The movie Bohemian Rhapsody is a testament to the power of queer stories. Actor Rami Malek, gives an inspired performance as the charismatic Freddie Mercury. And the movie makes the strong choice to barely address Mercury’s sexuality, aside from revealing that he’s contracted AIDS. Here are more queer icons we NEED to see on the big screen, assuming we see only the parts of them that aren’t queer:
RuPaul
Who wouldn’t want to see a movie about a young RuPaul rising out of obscurity via the Georgia club scene, to go on to national fame?! The movie wouldn’t need to address the fact that Ru fucks men or dresses in drag because that’s not really the point. The point is that he’s a really great entertainer and nothing more!
Ellen DeGeneres
In 1997, Ellen made history when her character came out as a lesbian, becoming the first gay lead on a network sitcom. An epic moment like that simply MUST be featured in a major motion picture – one that doesn’t address the fact that the real life Ellen is also a lesbian and came out on Oprah’s show before her character did. We can’t wait to see her iconic TIME magazine cover rewritten to say, “Yep, I’m… Ellen!”
Elton John
It’s easy to imagine a movie chronicling Elton John’s long rise to fame – he started playing piano at the age of three, worked as a pub pianist at the age of 15, and eventually went on to record well-known songs including “Tiny Dancer”. John came out as bisexual in 1976 and amended that to gay in 1988, both of which would probably get cut from the movie for time!
Janet Mock
Janet Mock’s storied life is perfect for a biopic. In less than two decades she went from sex worker to magazine editor to TV writer, producer, and director. Her biopic probably wouldn’t cover the part where she underwent sex reassignment surgery in Thailand at age 18, because that’s just too much queer for one movie!
Hannah Gadsby
Australian comic Hannah Gadsby made waves in 2018 with her Netflix special, Nanette, chronicling her experiences as a lesbian. A biopic probably wouldn’t need to get into all of those experiences though, since it would focus on her being a comedian and none of the sad stuff that ultimately made her famous.
We need more queer representation in cinema! And what better way to do it than by showcasing queer stories without all the queerness!
