The first gay kisses are such a major moment for queer people. Not the messy nervous one with their own lips, but the first time they see gay making out on screen. Representation matters, and sometimes that first flutter from seeing two people kiss means more than just a moment on screen.
We’ve taken a look back at some of Hollywood’s best kissing scenes.
- Ellen Degeneres and Laura Dern
While this list is in no particular order, the moment on Ellen when Degeneres’ character kisses Laura Dern is historic beyond measure. 1997 wasn’t so long ago, so the fact that the show got hit with an explicit content warning, not just for the episode but for the rest of the series’ run, is simply bonkers. American audiences didn’t take it well, and a cancellation followed the following season.
With all of that said, there’s a reason we still come back to it. This moment held so much defiance, and took a kiss between two women totally seriously. Ellen will always be a trailblazer for choosing to do this at such a difficult time.
- Brokeback Mountain
Any good gay who’s watched a mid 2000’s through early aughts award show knows what a lasting impression Brokeback Mountain made in the entertainment world. Jake Gylenhal and Heath Ledger’s passionate kiss (and Michelle Williams’ iconic glare) became a joke for years after. Even though it was mocked, this kiss brought the truth of closeted mens’ experience to the big screen.
- Carol
Todd Haynes created a sapphic masterpiece with Carol. The build up to Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchet’s kiss is beautiful, and it captures the orbit of a woman like Blanchet. She drew Mara into her world, and set her free from it so as not to chew her up. Their kiss is what both have to remember it by.
- Blue is the Warmest Color
This Palme D’Or winning French film stands out in part because of its critical acclaim. While a drama about 2 European lesbians may seem old hat by today’s standards, this 2013 film caused a real stir. Not since Brokeback Mountain had a queer-centric film really penetrated the film world’s conscious on such a level.
- Happy Endings
Max Bloom, played by heterosexual Adam Pally, portrayed an unconventional gay character. He wasn’t well groomed, cultured, or even that special. He simply existed as a gay member of a star-studded cast who didn’t serve as a punching bag because of his sexuality. His first on screen kiss wasn’t treated as a joke either, they gave him a full fleshed out storyline with a surprising amount of heart for the ABC sitcom.
- Sense8
Another kiss between straight men, but orchestrated by the Wachowski Sisters so it gets points back. Lito Rodriguez (Miguel Angel Silvestre) and Hernando Fuentes (Alfonso Herrera) displayed more than their fair share of intimate moments on the show. Not only did the two actors have chemistry and banging bodies, but they showed a very modern picture of gay male desire, and goodness there was a lot of desire in that script.
- Moonlight
The kiss that beat La La Land. Just kidding, but the kiss between Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome won best kiss at the 2017 MTV Movie awards. A nice addition to the film’s Best Picture win at The Oscars. While we’re seeing yet another pairing of heterosexual actors get the win, it was still a historic moment in a once in a lifetime sort of film.
- Dawson’s Creek
This is the first romantic kiss between two men on North American primetime television. Jack (Kerr Smith) and Ethan’s (Adam Kaufman) attraction ends in heartbreak, because of course it does, but a teen drama breaking boundaries is no small feat.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Any good nerd understands why seeing teen lesbian witches make out mattered so much to the queer community. Willow (Alison Hanningam) and Tara’s (Amber Benson) first kiss came in season 5 during the much celebrated (and cried over) episode The Body. It wasn’t until the show moved from WB to UPN that they could even be depicted in sexual situations.
- The Wire
Omar (Michael Kenneth Williams) and Brandon’s (Michael Kevin Darnall) relationship was a watershed moment in TV history. Williams even recounts the cast and crew going slack-jawed when the two kissed during filming. Two men of color being openly intimate with each other on prestige television took a lot of pushing and bravery from both actors.
- Avatar: The Legend of Korra
The Legend of Korra pushed the envelope in multiple ways. After being moved to streaming due to a truly wild death scene in the third season, and went out with a bang. In a move that few actually believed, the titular character, Korra, walks into the spirit realm with her best friend Asami. As the screen fades out the two lean in for a kiss. While we don’t see the kiss, the fact that such a historic children’s show ended on that note is remarkable.
- Black Mirror
Black Mirror doesn’t stray from queer romance on screen, but god damn San Junipero knocked it out of the park. As one of the few lighthearted (or at least by the show’s standards) episodes Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) blossoming romance in a virtual world broke the internet. It still utilized the show’s usual sci-fi flare, but this moment between retro lesbian lovers will go down in history.
- Brooklyn 99
By 2013 gay characters were not terribly uncommon. However, Brooklyn 99’s Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) defied so many stereotypes about black and gay men. To have him in such a position of authority, while still regularly showing moments of affection with his husband Kevin (Marc Evan Jackson) felt so refreshing. When the two kiss in the rain during season 8, we see a rare softer side to our beloved Captain.
- Steven Universe
Listen, this show is pretty gay. Much to Tumblr’s rejoicing they even depicted a queer wedding between Ruby and Sapphire. Their kiss being so powerful they form an entirely new being, Garnet, and personified queer love is a big step forward in children’s television.
- The Real World
In 1994, Pedro Zamora and Sean Sasser exchanged vows in a gay wedding on MTV’s The Real World. Pedro passed away due to complications associated with HIV/AIDs 8 days after the episode aired. Their kiss stands as a testament to queer love, apologetic and out in the open, during the height of the AIDs pandemic. To call Zamora anything short of a hero is a massive disservice to this moment.
- Will and Grace
“I just want to know how long I’m going to have to wait to see two gay men kiss on network television.” Although Will and Grace took 2 seasons to feature a gay kiss, they did so in spectacular style. Will (Eric McCormack) plants one on Jack (Sean Hayes) to boldly give the fans what they knew they were waiting for.
- Glee
Glee makes the list because it means too much to theatre gays to blatantly ignore. 2 out gay teenagers, Kurt (Chris Kolfer) and Blain (Darren Criss), going through all the ups and downs of angsty teen love broke barriers. They also sang a lot, which is arguably gayer than any kiss they shared.
- Looking
Hailed as gay Sex and The City (as if the original wasn’t gay enough) Looking depicted gay men living it up in New York. While the community as a whole may not have vibed with Patrick (Jhonathan Groff) and Kevin (Russel Tovey) they were still the stars of an original HBO program that was explicitly about gay men.
- Oz
Chris Meloni, daddy that he is, provided the gay awakening for plenty of gay men during his run on Oz. The passionate kiss between his character, Chris Keller, and Beecher (Lee Tergesen) felt romantic even in the erie backdrop of a men’s prison. It also probably accounts for a lot of the “plots” in gay porn from that era.
- Call Me By Your Name
We’ll always remember the peach scene.
- True Blood
To call True Blood saturated in sex is an understatement, but they sure know what they’re doing with the sex. Pairing Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) for their intimate yet dangerous seduction felt like watching some real high class erotica. Vampires are sexy, especially when they’re Scandinavian.
