Todd Franson/Google Gemini
A coalition of celebrities has launched a foundation to support LGBTQ filmmakers whose projects may be rejected or sidelined as studios scale back diversity initiatives under pressure from cultural conservatives.
The Necessary Foundation was created to offer financing and other opportunities to help LGBTQ filmmakers establish themselves in the industry. Founding board members include Alan Cumming, Bowen Yang, Lena Waithe, and Adam Goldman — the latter of whom will serve as the foundation’s executive director, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Queer filmmakers don’t need permission, but they do need opportunity. That’s what the Necessary Foundation is building,” Yang said in a statement. “I’m so honored to be a part of supporting new artists at the starting line.”
According to a “Studio Responsibility Report” from LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD, 59 of the 250 films released by 10 major distributors in 2024 — about 23.6% — contained an LGBTQ character, a drop of 3.7% from 2023. The report also found that 37% of those LGBTQ characters appeared on screen for less than a minute.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, studios have increasingly scrubbed projects featuring diverse representation, including those highlighting LGBTQ characters. The shift comes amid a broader backlash against liberalism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and political correctness.
Critics argue that scaling back diversity initiatives will make it harder for LGBTQ filmmakers — and films with LGBTQ themes or characters — to break into the industry or reach a wider audience.
“This really is a crisis,” Cumming said of Hollywood’s retreat from promoting inclusion. “If we don’t act now to support young queer and trans filmmakers, LGBT+ people will disappear from American film and television screens. It’s as simple as that.”
The Necessary Foundation will award annual $20,000 grants to emerging LGBTQ filmmakers to produce a pilot, short film, or other proof-of-concept project. Recipients will also be connected with established filmmakers who can serve as mentors, including John Cameron Mitchell, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, and Indya Moore.
The foundation will also provide additional support to emerging filmmakers, including covering festival submission fees and organizing screenings of LGBTQ-themed films in New York City and Los Angeles.
“Right now we need to lift each other up,” Waithe said in a statement. “Writers and storytellers need our support. I’m always happy to lend it. I’m excited about what this organization will become.”
Even as studios seek to placate the Trump administration and its allies in the ongoing culture wars, the co-founders of the Necessary Foundation argue that audience interest in LGBTQ content remains strong. They point to the success of the HBO Max streaming series Heated Rivalry as an example. The show has become popular among American viewers and has even found audiences in Russia, which regularly cracks down on depictions of homosexuality in media.
“There is, in this moment, enormous political pressure to delete queer people from American media, and that includes young filmmakers who are being shut out of the industry,” Goldman said in a statement. “That pressure is working. Now it’s time to push back.”
Subscribe free to Metro Weekly’s daily newsletter for the LGBTQ stories that matter most.
