For generations, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood had to be "discreet" about their lives, but make no mistake - they were everywhere, both in front of and behind the camera. On the eve of the 20th century, in Thomas Edison's laboratory, one of the first attempts at sound film depicted two men dancing together as a third plays the violin. It's only a few minutes, but this instance of early cinema captures a queer moment on film. It would not be the last.

"Hollywood Pride" is a story that spans from the "old craze" of the 1930s to the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, and up to the present day. It concerns the hardworking actors, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, art directors, and choreographers whose achievements defined the American film industry, as well as the evolution of LGBTQ+ storytelling - how mainstream Hollywood chose to portray (or erase) their lives and the narratives created by queer filmmakers who struggled to tell these stories themselves.

Along the way, readers will encounter a fascinating panorama of characters, including the first generation of queer actors such as J. Warren Kerrigan, Ramon Novarro, William Haines, and Lilyan Tashman. Pioneers of early cinema like Alla Nazimova and F.W. Murnau helped shape the new medium of moving pictures. Sex symbols, both male (Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, and Anthony Perkins) and female (Lizbeth Scott and Greta Garbo), lived under the threat of their private lives undermining their public personas. Underground filmmakers like Kenneth Anger and John Waters made great strides in LGBT+ representation with their off-off-Hollywood productions in the 1960s and '70s. These legendary figures paved the way for Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Kimberly Peirce, Elliot Page, Bowen Yang, and every other openly queer personality of the 21st century in Hollywood.

Illustrated with more than 100 color and black-and-white images, "Hollywood Pride" maps the future of the LGBTQ+ community in cinema by revealing the history of its triumphs and tragedies, its inclusion and erasure, as well as its visibility and invisibility.