TCM is celebrating Pride Month with a slew of films about gay Hollywood. Sadly, gay film historian Robert Osborne passed away in January but journalist Dave Karger will take over his hosting duties. Karger will talk about queer Hollywood with William J. Mann, the author of Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood.

Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming & production for Turner Classic Movies and FilmStruck said in a statement,

“Our June programming lineups will show how stars and filmmakers from Hollywood and around the globe have navigated around the demands of societal restrictions to tell LGBT stories, while also celebrating some of the stars and artists whose careers have been affected – both positively and negatively – by views of their sexual orientation and gender identity. We look forward to exploring their lives, work and sharing their stories with our fans.“

Every Thursday evening in June movies TCM highlights LGBTQ stories and stars, like Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift and Anthony Perkins. The series started last Thursday night with Just A Gigolo, starring William Haines, considered the first “out” actor in Hollywood who left the biz after refusing to hide his gayness. He became one of the towns top decorators (You just saw his work recreated for Joan Crawford‘s home in Feud: Bette and Joan.)

Other highlights include:

• Victim, 1961 is Basil Dearden‘s drama starring Dirk Bogarde as a barrister who decides to fight back after being blackmailed over his homosexuality.

• Actor Clifton Webb in The Razor’s Edge, 1946.

• Playwrights Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958 and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966.

• Actress Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously from 1982.

• Oscar® winner Joel Grey in Cabaret, 1972. (He just came out in 2015 at the age of 82)

• Bill Sherwood’s Parting Glances (1986) looks at a gay couple facing an impending separation when one goes overseas for a job assignment while the other stays in Manhattan to care for his best friend who is dying of AIDS.

• Another Country, 1984, with Rupert Everett as a gay Eton student.

• The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) – Rob Epstein won an Oscar® for his documentary.

• The Watermelon Woman, 1996. Cheryl Dunye plays a version of herself in this landmark of New Queer Cinema.

• The Loved One, 1965 is a comedy Karger calls “the gayest movie of all time.”

For more info go here.

(via NexwNowNext)