‘MILK’ VOTED BEST GAY FILM OF DECADE

The Academy-award-wining Milk has been chosen as the best gay film of the last decade by voters in an online poll in the UK.

Directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn, Milk was selected as the film with the best depiction of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) lives from the last decade by 800 voters on British LGBT group Stonewall’s social media pages.

“This is a fantastic achievement for Milk,” said American LGBT rights activist Cleve Jones, who was played in the film by actor Emile Hirsch.

“As someone who was depicted in the film, I feel very proud that gay people are saying it’s the most significant film for them in the last decade – it shows that the campaign for full gay equality has reached a whole new generation of people, which gives me real hope.”

Milk, about the murdered gay politician Harvey Milk, received the 2009 Oscars for Best Original Screenplay (writer Dustin Lance Black) and best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Sean Penn.

In the poll, Milk received 40% of the votes and was followed by The Kids Are All Right (23%), Brokeback Mountain (19%), A Single Man (13%) and The Hours (5%).

“Films and TV have a huge impact on the attitudes of young people in particular so it’s encouraging the last decade has started to give us some diverse depictions of gay lives,” said Ben Summerskill, Stonewall’s Chief Executive.

“We’ve moved beyond clichés and stereotypes in film – TV is only just beginning to catch up.”