“Cinema is often discussed as an empathy machine because of its power to draw our attention deeply into faces, details, and situations we would otherwise miss. But this only works because of cinema’s less-often discussed power to draw our attention away from other details. As much as it illuminates, cinema also obscures. So much so that queer people, people of color, and of course women are often placed into the position of the outsider, fighting their way into a system not designed for them. Hollywood mythologizes the role of the outsider as something romantic but, in reality as a gay Black filmmaker, I can say it’s more often than not exhausting.
But then someone like Alonso Duralde and his meticulously researched Hollywood Pride comes along to fill in the staggering blanks of the accepted history with a people’s history. Suddenly we realize that in the fight for authentic queer expression within cinema, we are not just outsiders seeking our way into a foreign land, but in fact this is territory we have a right to. As Duralde uncovers for us with characteristic wit and passion, we find that queer people and queer sensibilities were there from cinema’s inception. After all this time, we were not crazy to read into the subtext or to stare into a cavalcade of supposedly heteronormative realities and gendered faces, and instead see something more like ourselves.”—Justin Simien, filmmaker

“As another sociopolitical war against LGBTQ+ people, our history, and our culture wages on, Hollywood Pride catalogs the enduring spirit of our community as manifested in film. Alonso Duralde’s offering—comprehensive and digestible, perfect for cinephiles and the everyday moviegoer—is simultaneously a necessary reflection of how far LGBTQ+ representation has come and a reminder of how far it can still go.”—Tre'vell Anderson, authoress of We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV & Film

“Hollywood Pride isn’t a recitation of the most important LGBTQ+ films; it is an exploration of the forces that have made film queer. From gay love for straight stories, queer charisma from closeted actors, or ridiculous trends which shifted the performance of gender on film, Alonso Duralde masterfully traces an often-hidden lineage of queer culture on the big screen. His short, poppy essays combine authoritative research, incisive criticism, and dishy gossip to let gay text and subtext shine with the glitter they deserve.”—Guy Branum, writer and comedian