This course examines the evolution of LGBTQ+ characters in American plays and films of the last one hundred years. Students will examine the recurring stereotypes, coded language and images used to identify characters in the early decades of the twentieth century, and how their portrayal changes when Queer playwrights and film makers tell their own stories. Topics will include shifting perspectives on drag, camp, intersectionality and gender identity, and the impact of feminism, the civil rights movement, and the AIDS crisis.