Do your gay homework
The history that got us here, and the films, music and books that every queer person ends up quoting. Work through it and your Culture pillar will thank you.
Know where it came from
Stonewall
Police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York, and this time the patrons fought back. A year later came the first Pride marches. Pride has been a protest ever since.
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera
Two trans women of colour at the heart of the movement. Together they founded STAR to house and support homeless queer and trans youth.
Harvey Milk
One of the first openly gay elected officials in the US, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was assassinated a year later. His message was hope.
The rainbow flag
Artist Gilbert Baker designed the first rainbow flag for San Francisco's Pride. Every colour had a meaning, and the original had eight stripes.
ACT UP
During the AIDS crisis, activists forced governments and drug companies to act with direct action and the slogan “Silence = Death”.
The first “I do”
The Netherlands opened marriage to same-sex couples. At midnight on 1 April, four couples married at Amsterdam City Hall.
Ten films for the canon
Bring tissues for at least four of them. Bring friends for all of them.
- Paris Is Burning (1990)New York ballroom culture, voguing and the origin of half the slang you use. Essential.
- Moonlight (2016)Three chapters of one quiet, devastating life. It won Best Picture.
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)A painter, a bride-to-be and an island in 18th-century France. The final scene will stay with you.
- Call Me by Your Name (2017)A summer in Italy, a lot of peaches. Watch it for the father's speech at the end.
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)Cowboys, tents and twenty years of heartbreak.
- Carol (2015)Two women in 1950s New York, and the most beautiful glances ever filmed.
- Pride (2014)The true story of London gays and lesbians who raised money for striking Welsh miners in 1984. Pure joy.
- The Birdcage (1996)A drag club owner, his partner and a very conservative dinner party. Still hilarious.
- But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)A camp classic that makes fun of conversion camps in candy colours.
- Happy Together (1997)Wong Kar-wai's lovers from Hong Kong, lost in Buenos Aires.
The soundtrack
Put these on and the room gets gayer. That's just physics.
Cher, Madonna, Kylie
The holy trinity of the gay bar. Believe, Vogue and Your Disco Needs You are not optional.
Sylvester and Donna Summer
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) and I Feel Love. Disco was built in queer clubs, and these are the foundations.
Freddie, Elton, George
Queen, Rocket Man and Freedom! '90. Three queer icons who filled stadiums.
Robyn
Dancing On My Own is the single most important song for sad gays on a dance floor.
Gaga, Troye, Lil Nas X
Born This Way, Youth and Montero. Pop stars who are out, loud and unapologetic.
Chappell Roan, Kim Petras, MUNA
Pink Pony Club, camp, and lesbian bangers. The new generation is very gay and very good.
Books to read with the cover showing
- Giovanni's Room, James BaldwinParis, an American abroad and a love he can't accept. Short, sharp and decades ahead of its time.
- Fun Home, Alison BechdelA graphic memoir about a lesbian daughter and her closeted father. Funny, sad and brilliant.
- The Song of Achilles, Madeline MillerThe Iliad, retold as the love story it always was.
- Heartstopper, Alice OsemanTwo British schoolboys and a lot of leaves. The softest thing you'll ever read.
- Orlando, Virginia WoolfA poet who lives for centuries and changes sex halfway through. Written as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West.
- Stone Butch Blues, Leslie FeinbergA working-class butch coming of age before Stonewall. Tough, important and full of heart.
The canon is bigger than any list. This is a starting point and leans towards English-language culture. Ask your local queer bookshop, your elders and your friends abroad what belongs on theirs.
And remember the people behind the history. Many of them never got to see the rights they fought for.