The LGBT community knows a thing or two about drama.
Throughout history, queer people have been changemakers, needle-movers, and just plain entertaining. Covering notables from Frida Kahlo to Allen Ginsberg to Bessie Smith, these biopics celebrate the many LGBT people who left their mark on society.
The Danish Girl (2015)
In this Oscar-winning drama, Eddie Redmayne portrays Lili Elbe, a Danish transgender woman who was one of the first people to undergo gender-confrimation surgery. The film explores her life as a successful artist alongside her wife, Gerda Wegener. Alicia Vikander scored an Oscar for playing Gerda.
Frida (2002)
This 2002 drama not only had a star-making performance by Salma Hayek but explored the true story of bisexual artist Frida Kahlo. In the wake of #MeToo, Hayek told The New York Times that bringing Kahlo's story to theaters came at the cost of facing an abusive Harvey Weinstein, who tried to exploit her at every moment.
Bessie (2015)
An overlooked HBO film, Bessie follows queer blues legend Bessie Smith, who rose to fame during the 1920s. The fact that the movie was written and directed by Dee Rees, one of today's most accomplished lesbian directors, is the icing on the cake.
The Imitation Game (2014)
Based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, The Imitation Game explores how the British government punished one of its most brilliant war heroes because he was gay. In this Oscar-winning World War II adventure, Benedict Cumberbatch portrays a socially awkward, closeted scientist who broke Nazi codes and helped save the free world.
Milk (2008)
In a time when transgender women like Danica Roem are making political history, Milk reminds us of the trailblazers who first made LGBT voices heard in politics. Oscar-winner Sean Penn brings to life one of the first openly gay men elected to a notable public office and how his life -- and assassination -- changed America forever.
Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Although there are several films that portray gay beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Kill Your Darlings is our favorite of the bunch. Daniel Radcliffe plays Ginsberg as a poor Jewish student at Columbia University, struggling with mental illness in his family and his sexuality. Rife with romance, betrayal, and crime, this biopic beats out the James Franco flick Howl.
Capote (2005)
Philip Seymour Hoffman brings his usual grace to his portrayal of gay novelist Truman Capote, who leaves New York City with his childhood friend Harper Lee (before To Kill a Mockingbird fame)to report on the murder of a Kansas family. As he bonds with one of the accused killers, questions of guilt and morality arise.
Gia (1998)
Watch Angelina Jolie (who's bisexual herself) star as Gia Carangi, one of America's first supermodels. A lesbian icon who posed for the covers of Vogue and Cosmo, Carangi struggled with addiction and became one of the many souls lost to AIDS in the 1980s. In this HBO drama, Carangi becomes entangled in a hot and heavy affair with her makeup artist, who forces her to choose between love and drugs.
Gods and Monsters (1998)
An Academy Award-winner, this movie depicts James Whale, the once-powerful director of Frankenstein, as a forgetten retiree seeking trysts with a parade of men who are too young for him. But when he starts to develop a genuine love for his gardener, a veteran with emotional experience, he discovers who he needs to be off the set.
Lizzie (2018)
Playing out theories that alleged ax murderer Lizzie Borden slaughtered her parents to be with her maid, this Sundance flick stars Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart as star-crossed lovers, naked and drenched in blood. Watch Sevigny describe sleeping in the house where her character was said to have committed a real-life murder below.
Monster (2003)
Some biopics show off our best, while others show Aileen Wuornos. The lesbian serial killer who was executed for killing six men in the 1980s is indeed terrifying, as is Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning performance. The movie was directed by Patty Jenkins and broke her out as one of the most consequential female directors of all time.
Iris (2001)
The spellbinding Judi Dench and Kate Winslet star in a biopic that celebrates celebrated queer author Iris Murdoch as her life unravels due to Alzheimer's disease.
Wilde (1997)
Oscar Wilde, one of the most iconic gay writers in history, and his battle to not only fall in love but avoid being jailed for it are documented in this '90s flick. Stephen Fry as Wilde engages in a romance with Jude Law's Lord Alfred Douglas in a juicy, emotional period piece that argues intellect can overcome bigotry.
Tom of Finland (2017)
This foreign drama portrays Touko Laaksonen, a gay erotic artist who is known to the world as Tom of Finland. After returning home as a hero in WWII, he realizes that postwar Finland is overrun with homophobic persecution and only his uninhibited art can help his peers find sexual freedom.
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Boys Don't Cry might not seem like a biopic, but it is in fact based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was raped and murdered in a hate crime in Humboldt, Neb. The film, which took dialogue directly from the 1998 documentary The Brandon Teena Story, won Hilary Swank her first Oscar. Teena was medically and legally discriminated against. His death and the slaughter of Matthew Shepard led to the adoption of LGBT-inclusive hate-crimes laws.
