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“What makes you think this is my first time?” Bond (Daniel Craig) replies without missing a beat.
The era when gay spies were feared
MI5 has been named the UK's most gay-friendly employer - but it isn't long since same-sex relationships were considered a threat to national security. Bond movies are often racy but Skyfall adds a twist.
"We said, 'No, no, no.' We resisted." (YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play)
North by Northwest (1959)
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller features Cary Grant as a New York City ad executive who is mistaken for a government spook by foreign spies and goes on the run.
MI6 officer Harry Doyle (Russell Tovey) joins as part of an exchange program between the Secret Intelligence Service and later trains as a CIA recruit at the Farm. This action/comedy/parody involves a failed mission in the Arctic and a team of spies who must team up to stop a deadly plot orchestrated by Evelina, an international assassin.
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(2004)D.E.B.S.
They also came to see the class-crossing gay subcultures of German cities, especially Berlin, as ideal sites from which to extract information about politics and military matters. “He’s got a great blonde bob and a fantastic Citroen DS car and these fantastic beautiful clothes, and it’s all going swimmingly, but that’s part of his personal armor that slowly, slowly gets stripped away,” Cumberbatch said.
was a box office bomb that became a cult film classic. (Apple TV, Chili, Prime Video)
SPYSCAPE+
Join now to get True Spies episodes early and ad-free every week, plus subscriber-only Debriefs and Q&As to bring you closer to your favorite spies and stories from the show. A friendship develops but David's homophobic classmate, Miguel, plans to use David to spy on Diego as the artist is seen as dangerous to the Communist cause.
“Finding Sofia, that was a slam dunk. (Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Disney+)
MOVIES
Ungentle (2022)
Fans of Ben Whishaw (and who isn't?) will also want to check out Ungentle. Huw Lemmey's film short examines the connection between British espionage and male homosexuality, highlighting overlaps in their skill sets during mid-20th-century Britain.
A gay man, the paper's reporter said, was a de facto security risk: "I wouldn't trust him with my secrets."
Fast forward 53 years and the service tops Stonewall's 2016 list of the 400 best places to work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. He will focus on how both Eastern and Western intelligence agencies sought to recruit gay men because they believed that they were naturally more conspiratorial and would thus make better agents.
Western espionage services had long sought to exploit this subculture, recruiting agents and informants from Berlin's gay bars and cruising locales. You’ll also get our exclusive series The Razumov Files and The Great James Bond Car Robbery! It works.” (YouTube, Google Play, Prime Video, Apple TV Sky Store, Rakuten TV)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Cumberbatch is back as Peter Guillam, a British spy who appears to be at ease with himself and Smiley (Gary Oldman) but masks a troubling secret.
(YouTube, Mubi)
Strawberry and Chocolate / Fresa y Chocolate (1993)
Strawberry and Chocolateunfolds in Havana in 1979 when David (Vladimir Cruz) meets Diego (Jorge Perugorría), a gay artist unhappy with the Castro regime's attitude toward the LGBTQ+ community.
The film is narrated by a fictional, composite spy figure with narration by Ben Whishaw. (Prime Video)
The Imitation Game (2014)
Benedict Cumberbatch received nominations at all of the major awards ceremonies for The Imitation Game - including an Oscar nod - for his incredible portrayal of British codebreaker Alan Turing - the mathematician who helped end WWII by cracking the German enigma code but committed suicide when caught up in the UK’s laws against homosexuality.
Huneke explores previously untapped German archives to capture this surprising story of espionage and emancipation with its colorful cast of Cold War characters.
Following the discussion, you’ll be able to ask questions via our online platform.
Auto-generated closed captioning will be available for this program.
Top LGBTQ+ Spy Movies & Series From London Spy to Atomic Blonde
Quantico (2015-2018)
Named after the FBI training center in Virginia, Quantico follows the young FBI recruits training in Virginia.