I personally had no problems with it as long as the characters are portrayed respectfully and realistically and not only serve as interchangeable sidekicks or gimmicks, something that was the norm until the end of the last century.

Frequently heard arguments are that actors who are gay do not have equal employment opportunities, that heterosexual actors cannot put themselves in the position of homosexual characters and that the stories are still told from the outside – after all, the film makers do not base themselves on their own experience. He had himself in making milk somewhat engrossed in his character?įor the first time I understood why some people no longer want gay characters to be played by straight actors – a call that has been heard louder in recent years, but which I, as a gay man, had a different take on. How could he have such an archaic view of what it means to be a man, I wondered. I did not know what I heard and many with me. Penn actually won an Oscar for his role as Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay politicians in the US, and now casually stated that “cowardly genes” lead some men to wear skirts. It almost felt like betrayal when actor Sean Penn said in an interview at the beginning of this year that men have become “effeminate” in 2022.