No LGBTQ Film Has Ever Won Best Picture. Could 'Moonlight' Be First?

“Moonlight,” a coming-of-age drama that chronicles the life and self-discovery of a Black gay man in Miami, has garnered eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. The critically acclaimed film is not only the first movie about Black gay men to achieve mainstream success, but it also stands a chance to become the first LGBTQ film to take the top prize at the Academy Awards.

Film fans cried foul when “Carol,” a lesbian love story starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination in 2016, but now “Moonlight” provides another chance for an LGBTQ history-making moment. Even if “Moonlight” doesn’t win, however, some see the nomination alone as progress.

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“Congratulations to #Moonlight on a well-deserved nomination. This should be a signal to filmmakers to tell more diverse stories. #Oscars,” GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis tweeted on Tuesday.

“U.S. films reach audiences around the world. The global impact of inclusive and diverse stories is massive and changes hearts and minds,” Ellis wrote in a separate tweet.

What gives fans of “Moonlight” hope that it might succeed where films like “Carol,” “The Danish Girl,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Philadelphia,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “The Hours” and others have failed?

For starters, the 2017 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—the body that votes on the Oscars—is the most diverse in history. After #OscarsSoWhite became a trending topic in 2015, the Academy buckled under public pressure to transform its largely white male membership.

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

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In June, the Academy formally invited 683 new members, 46 percent of whom were female, while 41 percent were people of color. The voting pool for last year’s Oscar? Of its 6,261 members, more than 90 percent were white and 75 percent were male.

Now, it remains to be seen whether a more diverse Academy will break the “lavender ceiling” that’s hung over LGBTQ Best Picture nominees for years.

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