Boys Don't Cry (Kimberly Peirce, 1999)

Probably the most tragic film in the list, yet I have to add it because it is a complete milestone in queer cinema. Hilary Swank did an amazing job and proved that accepting such a role back in 1999 didn't mean stigmatising her career. This film is a good in-depth depiction of the psychology of a transgender character, and tolerance as the greatest proof of love. The subject is handled with a lot of naturalness, also in the sex scenes. In a documentary entitled ​This Film Is Not Yet Rated​ discussing the MPAA's procedures, director Kimberly Peirce delivered an interesting reflection after what she had been demanded to remove from the final cut of the movie. She had to diminish the rape scene to avoid being rated R, but she was outraged because whilst the censors were OK with the violence in the murder scene, they wanted the first super tender sex scene between Brandon and Lana removed. She concluded that it was probably because it depicted a female orgasm after cunnilingus, and denounced that the MPAA was way harder over female pleasure than over the male's - not to mention violence.