Eleven Gay Historical Figures Worthy of the "Milk" Treatment

Robert Mapplethorpe

Who he was: One of the greatest art photographers in the history of the medium, Mapplethorpe’s homoerotic subject matter put him in the crosshairs of controversy over public funding of art. He grew up in suburban Long Island before moving to New York’s infamous Chelsea Hotel with his muse, Patti Smith. With the help of his lover, Sam Wagstaff, Mapplethorpe began showing his fascinating and blatantly sexual photographs; his reputation grew even as both he and Wagstaff were diagnosed with AIDS.

Potential film plot points: The unveiling of his controversial photos, particularly those that involved S&M imagery and African-American models . . . His relationship with — and photographs of — Smith … His triumphant retrospective at the Whitney just before his death, and the attacks on his art by Jesse Helms not long after the photographer succumbed to complications of AIDS . . . There’s also the case of Dennis Barrie, who was indicted on child pornography charges in 1990 for displaying Mapplethorpe’s work in ultra-conservative Cincinnati, but that was already the basis of the Showtime movie Dirty Pictures (2000), written by L Word creator Ilene Chaiken.

Dream director: Todd Haynes. Because he’s Todd Haynes.

Dream actor: Thomas Haden Church

Harveys: 2. The penis remains taboo in American cinema, and there’s no telling Mapplethorpe’s story without at least suggesting a penis or two. But the art direction would be irresistible to Academy voters.

Leslie Cheung

Who he was: One of Asia’s only out superstars, Cheung was legendary in both the worlds of cinema (Farewell My Concubine [1993], Ashes of Time [1994)) and music (he was considered one of the founding fathers of the Chinese “Cantopop” movement). He spent the first part of his career denying reports regarding his sexuality before eventually saying he was bisexual; by the end of his career, the relatively homophobic Hong Kong press was accepting enough that his male lover was listed as a surviving spouse when Cheung committed suicide in 2003 after battling clinical depression.

Potential film plot points: Winning a televised singing competition at age 21 (he sang “American Pie”) and being signed to his first record label . . . Cheung’s booming pop music career in the late ’80s, followed by film stardom in the 1990s in a variety of genres, from action to period drama to comedy (the latter category including He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994), a farce in which Cheung’s character falls for a woman pretending to be a boy . . . His decision to go public regarding his sexuality, and his tragic death.