center on a gay man with AIDS, bringing the epidemic to mainstream attention.

Brandon Teena - Boys Don't Cry (1999): A landmark film for its raw and challenging portrayal of a transgender man and the violence he faced.

Will Truman & Jack McFarland - Will & Grace (1998): Pioneers as lead gay characters in a hugely popular network sitcom.

Willow Rosenberg - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997): Her relationship marked one of the earliest prominent and positive lesbian storylines in mainstream teen television.

Ennis Del Mar & Jack Twist - Brokeback Mountain (2005): A critically acclaimed, mainstream Western that portrayed a tender and tragic gay romance.

The Ensemble Cast - The L Word (2004): One of the first major TV dramas to exclusively center on the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women.

Chiron - Moonlight (2016): An Oscar-winning film that offered a profoundly nuanced and poetic portrayal of a Black gay man's journey of self-discovery.

The Ensemble Cast - Pose (2018): Revolutionary for its high concentration of trans and non-binary people of color in leading roles, authentically depicting ball culture.

Ellen Morgan - Ellen (1994): Her coming out storyline on a prime-time sitcom made history and mirrored the actress's own public coming out.

The Ensemble Cast - Queer as Folk (2000): Groundbreaking for its explicit and detailed portrayal of gay male life and culture on cable television.

Maura Pfefferman - Transparent (2014): A significant and nuanced portrayal of an older transgender woman exploring her identity later in life.

The Ensemble Cast - Orange Is the New Black (2013): Praised for its diverse and complex portrayals of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women in a popular streaming series.

The Ensemble Cast - Paris Is Burning (1990): This influential documentary brought ball culture, drag, and trans identity into wider public consciousness for the first time.

The show earned RuPaul eight consecutive Emmy Awards (2016 to 2023) for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program. The show has been awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program four consecutive times (2018 to 2021), and the Outstanding Reality Program Award at the GLAAD Media Awards. It has been nominated for five Critics' Choice Television Awards including Best Reality Series – Competition and Best Reality Show Host for RuPaul and numerous Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Paul Körner played by Conrad Veidt -Different from the Others (1919): Historically considered to be the first film supportive of homosexuality.

Melville Farr played by Dick Bogarde - Victim (1961): he is a closeted homosexual victim of blackmail. The film is credited for being important in the decriminalization of homosexuality and is the first one to use the word "Homosexual" in the United Kingdom.

The Ensemble Cast - The Boys in the Band (1970): First Hollywood film where all main characters are homosexual.