Queer Oscar Firsts & Superlatives

The 90th annual Academy Awards are on Sunday night and for as long as the Oscars have been around, queer people have played a big part in them. From behind the camera, to some of its greatest stars, there's good reason why the Oscars are the Gay Super Bowl.

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And while the Oscars haven't always been known for their diversity, thanks to some new voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and one monumental mix-up last year, this year promises to be a groundbreaking year with a slew of impressive nominations.

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Check out just how gay the Oscars have been since literally day one, below:

Janet Gaynor(7th Heaven, Street Angel, Sunrise - 1927/28)
Not only the first LGBT acting Oscar-nominee and -winner, but also the first Best Actress Oscar-winner...like, ever [public domain]

Charles Laughton(The Private Life of Henry VIII, 1932/33)
First LGBT Best Actor Oscar-nominee and -winner [public domain]

George Cukor(Little Women, 1932/33)
First Oscar-nominated LGBT director [publicity still]

Cole Porter ("I've Got You Under My Skin," from Born to Dance, 1936)
First LGBT Original Song nominee [public domain]

Aaron Copland (Of Mice and Men, 1939)
First LGBT Original Score nominee [public domain]

Noel Coward (In Which We Serve, 1942)
First LGBT Original Screenplay nominee, along with George Oppenheimer, also nominated that year for The War Against Mrs. Hadley [Allan Warren, Wikimedia Commons]

John Van Druten(Gaslight, 1944)
First LGBT Adapted Screenplay nominee

Edwin Willis (32 nominations, 8 wins including An American in Paris, 1951)
Most nominated LGBT person, art direction

Nancy Hamilton (Helen Keller in Her Story, 1955)
First LGBT Best Documentary Feature winner

Vincente Minnelli (Gigi, 1958)
First LGBT Best Director winner...and Liza's dad

William Inge (Splendor in the Grass, 1961)
First LGBT Original Screenplay winner

Tony Richardson (Tom Jones, 1963)
First LGBT Best Picture winner; also won Best Director

Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations, 4 wins)
Most nominated LGBT actress, still more Best Actress Oscars than Meryl...for now

Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront, 1954; The Godfather, 1972)
First two-time LGBT Best Actor winner, most nominated LGBT actor (8)

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Paul Winfield (Sounder, 1972)
First black LGBT Best Actor nominee [public domain]

William H. Reynolds (7 nominations, 2 wins including The Sound of Music, 1965)
First LGBT Best Film Editing nominee/winner

Angela Morley, (The Little Prince, 1974)
First openly transgender nominee [YouTube]

Peter Shaffer (Amadeus, 1984)
First LGBT Best Adapted Screenplay winner

Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen (The Times of Harvey Milk, 1984)
First gay-themed film by openly gay filmmakers to win an Oscar

Howard Ashman (4 posthumous nominations for Original Song, 1 posthumous win for "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast, 1991)
Most posthumous nominations; 7 total nominations, 2 total wins

Scott Rudin (9 nominations, 1 win)
Most nominated LGBT producer [Matt Sayles/AP Photo]

Melissa Etheridge ("I Need to Wake Up," An Inconvenient Truth, 2006)
First openly LGBT woman to win Original Song [Flickr]

Lee Daniels (Precious, 2009)
First LGBT African-American Best Director nominee

Geoffrey S. Fletcher (Precious, 2009)
First LGBT African-American screenplay winner

Anohni ("Manta Ray," Racing Extinction, 2015)
First openly transgender Original Song nominee [Francesco Carrozzini. Courtesy of Trunk Archive]

Byron Howard (Zootopia, 2016)
First LGBT Best Animated Feature winner

Dee Rees (Mudbound, 2017)
First queer black woman nominated for a screenplay Oscar [Marcie Revens]

Rachel Morrison (Mudbound, 2017)
First (queer/black) woman nominated for Best Cinematography

Yance Ford (Strong Island, 2017)
First openly trans man nominated for an Oscar (Best Documentary Feature) [Netflix]

Gifs: Giphy