LGBT Movies to Fill You Full of Pride Throughout Pride Month

Pride Month recognizes the impact gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex people have had on the world. I have a number of movies to recommend for it which you can watch with your friends. I chose films dealing with homosexuality at first, but which as an issue disappeared soon after. The fact that characters are gay becomes irrelevant. We're looking at people going through relationships, heartache and suffering, and these issues are universal. While comes packaged as a "gay movie" usually is much more than that if we bother to notice.

Lost and Delirious

This 2001 drama stars Mischa Barton as Mary, a new girl at a boarding school who watches helplessly as the romance between her roommates Pauline (Piper Perabo) and Victoria (Jessica Par©) unravels once it is discovered. "Lost and Delirious" truly shook me as anyone who has been rejected romantically can understand what Pauline is experiencing as everyone turns against her. Some will say the emotions displayed are over the top, but they feel that way during our teen years.

This exchange between Mary and Pauline sums it up perfectly:

Pauline: "Lesbian? Lesbian? Are you f*****g kidding me, you think I'm a lesbian?"

Mary: "You're a girl in love with a girl, aren't you?"

Pauline: "No! I'm Pauline in love with Tori. Remember? And Tori, she is, she is in love with me because she is mine and I am hers and neither of us are lesbians!"

Brokeback Mountain

Ang Lee's justly acclaimed drama was labeled the "gay cowboy" movie, but that was not the case. You feel the pain and agony Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal go through as society denies them the chance to acknowledge how they feel openly. You will relate to what these two go through regardless of your sexuality as there are certain feelings humans cannot just turn off.

"I wish I knew how to quit you!"

The Times of Harvey Milk

This documentary has been on cable a lot recently, and the Criterion Collection just released a remastered edition of it. It focuses on Harvey Milk who was San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor, and the effect his political success ended up having. It's moving and well researched, and you feel the anger of those involved when Dan White (who assassinated Harvey) gets off with a manslaughter charge instead of a life sentence for murder.

Be sure to check out Gus Van Sant's "Milk" with Sean Penn as Harvey.

Beginners

Mike Mills' film is one of the more original stories about coming out of the closet with Christopher Plummer's character comes out as gay after his wife passes away. "Beginners" comes from Mills' own life as his dad came out to him as gay, and the movie is very down to earth in how it portrays the characters involved. There's no emotional manipulation or mushy emotions involved, and "Beginners" is all the better for it.

The Kids Are All Right

Yes, it features a lesbian couple as main characters, but Lisa Cholodenko's movie is not confined to being a "gay movie." What this couple goes through is no different than any other married couple on this planet. Anyone who is married and recognizes that relationships need constant work will relate to what both Annette Bening and Julianne Moore go through.

All these movies point out what should be blatantly obvious, that we are all the same regardless of sexual orientation. Once we realize that, we can start making the social progress we need to make.