The GLAAD List: GLAAD Teams With The Black List For LGBTQ Inclusive Film Scripts

Fresh off their announcement of the GLAAD Media Awards at Sundance, GLAAD revealed today during the Park City fest that they have partnered with The Black List for the inaugural GLAAD List, a catalog of the most promising unmade LGBTQ-inclusive film scripts in Hollywood that have been hosted on blcklst.com or were included on the 2018 year-end annual Black List.

The curated list includes scripts about trans youth, HIV and AIDS, and LGBTQ icon Bayard Rustin. The scripts on The GLAAD List represent the type of stories that GLAAD would like to see studios producing.

“There is no more reputable source for discovering quality scripts in Hollywood than The Black List,” said Jeremy Blacklow, GLAAD’s Director of Entertainment Media. “The Black List’s commitment to elevating marginalized voices in the film industry is unparalleled and GLAAD is excited to lock arms with them in helping bring diverse LGBTQ stories to Hollywood’s attention.”

“The Black List is thrilled to be working with GLAAD to shine a spotlight on brilliant LGBTQ-inclusive scripts hosted on the Black List and beyond,” adds Franklin Leonard the Founder and CEO of The Black List. “We are even more excited by the prospect that this spotlight will vault these films toward production and into theaters around the country and the world, bringing with them a more LGBTQ-inclusive culture and society.”

The GLAAD List is not voted via survey, but compiled and curated by the GLAAD staff based on a pool of the highest-rated scripts provided by The Black List which feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) characters. They were evaluated based on fair and inclusive LGBTQ representation; boldness and originality of the content, potential impact, overall quality and whether or not it passes the Vito Russo Test, which is similar to the Bechdel Test, but relevant to the representation of the LGBTQ community.

The loglines of the scripts can be read below.

The Ecdysiasts, by Mary F. Unser – Soon the 13-year periodical cicadas will emerge from underground by the millions, molt and fill the air with their joyous, deafening song. Above ground, 13-year-old Trygg is struggling with his own emergence since the death of his older sister Katie. When lesbian entomologist Allison Armstrong moves in next door, she and Trygg become fast friends and make plans to celebrate the appearance of the cicadas.

The Enclosed, by Chris Basler – In 13th century England, Brigid, an anchoress living a hermetic existence in a church cell, stumbles upon a holy relic that may give her life new meaning — but when a sinister entity after the relic threatens her, she’s forced to confide in an impertinent servant girl with plans of her own.

Me & Tammy Faye at the Betty Ford Clinic, by Pamela García Rooney – The totally MADE-UP story of the unlikely bond between a Latina transgender woman and the queen of Christian televangelism, inspired by the very real life of Tammy Faye.

Paragraph 175, by Diane Hanks –  In the storm of persecution that is Hitler’s rise to power, two lovers are torn apart and find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict: one a prisoner in a concentration camp, the other his captor.

Queen, by Harry Tarre – Based on the inspiring true story of the world’s first openly transgender high school Prom Queen, Corey Rae.

Scott, by Anna Rose Moore – After her best friend dies, a success-driven lawyer is left with an unwinnable case – a female inmate’s accusations of rape by her prison guards. She soon uncovers a massive systemic scandal of sexual abuse by prison staff and the network used to cover it up.

Three Months, by Jared Frieder – After being exposed to HIV the weekend of his high school graduation in 2011, a queer teenager from Miami must survive the three months it takes to get tested in this coming-of-age dark comedy about shame and resilience.  

Trouble Man, by David Carlson – The incredible true story of unsung hero Bayard Rustin, the gay African American architect of the Civil Rights Movement and right-hand man to Martin Luther King, Jr.

What If?, by Alvaro García Lecuona – An unassertive 17-year-old turns his high school on its head when he asks out his crush, a transgender girl.

Your Boy, by Matt Whitaker – Home for the summer on Long Island, a shy black college student comes out to his oldest and closest friend. But after an internship in Manhattan leads him to an exhilarating gay social scene, the 21-year-old is caught between his newly confident lifestyle and the unpopular straight friend who once knew him best.