Disney loves a queer-coded villain, and their classic 1985

film RETURN TO OZ features two of them.

Julie Andrews masquerades as a gay man in drag in writer/director Blake Edwards’ 1982 gender-bending musical comedy VICTOR/VICTORIA.

Mark Patton stars in the 1985 queer cult classic A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE.

Director Amy Holden Jones’ 1982 slasher flick THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE features a screenplay by queer author and activist Rita Mae Brown.

Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie & Susan Sarandon star in Tony Scott’s 1983 classic queer vampire film THE HUNGER.

Otho, played by gay actor Glenn Shadix, is Delia Deetz’s (Catherine O'Hara) gay best friend in Tim Burton’s 1988 film BEETLEJUICE.

Deborah Kerr and Paul Scofield star in the 1982 BBC2 Playhouse adaptation of Noël Coward’s A SONG AT TWILIGHT.

Writer/director George A. Romero’s 1981 action film KNIGHTRIDERS features positive queer representation and a “coming out” subplot.

Marlon Riggs’ 1989 film TONGUES UNTIED.

The 1989 drama LONGTIME COMPANION was one of the first widely-released theatrical films in the USA about the AIDS pandemic. It was brought to the screen by gay creatives Craig Lucas, who wrote the screenplay, and Norman René, who directed the film.

James Ivory’s 1987 gay period drama MAURICE was adapted from the 1914 novel of the same name by gay author E.M. Forster (which wasn’t published until 1971).

British dance troupe DV8 Physical Theatre’s 1989 interpretation of serial murderer Dennis Nilsen and the effects of societal homophobia: DEAD DREAMS OF MONOCHROME MEN.

The 1981 film POLYESTER brought queer icons John Waters and Divine together again for a comedic homage to Douglas Sirk’s classic Hollywood melodramas. Gay actor Tab Hunter, who was a major Hollywood heartthrob in the 1950s/60s, plays Divine’s romantic interest.