WriterJump's Different From The Others & 70 LGBTQ+ Films That Helped Change The World
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by Paul Donnett
Published June 9, 2021
Contrary to popular belief, LGBTQ+ film and filmmakers didn’t suddenly appear in the 1970s. They have been a key part of the cinematic landscape since the beginning of the twentieth century.
Take, for example, 1919’s Different From the Others, directed by German filmmaker Robert Oswald. Regarded as the first openly and unapologetically pro-gay film in history, the original title of Oswald’s film, “Paragraph 175”, reflected the prevailing German law that rendered homosexuality a criminal offense.
“You must not condemn your son because he is a homosexual,” the film’s doctor tells the parents of a gay man they are trying to cure. “He is not to blame for his orientation. It is not wrong, nor should it be a crime. Indeed, it is not even an illness, merely a variation, and one that is common to all of nature. You should live to change the prejudices by which this man has been made one of the countless victims. You must restore the honor of this man and bring justice to him, and all those who came before him, and all those to come after him. Justice through knowledge!”
Progressive language for 1919, to say the least.
In response to the film, religious groups pressured the Weimar government to strengthen censorship laws. When the Nazis rose to power, Hitler ordered all prints of the movie to be destroyed. Where copies persisted, only physicians were permitted to see it, largely for the purpose of refuting its message among the public.
Nonetheless, around the world, movies continued to be made advocating for the LGBT community. In the decades that followed, Different From The Others would be held up as a shining example of the power of film to educate, inspire, and change behaviour.
In the spirit of Oswald, here are my all-time favourite films by, about, or exploring the many complex realities experienced by the LGBT community:
After Different from the Others, films are listed in alphabetical order by English title (according to the site).