Turner Classic Movies and its SVOD service FilmStruck that launched in November are celebrating pride month this June with movie lineups that explore LGBT themes in cinema, and honor those who overcame related roadblocks.

“Our June programming lineups will show how stars and filmmakers from Hollywood and around the globe have navigated around the demands of societal restrictions to tell LGBT stories, while also celebrating some of the stars and artists whose careers have been affected – both positively and negatively – by views of their sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming and production for TCM and FilmStruck.

Every Thursday in June, TCM will spotlight Gay Hollywood, hosted by entertainment journalist Dave Karger and author and historian William Mann, and FilmStruck will present a Gay and Lesbian Cinema showcase, hosted by film critic Alonso Duralde, that takes a honest look at open and closeted stars throughout film history. The network highlights William Haines (Just a Gigolo, 1931), who is considered the first openly gay Hollywood actor.

“Hains was the first Hollywood star to insist on living an authentic private life,” Mann says in a promo for the programming. He lived with his partner, Jimmie Shields, and despite an end to his movie career after refusing to give in to studio demands, he went on to become a successful and sought-after Hollywood interior designer.

Before the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, Hollywood’s LGBT community remained in the shadows. Depictions of same-sex love in the movies were rare, discreet and often coded.

TCM will go through the decades, highlighting celebrities who were known to be gay but remained closeted for most or all of their careers, including Cole Porter (Night and Day, 1946) and actor Clifton Webb The Razor’s Edge, 1946), and male heartthrobs Rock Hudson (All That Heaven Allows, 1955), Montgomery Clift (Suddenly, Last Summer, 1959), and Anthony Perkins (Psycho, 1960) of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

The network will also spotlight breakthroughs, like gay playwrights Tennessee Williams (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958) and Edward Albee (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966) having their plays adapted for the screen, actress Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously) being open about her marriage to partner Karen Kline in the ‘80s, and Oscar winner Joel Grey (Cabaret), coming out in 2015 at the age of 82.

Filmstruck will highlight movie depictions of same-sex love with a wide variety of films from different eras.

Some of the films featured include:

- Parting Glances (1986) – Bill Sherwood’s honest and open drama looks at a gay couple facing an impending separation when one goes overseas for a job assignment while his partner stays in Manhattan to care for his best friend who is dying of AIDS.

- The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) – Rob Epstein won an Oscar for this powerful documentary chronicling the life and activism of murdered gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk.

- Victim (1961) – Basil Dearden’s groundbreaking drama stars Dirk Bogarde as a barrister who decides to fight back after being blackmailed over his homosexuality.

- Another Country (1984) - Rupert Everett stars as a gay Eton student in this drama based on the play by Julian Mitchell and inspired by the life of double agent Guy Burgess. Colin Firth, in his film debut, co-stars as a fellow student with Marxist tendencies.

- The Watermelon Woman (1996) - Cheryl Dunye plays a version of herself in this witty, nimble landmark of New Queer Cinema.

“We look forward to exploring their lives, work and sharing their stories with our fans,” said Tabesh.

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