(The acceptance of gay characters and lifestyles is a premier example of promoting
diversity. This Web site hosts a list of films and TV shows featuring gay characters
who are teens or preteens. To view the list, click here.)
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Beautiful People (BBC, 2008-2009) Simon Doonan (14)(Luke Ward-Wilkinson) and his BFF Kylie (Layton Williams) are gay teens who don't take "you can't" for an answer, and dream of one day joining the "beautiful people" in far-off London. (They live in Reading, about 30 miles away!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Elliot (film, 2000) Billy Elliot (stage, 2006) Billy discovers that he loves to dance, but his otherwise-sympathetic father thinks it's un-manly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Boy With Green Hair (film, 1948) Peter Fry (Dean Stockwell) learns what it is like to be different, when he wakes up one morning to find that his hair has turned bright green -- "the colour of spring, the hope of a new life", as his Gramp Fry (Pat O'Brien) had told him at dinner the night before. He already has been taunted at school for being a "war orphan" (the kids say they heard his parents were killed in the war [presumably WWII]), and Peter feels different for that reason, but this difference is different. At first he is delighted [click here for an illustration of the fun he has on that first morning], though his joy at being different soon devolves into anger when he realises that to some people, "different" is "strange". In fantasy sequences, he meets other children who also are different, particularly those orphaned by war. Peter shaves his head, a symbol that he has dropped out of a society full of prejudice and war, and runs away. He is found by police in a neighbouring town and, as he refuses to answer their questions, is interviewed by Dr Evans (Robert Ryan). Peter: "What kind of a doctor?" Evans: "Oh, just a regular doctor . . . as a matter of fact, kind of an expert on boys." Their conversation becomes the framing story for the film, in which we learn both the depth and strength of Peter's conviction that prejudice is wrong. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gentleman's Agreement (film, 1947) The classic film indictment of bigotry in America, in which reporter Philip Schuyler Green (Gregory Peck) poses as a Jew to cover a story on anti-Semitism, perhaps not fully realising just how profoundly his professional masquerade would affect his son Tommy (Dean Stockwell), indeed all his relationships, and even his own self-image. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Glee (Fox, 2009-2015) The "Poster Child" for all the gay-straight alliance clubs in American schools (not to mention the revival of school music programs). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Igor (animated film, 2008) Igor is a "Yes, Master" stereotype until he has had enough abuse and misunderstanding from stereotypical hard taskmasters and he stands up for himself. "I'm tired of being treated like just another 'Igor'." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Man Without a Face (film, 1993; novel [by Isabelle Holland], 1972) Chuck Norstadt meets Justin McLeod, a disfigured recluse who teaches and challenges Chuck to prepare for entry into a boarding school. McLeod is rumored to be a child molester, but Chuck carries on in spite of community disapproval. From one IMDb plot summary: "McLeod instills in his protege a love of justice and freedom from prejudice which sustains him beyond the end of the film." In another IMDb plot summary: ". . . together they begin to help each other deal with a world that has shunned them both." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taliesin Jones [Small Miracles; The Testimony of Taliesin Jones](film, 2000) Taliesin Jones (John-Paul Macleod) is taking piano lessons from Billy Evans (Ian Bannen), an elderly neighbor who is also a spiritual healer, and Taliesin comes to believe he can be a healer, as well. Parents and community are skeptical, and Tal's brother Jonathan (Matthew Rhys) is downright hostile. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ugly Betty (ABC, 2006-2010) Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) is "not thin and beautiful" (IMDb description), yet succeeds in the world of New York City high fashion publishing. Her brother, Justin Suarez (Mark Indelicato) is an effeminate fashionista who is, nonetheless, accepted by his family and most people around him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Side Story (stage, 1956) West Side Story (film, 1961) Tony is a white boy, Maria is Puerto Rican, each associated with rival gangs (Sharks, Jets). They fall in love, but Tony is killed (story based on Romeo and Juliet).