The 10 Most Important Gay Moments in Oscar History

After several years of increasingly gay Oscar ceremonies thanks to the likes of Colman Domingo, Cynthia Erivo, and *winces* Karla Sofia Gascon, the 2026 Academy Awards are poised to be a blandly heterosexual affair. Of the 200+ nominees this year, only a handful are openly queer, with no LGBTQ+ actors nominated (that we know of at least). The three notable queer nominees are Mark Sonnenblick, one of the “Golden” songwriters, and the directors of the documentaries Come See Me in the Good Light and Mr. Nobody Against Putin.

But just because the class of 2026 doesn’t include many Grindr users (although you never know who is lurking behind those black squares), it doesn’t mean that the Academy Awards don’t boast a long queer history full of highs, lows, and gay cowboys boning in the wilderness. So ahead of the 2026 Oscars, let’s take a look back at 10 defining gay moments in the history of the Academy Awards. 

1931 — Marlene Dietrich dresses as a man and kisses a woman in Morocco

While the Hays Code, a strict moral standard that outlawed homosexuality on screen, made sure gay moments at the Oscars were forbidden from 1934 to 1968, Marlene Dietrich caused a stir when she donned a tuxedo and kissed a female patron as a nightclub singer in Morocco. Dietrich, who was bisexual in real life and had frequent affairs with men and women, was nominated for Best Actress at the 4th Academy Awards.

1970 — Midnight Cowboy becomes the first film with gay themes to win Best Picture

Shortly after the Hays Code was disbanded, Midnight Cowboy, a film about a male prostitute (Jon Voight) and his pimp (Dustin Hoffman) hustling on the streets of New York won win Best Picture, despite having gay sex portrayed on screen. Midnight Cowboy was eventually followed by The Silence of the Lambs (1992), American Beauty (2000), Moonlight (2017), and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023) as Best Picture winners with queer plots (although not all handled the subject with the same delicacy). 

1973 — Paul Winfield becomes the first openly gay nominee in an acting category

Definitively labeling firsts in Oscar history is a bit tricky given the various degrees of “out” that exist in the film world. Until the 2000s, most queer people in Hollywood didn’t make public announcements about their sexuality, even if they were out within the industry or in longterm homosexual relationships. This was the case with Paul Winfield, who was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Sounder. Winfield lived with Cicely Tyson in the early ‘70s, leading many to believe they were romantically involved when he was actually out and dating his life partner. 

1986 — William Hurt wins an Oscar for playing a queer role in Kiss of the Spider Woman

While Hurt’s win for playing a gay man in the non-musical version of this story about two men in a Brazilian prison seemed progressive at the time, in the years since, LGBTQ+ actors have bristled at how many straight actors have been heralded as brave and given awards for playing queer roles. Tom Hanks, Hilary Swank, Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Jared Leto, and Rami Malek would all benefit from this trend while queer actors remained on the sidelines. 

1992 - Howard Ashman wins a posthumous Oscar after dying from AIDS

Disney lyricist Howard Ashman died in 1991 after battling AIDS for several years. He was nominated for four Oscars posthumously, including for “Beauty and the Beast” in Best Original Song. His partner, Bill Lauch accepted the Oscar on his behalf, calling attention to the AIDS crisis in his moving speech.

1993 - Jaye Davidson becomes the first openly queer actor nominated for a queer role

While numerous straight actors have received nominations for playing gay, Davidson became the first openly queer actor to be nominated for a queer role, playing a transgender character in The Crying Game. Only five other openly LGBTQ+ actors have been nominated for playing queer roles since: Ian McKellan in Gods & Monsters (1999), Stephanie Hsu in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023), Jodie Foster in Nyad (2024), Colman Domingo in Rustin (2024), and Karla Sofia Gascon in Emilia Perez (2025). 

2005 - Brokeback Mountain nearly wins Best Picture

While Brokeback Mountain ultimately lost the Best Picture Oscar to Crash in one of the Academy’s most notorious snubs, the gay love story about two Wyoming cowboys racked up eight nominations and three wins for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Score. The film would pave the way for dozens of gay Best Picture nominees, including Milk, The Kids Are Alright, Call Me By Your Name, and Tar. 

2017 - Moonlight named Best Picture after envelope mix-up

Twelve years after Brokeback Mountain, Moonlight, a gay coming-of-age story, won Best Picture in historic fashion. The presenters initially misread the envelope, calling La La Land as the winner. It was only after the musical’s team had taken the stage and delivered speaches that the error was discovered, leading to the now infamous, “There’s been a mistake. Moonlight. You guys won Best Picture.”

2022 - Ariana DeBose becomes the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar

The Academy’s history of queer winners is short, and so is their history with winners of color. When combined, that list contains just a handful of names, including Ariana DeBose, who won Best Supporting Actress for West Side Story. Other queer winners of color include Wicked’s costume designer Paul Tazewell and Moonlight’s playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney.

2025 - Karla Sofia Gascon becomes the first transgender acting nominee

While much of the progress gained by Emilia Perez was ultimately undermined by a scandal involving Gascon’s barrage of controversial tweets, the actress did become the first transgender acting nominee in Oscar history. As trans actors like MJ Rodriguez, Hunter Schafer, and Elliot Page continue to push the industry forward, hopefully, we’ll get our first transgender Oscar winner before long.