or all of these would be great, though I have to say I'd prefer John Legend as Billy Strayhorn, just from the photo.

It'd be terrific if somone like Here! or Logo developed a series of original movies along this line.

Brian, thanks for posting this. I had forgotten about some of these love stories. Now if only some bold filmmaker would run with any of these.  

Now Steve's New & Improved with Andre Norton Award Nominee power!

www.steveberman.com

Good job casting, too.

 I hope the producers would do me the same courtesy that Brian Juergens has shown these real life figures and cast an actor to play me who was as handsome as many of the actors Brian has suggested for the bio-pics.

Don't trouble yourself Doctor -- I'm a celebrity, I'll write my own prescription.

that came out a few years back called (inevitably) Lush Life. And in it mention was made of the fact that at the very end Strayhorn insisted that his lover be in the hospital room with him when he died. That lover was white.

Like it says in The Go-Between : "The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there." We are only just beginning to sift through gay history and find out what it was all about. Strayhorn lived as "openly gay" a life as was possible back then. It may have been the reason he worked under Ellington's shadow, and it may not. He did several things on his own, but they didn't get anywhere enar the exposure the Ellington organization offered. And he was a very complex man. He was still a teenager when he wrote "Lush Life." Can you imagine? A teenager wrote "I used to visit all the very gay places/ Those 'Come what May' places/ Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life/ with Jazz an cocktails"

Just consulted David Hajdu's Strayhorn bio (which Denzell bought the movie rights to some time back) and Strayhorn's lover was Bill Grove. He was a graphic designer and a very snappy dresser.

I loved the article on "greatest gay l;ove stories...."

I'd like to suggest a couple more:

The Alexander Hamilton - John Laurens - George Washington triangle during the war for independence. It would be nice to finally get past George's wooden teeth and get some idea of who the man realy was.

Bayard Rustin and the world. Rustin played the field (a lot) but he loved humanity and did a lot to make our world more humane. There was, of course,an excellent documentary on this man, "Brother Outsider." But it is through literature that we truly achieve truth.

Who to play him? The older Rustin would be ideal for Morgan Freeman.

I like your suggestion of the movie about the "molly house," but in case anyone is interested, there's a recent mini-series on British television that deals with this exact topic. I haven't seen it yet, but let's hope BBC America decides to air it at some point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Vice

Lots of great people on the list.  I was also thinking about the recent book about JFK and Lem Billings: Jack and Lem.  That would be a great "love" story told on the screen.  Any guesses about who would play each of the men?

Also, I looked at the pic of Lincoln and Billy Bob Thorton came to mind for the older version of him. 

 

I'm not blunt. Everyone else is overly vague.

Three words: Holding the Man. That no one has made a movie out of this gorgeous, heartbreaking memoir is criminal. Criminal, I say!

Memoirs of Hadrian. There has been plenty of talk over the years about turning it into a movie but no action because it's all about Teh Ghey.

so many great ideas! I want to write all of these screenplays right now. I still can't believe no-one has made a film about Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, first world war poets and (rumoured) lovers. It would probably be much more upsetting than Brokeback Mountain, but it would make a great film.