Know Your LGBT History - Caged

Caged (1950) was probably the first women in prison movie and it actually tried to be a message picture rather than the trashy mess that women in prison movies later became.

Eleanor Parker portrays a young woman who gets caught in the middle of a robbery with her husband. He gets killed and she lands in prison at the mercy of the system and those who will manipulate that system.

Chief among them is prison matron Evelyn Harper chillingly portrayed by Hope Emerson as the above scene shows. The lesbian connotations in this movie are many. Emerson plays her to the hilt. Also there is Lee Patrick as vice queen Elvira Powell and Kitty Starke, portrayed by Betty Garde. Garde gives an interesting speech in the movie about "getting out of the habit of thinking about men."

Caged is not exploitation nor is it made for laughs. It pulls no punches and gives no happy endings. It was also very successful, garnering three Oscar nominations, including one for Best Actress for Parker and another for Best Supporting Actress for Emerson. It also received a nomination for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.

Past Know Your LGBT History posts:

Know Your LGBT History - The Birdcage

Know Your LGBT History - Maude

Know Your LGBT History - That Certain Summer

Know Your LGBT History - Boat Trip

Know Your LGBT History - Staircase

Know Your LGBT History - Beautiful Thing

Know Your LGBT History - Armed and Dangerous

Know Your LGBT History - The Proud Family

Know Your LGBT History - Suddenly Last Summer

Know Your LGBT History - Gay TV Now

Know Your LGBT History - Stewardess School

Know Your LGBT History - Up the Academy

Know Your LGBT History - Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

Know Your LGBT History - A Different Story

Know Your LGBT History - Victim

Know Your LGBT History - The Color Purple

Know Your LGBT History - Making Love

Know Your LGBT History - A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

Know Your LGBT History - Noah's Arc

Know Your LGBT History - Ode to Billy Joe

Know Your LGBT History - Adorable Adrian Adonis

Know Your LGBT History - The Night Strangler

Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family

Know Your LGBT History - Tongues Untied

Know Your LGBT History - The Celluloid Closet

Know Your LGBT History - Querelle

Know Your LGBT History - Theatre of Blood

Know Your LGBT History - Strange Fruit

Know Your LGBT History - Designing Women

Know Your LGBT History - The Children's Hour

Know Your LGBT History - Sylvester

Know Your LGBT History - Once Bitten

Know Your LGBT History - The Boys in the Band

Know Your LGBT History - Christopher Morley, the crossdressing assassin

Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy

Know Your LGBT History - Dracula's Daughter

Know Your LGBT History - Blacula

Know Your LGBT History - 3 Strikes

Know Your LGBT History - Paris Is Burning

Know Your LGBT History - The Women

Know your LGBT History - Soul Plane

Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame

Know Your LGBT History - Welcome Home, Bobby

Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller

Know your lgbt history - The Jerry Springer Show

Know your lgbt history - Martin Lawrence and that 'gay guy' on his show

Know your lgbt history - The Ricki Lake Show

Know your lgbt history - Which Way Is Up

Know your lgbt history - Gays in Primetime Soaps

Know your lgbt history - Boys Beware

Know your lgbt history - The Boondocks

Know your lgbt history - Mannequin

Know your lgbt history - The Warriors

Know Your LGBT History - New York Undercover

Know Your LGBT History - Low Down Dirty Shame

Know Your LGBT History - Fortune and Men's Eyes

Know your lgbt history - California Suite

Know your lgbt history - Taxi (Elaine's Strange Triangle)

Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue

Know your lgbt history - James Bond goes gay

Know your lgbt history - Windows

Know your lgbt history - To Wong Foo and Priscilla

Know your lgbt history - Blazing Saddles

Know your lgbt history - Sanford and Son

Know your lgbt history - In Living Color

Know your lgbt history - Cleopatra Jones and her lesbian drug lords

Know your lgbt history - Norman, Is That You?

Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street

Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys

Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy

Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George

Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda

'Know your lgbt history - Cruising

Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones

Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up

Know your lgbt history - Fright Night

Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil

The Jeffersons and the transgender community      

Glee causing huge controversy over bullying episode and other Friday midday news briefs

TWO Calls On The World Bank To Drop ‘Ex-Gay’ Hate Group From Charity List - PFOX seems to perpetrating another fraud.

New Senator, Representative Support Amendment Banning Gay Marriage In NC - Problems in North Carolina.

Sad, Discredited Paul Cameron Misses The Days When People Were Dumber, More Ignorant - Go away, Paul Cameron.

Glee criticised for handling of gay bullying storyline - Never saw it but it's an interesting argument.

Cindy McCain supports DADT repeal while John McCain fights against it

It's a story that you have probably already heard about but it bears repeating.

It seems that the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is creating a bit of a conundrum in the McCain house.

Cindy McCain, the woman who would have been First Lady if her husband, Sen. John McCain, had won the 2008 presidential election, recently took part in an ad campaign from the NOH8 campaign, group formed in response to Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. The ad included other celebrities explaining why there is a problem with lgbt youth suicide, listing the ways in which society has told these youth that they are second class citizens:

Mrs. McCain says in the ad, which features her alongside celebrities such as Denise Richards and Gene Simmons. "They can't serve our country openly."

After other speakers suggest that laws which limit the rights of gay Americans reinforce that derogatory treatment of them is acceptable, Cindy McCain asks rhetorically, "Our government treats the LGBT community like second class citizens -- why shouldn't they?"

It was admirable for all of these celebrities, McCain included to do this ad. But the problem is that her husband, John McCain, has been very vocal in efforts to filibuster legislation that would end DADT.

During the last repeal effort, John McCain defended the policy, even at the point of snapping at reporter who challenged him about the military's history of distorting the policy to seek out and dismiss lgbt troops. This happened in September:



As far as I know, no one has asked the McCains about their very public opposite stances to DADT.

But wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall of at least one of their houses when the issue comes up between the two?