For generations, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood needed to be “discreet” about their lives but-make no mistake-they were everywhere, both in front of & behind the camera. On the eve the 20th century, in Thomas Edison’s laboratory, one of the earliest attempts at a sound film depicted two men dancing together as a third plays the violin. It’s only a few minutes long, but this cornerstone of early cinema captures a queer moment on film. It would not be the last. Hollywood Pride is a tale spanning from “pansy craze” of the 1930s to the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, all the way up to today. It deals with the hard-working actors, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, art directors, and choreographers whose achievements defined the American film industry, as well as charting the evolution of LGBTQ+ storytelling itself-the way that mainstream Hollywood decided it would portray (or erase) their lives and the narratives created by queer filmmakers who fought to tell those stories themselves. Along the way, readers will encounter a fascinating cast of characters, such as the first generation of queer actors, including J. Warren Kerrigan, Ramon Novarro, William Haines, and Lilyan Tashman. Early cinema pioneers like Alla Nazimova and F.W. Murnau helped shape the new medium of moving pictures. The sex symbols, both male (Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, and Anthony Perkins) and female (Lizbeth Scott and Greta Garbo), lived under the threat of their private lives undermining their public personas. Underground filmmakers Kenneth Anger and John Waters made huge strides in LGBTQ representation with their off Hollywood productions in the 1960s and ’70s. These screen legends paved the way for the likes of Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Kimberly Peirce, Elliot Paige, Bowen Yang, and every other openly queer figure in twenty-first century Hollywood.
