Once upon a time, there were no gay and lesbian sections in the video stores, no queer film festivals, no debates over whether or not showing gay men having sex was good for the gay community's image. There were definitely no major theatrical releases of big-budget films in which gay men had sex, and certainly no one ever dreamed a film like that could ever be nominated for an Oscar.
Here, AfterElton.com takes a look back at the most important and groundbreaking gay male sex scenes in films. These are films that for the most part had a major American theatrical release, even if it was of limited scope, with a few groundbreaking foreign, art house and GLBT film festival movies included as well. These criteria are admittedly somewhat subjective, so if you feel we've missed a film that broke new ground with its use of sex between men, let us know.
9. Another Gay Movie (2006)
More genre-busting along the lines of Wet Hot American Summer without the straight characters or HellBent without the gore, this flick is a weird hybrid of American Pie and everything ever made by John Waters. Since the entire premise is the attempt of the four main characters to have anal sex before the end of the summer, there are plenty of sex scenes. They're not meant to be hot … which is good, since they're not. They're meant to be funny, and whether they are or not is a matter of taste. They're definitely, however, groundbreaking; this is the first stupid, raunchy, gross-out gay teen sex comedy ever.
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| Michael Carbonaro in Another Gay Movie |
Romance: 2
Significance: 9
8. Song of the Loon (1970)
In 1970, two very different films were released to two very different receptions. One was a campy movie called Song of the Loon, based on the novel of the same name. It was a gay romance with a western setting, but cinematically speaking, it was no Brokeback Mountain. In fact, although it was considered to be sexually very explicit by many viewers, it was tame even in comparison to Brokeback.
It was notable for its positive depiction of love and sex between men, and particularly in its expression of the philosophy of free love. Production values are extremely low.
Hotness: 3
Romance: 3
Significance: 8
7. A Very Natural Thing (1974)
Another film that had a fairly limited release, A Very Natural Thing took a look at monogamy vs. open relationships in gay male culture. It had a couple of mild sex scenes, but is notable mostly for historic reasons.
Hotness: 3
Romance: 6
Significance: 8
6. Saturday Night at the Baths (1975)
An interesting early film about a young man who goes to work at the Continental Baths in New York City in the '70s. Considered somewhat sexually explicit at the time, particularly for its final scene, which depicted the young man and his lover in bed together. That scene was lost when, supposedly, a projectionist stole it. Jenni Olson, who presented a screening of the film at UCLA, told AfterElton.com contributor Alonso Duralde that Water Bearer is working on a restored version for a DVD that will include the missing scene.
While this film had a limited release and fairly poor production values, it was the first serious depiction of the gay bathhouse scene of the '70s.
Hotness: 3
Romance: 3
Significance: 8
5. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The film was 1975's Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry as the sexually voracious Frank N Furter, Susan Sarandon as the virginal Janet, and Barry Bostwick as the geeky Brad.
While it barely made a splash at the box office, it went on to become the most popular cult film of all time, spawning many generations of high-heeled, lipsticked boys strutting their stuff at midnight showings across the nation.
Hotness: 2
Romance: 2
Significance: 8
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