5 Movies That Accurately Show the LGBTQ+ Experience

Movies are excellent vehicles for social change and present stories involving people that haven’t gotten the recognition they deserve. Here are five movies that accurately show the LGBTQ+ experience and that have helped shape public perception and foster acceptance.

LGBTQ+ Movies

The Birdcage

This film from 1996 came out almost 30 years ago, and in that long period, many families have still faced the same issues. The struggle for acceptance and recognition is still ongoing in the LGBTQ+ community, and this movie helps reflect that. The film ultimately offers viewers a departing message of optimism, so don’t shy away from this one.

Carol

Carol is a more recent film, and it dives into the past of the 1950s to help emphasize how long these struggles have been going on. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in this film, delivering fantastic performances. Through these performances, viewers get a glimpse into just how torturous it was to not be able to live authentically in this period.

Related: 10 Best Civil Rights Movies

Milk

Milk is a film that follows the life and untimely death of the first openly gay person elected to public office in the US, Harvey Milk. The struggle reflected in the movie is accurate, and it still hits hard today, as many businesses and organizations fail to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ persons.

Barriers still exist socially and politically for the LGBTQ+ community, and as this movie shows, people have been fighting to bring them down for over 50 years.

Related: 21 President Movies to Watch on Netflix

Moonlight

Moonlight was the best picture winner at the 89th Academy Awards, and after watching the film, it’ll be easy to see why. The story dives into the unfortunate reality of persecution and hate targeting the LGBTQ+ community and how this hate can scar people at a young age.

Ultimately, there is some acceptance and compassion at the end of the film, but it’s still a tough one to watch.

Related: 10 Best Black Love Movies

Love, Simon

This film is one of the newer additions to the list, but it’s also one of the first mainstream LGBTQ+ love stories brought to the screen. It showcases the coming-of-age story of a high school boy just discovering his sexuality, reflecting that everyone needs to reckon with their sense of identity.

These were only five movies that accurately show the LGBTQ+ experience, but there are many more that explore the intricacies of LGBTQ+ life. Filmmakers can’t boil identity down to 90 minutes on the screen, but these stories can provide important glimpses that create understanding and empathy in the viewer.

Related: The Best Unconventional Love Stories on Netflix Right Now

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