--- title: Sam Smith's Oscars Speech Was a Disservice to LGBT Youth description: He neglected to acknowledge the long history of LGBT Oscar winners canonical: https://time.com/4241681/sam-smiths-oscars-speech/ author: Brian Moylan article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-29T22:46:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:28:33.165Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Sam Smith's Oscars Speech Was a Disservice to LGBT Youth og:description: He neglected to acknowledge the long history of LGBT Oscar winners og:url: https://time.com/4241681/sam-smiths-oscars-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce02e6c592848d9a/69887f9f2dce01cd0c9e8004/sam-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Sam Smith attends the 88th Annual Academy in Hollywood on Feb. 28, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sam Smith's Oscars Speech Was a Disservice to LGBT Youth twitter:description: He neglected to acknowledge the long history of LGBT Oscar winners twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce02e6c592848d9a/69887f9f2dce01cd0c9e8004/sam-smith.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sam Smith's Oscars Speech Was a Disservice to LGBT Youth > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=80c61bf1-ed09-4d32-9074-0b15e8553244&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Brian Moylan](https://time.com/author/brian-moylan/) ## Brian Moylan Feb 29, 2016 10:46 PM UTC  Sam Smith attends the 88th Annual Academy in Hollywood on Feb. 28, 2016. Sam Smith attends the 88th Annual Academy in Hollywood on Feb. 28, 2016. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images by [Brian Moylan](https://time.com/author/brian-moylan/) ## Brian Moylan Feb 29, 2016 10:46 PM UTC Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to talk about Sam Smith. The 23-year-old singer and songwriter won an Oscar Sunday night with his writing partner Jimmy Napes for his song “Writing’s on the Wall” from the James Bond movie _Spectre_. In his acceptance speech, he seemed to suggest he was the first openly gay man to ever win an Oscar, which, of course, is not true. “I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar,” Smith [said](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscars-2016-sam-smith-dustin-lance-black-other-openly-gay-who-have-won-academy-awards-2016/) in front of about [32 million people](http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/oscars-ratings-down-2016-chris-rock-1201717431/). “If this is the case … even if it isn’t the case, I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community, all around the world. I stand here, tonight as a proud gay man and I hope we can all stand together as equals some day.” I hate to dwarf Smith’s achievement of winning with his lack of understanding about the gay history of the Oscars, but the writing is on the wall that younger members of the LGBT people need to educate themselves about our shared history, whether they’re speaking on stage at the Academy Awards or just going about their normal lives. What McKellen really said [in the _Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/25/ian-mckellen-why-no-openly-gay-man-oscar-diversity-homophobia) was that no openly gay male _actor_ has ever won a best actor Oscar, though both he and _The Crying Game_’s Jaye Davidson were nominated in the past. But that neglects to take into account the other LGBT actors and filmmakers who have won awards. Here’s a bit of the history Smith was missing. The best original song category is littered with LGBT winners. The late, great composer Howard Ashman has two trophies in the category for songs from _The Little Mermaid_ in 1989 and _Beauty and the Beast_ in 1991_._ Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim has a trophy for best original song from _Dick Tracy_ in 1990 and is an Emmy shy of an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). [Elton John](http://www.thewrap.com/oscars-sam-smith-openly-gay-oscar-winners-elton-john-dustin-lance-black/) for 1994’s best original song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from _The Lion King_. And Melissa Etheridge has a Best Original Song trophy for her song from _An Inconvenient Truth_ in 2007. John Gielgud, an [openly gay actor](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/arts/sam-smith-the-only-openly-gay-oscar-winner-not-really.html), won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in _Arthur_ in 1981though he didn’t often discuss his personal life in public_._ Joel Grey won the best supporting actor award for his role in _Cabaret_ in 1973while he was still in the closet. Jodie Foster won two Best Actress awards—for her roles in _The Accused_ in 1988 and _The Silence of the Lambs_ in 1991 but like those others, she was not out at the time. So even McKellen’s claim about “openly gay” actors never having one hinges more on the “openly” than the “gay.” Before she made tons of cash on _NCIS: Los Angeles_, lesbian Linda Hunt, who has never really been in the closet, won an Oscar for playing an Asian man (of which she is neither) for _The Year of Living Dangerously_ in 1982. Alan Ball won best original screenplay for _American Beauty_ in 2000, Pedro Almódovar won the same award for _Talk to Her_ from 2002\. Bill Condon [won](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174374/awards) Best Adapted Screenplay in 1999 for McKellen’s gay-themed film _Gods and Monsters,_ and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black took that same award home in 2009 for writing the script for _Milk_, [a fact that he immediately reminded Smith of on Twitter.](https://twitter.com/DLanceBlack/status/704199543076818944) In other words, the history of gays and lesbians at the Oscars is long and storied. Consider that in 1992, Deborah Chasnoff won the Oscar for best documentary short and [thanked](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-snow/debra-chasnoff-academy-awards-speech%5Fb%5F2738824.html) her “life partner” from the podium, making her the first lesbian to do so at the ceremony. That year also marked a huge [protest organized by Queer Nation](https://www.yahoo.com/movies/before-oscarssowhite-the-forgotten-story-of-201810336.html) in front of the red carpet. Decades before #OscarsSoWhite, these activists protested the event (a few of them even got arrested) for Hollywood’s treatment of gay men and lesbians in film, specifically as the transgender murderer in _Silence of the Lambs_, which won for best picture that year, and the bisexual killers in _Basic Instinct_. Smith was sadly misguided. I hate to be that sassy aunt who sends a “[Let Me Google That For You](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=gay+and+lesbian+Oscar+winners)” link when you ask a basic question, but if Smith planned to make his assertion on the greatest public stage in show business, shouldn’t he have bothered to do a little bit of research? It’s a noble mistake that young members of the LGBT community like Smith want to see themselves as trailblazers fighting the good fight for gay civil rights, but they need to do so with a knowledge of the past. For many years, many gay men and lesbians were fighting to be the first ones to accomplish great things in any particular field, but thanks to the strides they’ve made toward acceptance, many of those races have already been won. 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