In a previous article I wrote about the power of gay fiction in the fight against homophobia. In this article I would like to propose three gay movies that your straight parents, friends or relatives should watch. Sex scenes in movies can play a vital role in showing the reality of life, but they make the movie unusable for carrying a message to straight people. Sex scenes can easily offend, and while I agree with the idea that they should be there, it makes it hard to show them to straight friends. Fortunately, there are a few very good gay films that touch gay sexuality very discreetly and that can help us in the fight against homophobia. I could have mentioned more of these movies, but for the scope of this article I am only going to talk about three.

1. A single man

This film was directed by Tom Ford and tells the story of a college professor whose male classmate is killed in a car accident on his way to his family. He mourned the death of his long time partner and decided to commit suicide. He gets his affairs in order and gives an emotional lecture to his class. A student, Kenny, senses that something is wrong and shows him why he must stay alive. The professor reconsiders his suicide, but he dies of a heart attack. The message shows how deep gay relationships can go and how wrong some straight people are in their view that gay relationships are only skin deep. The college professor is played by Colin Firth and Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a tomato meter of 85% and an audience meter of 81%.

2. Shelter

The film portrays a young man who falls in love with the older brother of a friend. His sister has a little boy and the young gay man is much more of a father to the child than the sister who is only interested in her boyfriend. Her sister asks him to babysit her son while she hits the road with her new boyfriend. The young gay man wants to go to college and receives a scholarship to do so. In the end, he and his mistress, the brother of his best friend, made their way to college, but not without the young man they decided to raise on their own. The message touches on the question of whether gay parents should be allowed to raise children. The main roles are played by Trevor Right as the young gay man and Brad Rowe as his mistress. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a tomato meter of 58% and an audience meter of 85%.

3. Prayers for Bobby

The film portrays the real life of Mary Griffith, a mother who drives her homosexual son to suicide by forcing him to repent of his homosexuality and become heterosexual. After her death, she realizes that there are Christian churches and theologians who interpret the Bible differently and she feels guilty. She then comes out and becomes one of the most famous fighters for gay rights in America. The message must be clear; some churches, families, and politicians are driving our gay youth to suicide when they could have provided a safe haven for these children. The mother is played by Sigourney Weaver. Rotten Tomatoes did not give a tomato meter for this film, but the audience meter is 87%.

These three films are a must see for families and friends of gay people.