Between 1930 and 1968, it is unlikely you would have seen any LGBT+ people or same-gender relationships portrayed in films. Films made in the United States during this time were bound by the Motion Picture Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays Code. This set of industry guidelines banned certain themes or topics from being shown through the medium of film.

The Hays Code

The Hays Code was created in order to ensure films only promoted what was considered “morality” at the time through the censorship of content. The code spelled out acceptable and unacceptable content for films.

What did the Hays Code ban in films?

• Interracial relationships
• Sex perversion
• Nudity
• Swearing
• A character ridiculing the law or police officers
• A character disrespecting authority figures
• The clergy (for example, priests and pastors) being portrayed as villains

Although the code did not specifically mention LGBT+ people, identities or relationships, LGBT+ people and storylines were excluded from films, because at the time, same-gender relationships would have been considered as ‘sex perversion’.

“Queer Coding”

The Hays Code also stated that all criminal action in film had to be punished, so that "the sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin."

In other words, it was necessary that a villain be punished by the end of the story, with the audience being left with the knowledge that what the villain had done was wrong. Sometimes film makers hinted that a villainous character was LGBT+ through “queer coding”, by giving them characteristics stereotypically associated with LGBT+ people. This resulted, for several decades, in the only representation of LGBT+ people in film being as villains, who were subsequently punished.

Sadly, this likely had a negative impact on how society viewed LGBT+ people, further perpetuating negative stereotypes. As societal views progressed, the code started to feel outdated, and many film studios simply chose to stop following it.

In 1968, the Hays Code was replaced with the film age rating classification system that we still use. Today we have the opportunity to create and enjoy much more positive representation of LGBT+ people, identities, and relationships, in film and on TV.