I recently saw (and enjoyed) A Very Natural Thing, supposedly the first gay film intended for mainstream audiences.
It reminded me of a remarkable gift given to me and a friend by an established gay man who thought we needed an “education” so he logged on to Amazon and ordered twenty or so DVDs sent to our homes to watch, trade, and discuss. Comedic classics like “Priscilla Queen of the Desert”, “The Birdcage”, and “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything”, inspiring stories like “Love! Valor! Compassion”, “Milk”, and “Pride”, and mainstream heavy-hitters like “Philadelphia”, “The Normal Heart”, and “And the Band Played On”.
A couple of more recent gay films I’ve enjoyed: “Good Grief”, “Rustin”, and the remake of “The Boys in the Band” (although I thought it was better on Broadway).