Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn, has been voted the film with the best depiction of LGBT lives from the last decade by Stonewall’s online supporters.
Milk, made in 2008, portrays the story of Harvey Milk and his struggles as a gay activist, his fight for gay rights and becoming California’s first openly gay elected official.
Cleve Jones, played in the film by Emile Hirsch, said, “This is a fantastic achievement for Milk. As someone who was depicted in the film, I feel very proud that gay people are saying it’s the most significant film for them in the last decade – it shows that the campaign for full gay equality has reached a whole new generation of people, which gives me real hope.”
There were 800 respondents to the poll, which ran on Stonewall’s social media pages, and results were as follows:
1) Milk (40%)
2) The Kids Are All Right (23%)
3) Brokeback Mountain (19%)
4) A Single Man (13%)
5) The Hours (5%)
“Films and TV have a huge impact on the attitudes of young people in particular so it’s encouraging the last decade has started to give us some diverse depictions of gay lives,” Ben Summerskill, Stonewall’s Chief Executive, said. “We’ve moved beyond clichés and stereotypes in film – TV is only just beginning to catch up.”
