One of the film’s producers was Robert DeNiro, who as an actor had his own run in with a drag queen (played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) the year before , in the movie Flawless. Holiday Heart, according to my unscientific research, was the first holiday film featuring a drag queen, and one of the first films ever whose lead character was an effeminate, gay Black man. Showtime was pushing boundaries during this period at the new millennium, with the goal of capturing the LGBTQ+ audience. Holiday Heart, stars Ving Rhames as the gay drag queen Holiday Heart, who after a break-up with his boyfriend takes in drug-addicted Wanda (Alfre Woodward) and her daughter Nicki (Jesika Reynolds) during the holidays.
With all the notoriety about the Hallmark Channel airing its first LGBTQ+ holiday movie this year, I was nostalgic about other queer-themed holiday movies that might have been “firsts.”Įarlier this month, I wrote about the 20 th anniversary of the premiere of Queer as Folk on Showtime, so I was delighted to see that also 20 years ago this December the network aired what is now considered a LGBTQ+ holiday movie must-see.
