The LGBTQ+ Actresses Shaping Film And Television Right Now

Where most of the channel's work looks backwards, this one is deliberately contemporary - a survey of who is working now, in what, and with what visibility. It functions less as nostalgia than as a record of where things currently stand.

The Headline Finding Here Is That There Is No Headline

The performers here are working across every genre and format available, in roles that largely have nothing to do with identity, and the industry treats the fact of their being out as roughly as significant as where they went to school.

That is a very recent development, and it is the whole point of making a contemporary collection rather than a historical one.

On-Screen Progress Has Badly Outpaced Everything Behind The Camera

It is worth being clear that this progress is neither uniform nor guaranteed. Several of the actresses in this collection have been explicit about both of the following:

• Behind the camera lags. Representation among writers, directors and executives has moved far more slowly than on-screen casting.
• The international market constrains. Large studios still weigh overseas territories heavily, which limits what gets financed at the highest budget levels.
• Progress is reversible. Nothing about the current position is structurally locked in.

A Snapshot Dates Quickly

The value of a contemporary survey is also its limitation. This reflects where things stood when it was made, and the picture in this area has been moving quickly in both directions.

A Contemporary Snapshot Dates Faster Than A Retrospective

Just over nine minutes. For the historical version of the same subject, see the rest of the Pride in Hollywood section.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

A record of where things stand rather than where they have been. Watch above, then see the hundred-name historical collection for how recently this became possible.