Wendy The Druid

Wendy The Druid

Share this post

Wendy The Druid
Wendy The Druid
Queer History 114: Before The Fucking Hay's Code, The Golden Era
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
The LGBTQIA+ Path

Queer History 114: Before The Fucking Hay's Code, The Golden Era

The Queer Golden Age: LGBTQ+ Representation Before Hollywood's Great Erasure: The forgotten era when queer characters thrived on screen before censorship killed the party

Wendy🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌈's avatar
Wendy🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌈
May 18, 2025
∙ Paid
33

Share this post

Wendy The Druid
Wendy The Druid
Queer History 114: Before The Fucking Hay's Code, The Golden Era
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
8
9
Share

You think the 1930s was all straight-laced puritanism and sexual repression? Think a-fucking-gain. Before Will Hays and his moral crusaders stormed the gates with their production code in 1934, early Hollywood was a goddamn queer paradise compared to what came after. For a brief, glorious moment in cinematic history—roughly 1927 to 1934, known as the "Pre-Code era"—American films featured openly gay characters, gender-bending performances, same-sex kisses, drag performances, and discussions of homosexuality that wouldn't be seen again until decades later. This wasn't some underground cinema movement either—this was mainstream Hollywood, baby, playing in theaters across America to audiences who apparently weren't clutching their pearls nearly as hard as history would have us believe.

Get 33% off for 1 year

Hays Code: The Most Important Pre-Code Hollywood Movies, Ranked

Let me be crystal clear about something: the systematic LGBTQ+ erasure caused by the Hays Code didn't correct some temporary deviation from the norm. It violently interrupted what was becoming a remarkably …

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Wendy The Druid to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Thistle and Moss LLC
Publisher Privacy ∙ Publisher Terms
Substack
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More