Guardian writers have selected their favourite LGBTQ+ movie characters for Pride Month, ranging from gritty criminals to teens coming to terms with their identity. The list includes Corky from Bound, Eric Hunter from Edge of Seventeen, Frank Dillard from Mrs Doubtfire, Divine from Pink Flamingos, Barbara Covett from Notes on a Scandal, Helen Cooper from Kissing Jessica Stein, Albert Goldman from The Birdcage, Megan Bloomfield from But I'm a Cheerleader, Sérgio from O Fantasma, and the Babadook from The Babadook.
Iconic queer characters across genres
El Hunt praised Corky from Bound, a swaggering ex-con turned plumber who helps save Violet from her mob boss husband. Hunt noted Corky's unapologetic visibility in a time when few films explored queerness, calling her 'ridiculously ahead of its time.' Juan A Ramirez highlighted Eric Hunter from Edge of Seventeen, a suburban Ohio teen navigating coming out and coming of age, capturing 'the thrill of self-fulfillment.'
Flamboyant and groundbreaking roles
Louis Staples recalled Harvey Fierstein's Frank Dillard in Mrs Doubtfire, a flamboyant gay makeup artist who helps his brother transform into a woman. Staples found it groundbreaking that the 1993 film featured a happy gay character during a time of HIV/AIDS moral panics. Miriam Balanescu celebrated Divine from Pink Flamingos, calling her 'the filthiest person alive' and noting that no character since has matched her 'sheer outrageousness.'
Complex and relatable portrayals
Benjamin Lee praised Judi Dench's Barbara Covett in Notes on a Scandal, a repressed teacher whose actions are morally indefensible but whose tragedy of never coming to terms with her queerness remains 'effectively stinging.' Megan Wallace loved Helen Cooper from Kissing Jessica Stein, a direct, sexually empowered bisexual woman who 'never fitted into the confines of hetero-monogamy.'
Comedy and satire with heart
Shrai Popat admired Albert Goldman from The Birdcage, an aging drag queen played by Nathan Lane who commands every room with unapologetic self-hood. Popat noted that the film was the first they saw featuring two men living in bliss, and that Albert is never the butt of the joke. Veronica Esposito highlighted Megan Bloomfield from But I'm a Cheerleader, a cheerleader sent to conversion therapy who finds lesbian love, calling Natasha Lyonne's performance 'pitch-perfect.'
Unsanitised and non-binary representations
Owen Myers chose Sérgio from O Fantasma, a garbage collector with an insatiable sex drive who refuses to fit in, praising the film for its 'totally unsanitised portrait of ennui and social detachment.' Eleanor Margolis celebrated the Babadook, which became a queer icon after a viral Netflix error in 2016, noting that the character is 'for sure non-binary' and embraced by the LGBTQ+ community.
