TL;DR

• For decades, queer audiences embraced films that weren’t “gay” on paper but radiated camp, drama, and diva energy.
• Movies like Mommie Dearest, The Wizard of Oz, and The Devil Wears Prada became cultural touchstones.
• Themes of glamour, power, outsiders, and chosen family resonated deeply with LGBTQ+ viewers.
• These films forged a shared queer language—quotable lines, iconic looks, and coded references.

The Movies That Queers Made Their Own

Mommie Dearest (1981)

Faye Dunaway’s take on Joan Crawford is peak camp—rage, wire hangers, and Hollywood vengeance. The performance is so over-the-top it transcended into drag queen gospel. For queer audiences, it’s a masterclass in surviving dysfunction with glamour intact.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dorothy’s trip down the yellow brick road became the ultimate queer allegory. Judy Garland cemented her place as a gay icon, and the phrase “a friend of Dorothy” became secret code for generations of LGBTQ+ folks navigating a hostile world.

Chicago (2002)

Glitz, jazz, murder, and razzle-dazzle. The musical gave us Velma, Roxie, and Mama Morton—characters dripping in queer sensibility. It’s no surprise this Oscar-winning film feels tailor-made for Broadway-loving gays.

Sister Act (1992)

Whoopi Goldberg, belting nuns, and Vegas sparkle. This comedy’s charm wasn’t lost on queer viewers who saw in Sister Mary Clarence a defiant diva hiding in plain sight. Even today, drag queens channel her gospel camp.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford. The feud, the venom, the melodrama—it’s basically drag warfare on screen. What critics dismissed, queer fans enshrined as a cult classic about rival divas destroying each other in fabulous fashion.

The Stepford Wives (2004)

Plastic suburbia, robot housewives, and Nicole Kidman serving camp perfection. This sci-fi satire mirrored the queer fear of conformity and the desire to smash patriarchal molds—while serving glossy Housewives realness.

Showgirls (1995)

Box office flop? Maybe. Queer masterpiece? Absolutely. Elizabeth Berkley’s Nomi Malone became the patron saint of strippers, hustlers, and drag queens everywhere. Its erotic absurdity makes it endlessly watchable in queer spaces.

9 to 5 (1980)

Jane, Lily, and Dolly—our holy trinity. Tackling misogyny and workplace injustice, this comedy gave queers the blueprint for revenge fantasy against patriarchal bosses. Plus, Dolly’s soundtrack is eternal gay karaoke.

Valley of the Dolls (1967)

Addiction, ambition, and bitchy one-liners—this melodrama is queer heaven. Based on Jacqueline Susann’s novel, it drips with camp excess and tragic glamour, reminding queer fans how survival often comes with scars.

Burlesque (2010)

Cher mentoring Christina Aguilera? Say no more. Sequins, big notes, and drag-level spectacle made Burlesque feel like it was designed in a queer laboratory. It’s glitzy, overblown, and utterly irresistible.

Grey Gardens (1975)

Little Edie’s eccentric monologues made this doc a gay cult treasure. The Beale women’s faded glamour and unapologetic oddity mirrored how queers often embrace outsiders who live authentically, no matter how messy.

Barbarella (1968)

Jane Fonda floating in space in barely-there costumes? The gays said yes. Though critics sneered, Barbarella’s campy sci-fi excess turned it into a drag muse for decades of queer performers.

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Meryl and Goldie chasing immortality while backstabbing each other? This camp gem gave queer fans quotes, GIFs, and drag routines for life. Aging, beauty obsession, and rivalry all resonate with a community taught to worship glamour.

Barbie (2023)

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling dazzled, but the queer cameos sealed the deal—Hari Nef, Scott Evans, Alexandra Shipp. Gerwig’s candy-colored satire hit home with queers who know too well the performance of gender.

Glitter (2001)

Mariah Carey as a rising star? Camp perfection. While straight critics dismissed it, queers reclaimed Glitter as a misunderstood diva masterpiece, complete with a soundtrack that still bops in gay clubs.

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Bette, SJP, and Kathy as the Sanderson Sisters—Halloween’s holy trinity. With campy spells and fabulous performances, it became a queer seasonal tradition, cementing its place as a drag favorite.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Meryl’s Miranda Priestly is the gay patron saint of icy shade. Queer audiences made this movie gospel for ambition, power, and high fashion. We didn’t just watch it—we memorized every line.

The Babadook (2014)

A horror monster as a gay icon? Only queers could pull this off. Thanks to memes, the Babadook was claimed as queer representation, proving that even darkness can be reimagined as camp.

Ma (2019)

Octavia Spencer’s deranged performance became instant meme gold. Queer fans reveled in her chaos, adopting her one-liners into drag acts and social media jokes that won’t quit.

Wicked (2024)

The long-awaited adaptation soared with themes of outsiders, power struggles, and unlikely friendships. Queer audiences saw themselves in Elphaba’s journey—misunderstood, marginalized, but unapologetically magical.

These movies—campy, tragic, glittery, or absurd—offered queer people something mainstream culture often denied us: recognition. Whether through divas, melodrama, or coded language, they created safe havens for identification and belonging. For generations of LGBTQ+ folks, quoting Mommie Dearest or belting Burlesque wasn’t just fandom—it was survival, connection, and joy.