Hollywood is an important factor in helping the world to understand and accept the varied identities and relationships within the LGBT community. Whether they do it with comedy or shocking drama, it makes an impact on the world and helps diversify cinema on large scale.

Here are just ten of our favourite LGBT movies:

Tim Curry starred in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'

1. 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' (1975) - A musical about a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania. Dr. Frank N. Furter doesn't fit the stereotypes of either a man or a woman. He's an alien with a fluid sexuality, and the film stars one of the most gender-bending stars in the film industry: Richard O'Brien, who co-wrote the screenply with Jim Sharman.

'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' went on to become a stage phenomenon

2. 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' (1994) - Two drag queens and a transgender performer (portrayed by Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp) embark on a long journey through the Australian Outback from Sydney to get to a show in Alice Springs in a jazzed up bus they name Priscilla. All of them have issues to deal with along the way, not least because they are not accepted by society.

'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' was directed by and starred John Cameron Mitchell

3. 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' (2001) - Another musical starring, directed and written by John Cameron Mitchell which sees a German transgender woman who underwent a failed sex reassignment surgery. She's the lead singer of the titular rock band and the film follows her journey of forgiveness; forgiveness of her abusive father, of the lovers that left her, of the former love of her life Tommy who stole her music and her husband Yitzhak for wanting to leave the band.

'Pink Flamingos' was the legendary collaboration between Divine and John Waters

4. 'Pink Flamingos' (1972) - An important film for the LGBTQ community but not an easy one to stomach. One of infamous drag queen Divine's many collaborations with filmmaker John Waters, it features some of the most controversial scenes in the history of cinema including scatology and an animal crush fetish as this queen sets out to prove that she really is 'the filthiest person alive'.

Idina Menzel starred in 'Rent'

5. 'Rent' (2005) - Yet another musical, 'Rent' is set in New York against a backdrop of drugs, AIDS, violence and romantic affairs. It follows the gay relationship between drag queen Angel Dumott Schunard and the bisexual professor Tom Collins, as well as lesbian lawyer Joanne Jefferson and bixual performer Maureen Johnson - the latter of whom is played by Idina Menzel.

'Brokeback Mountain' won three Academy Awards

6. 'Brokeback Mountain' (2005) - It seems like 2005 was a good year for queer cinema, and this was a particularly landmark gay film. Featuring two extremely masculine cowboys (played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) who fall in love during their work as sheep herders in the American West, it won three Oscars including Best Achievement in Directing for Ang Lee.

'The Crying Game' was a tragic IRA drama

7. 'The Crying Game' (1992) - A tragic romantic thriller starring Forest Whitaker, Stephen Rea and Jaye Davidson, it is set at the height of the Troubles in Ireland with terrorist organisation the IRA. Fergus bonds with his prisoner Jody before the latter is killed by accident, and he later tracks down Jody's lover Dil and falls in love himself, only to realise that she is transgender - though that doesn't stop his feelings for her.

'Boys Don't Cry' featured Hilary Swank at the height of her career

8. 'Boys Don't Cry' (1999) - Hilary Swank plays a transgender man named Brandon Teena who is subjected to extreme violence after moving to Nebraska where he falls in love with a girl named Lana. It was directed by Kimberly Peirce and is an important film in that it highlights the extent of the type of violence that transgender people suffer every day. Swank won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in the movie.

'Blue Is the Warmest Colour' is a French romance starring Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos

9. 'Blue Is the Warmest Colour' (2013) - A young French woman named Adele struggles with her sexuality as she finds herself falling in love with a blue-haired lesbian. It follows the trials and tribulations of their brief but passionate affair, and while lead actresses Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos did complain about director Abdellatif Kechiche after the film's release, it still went on to be nominated at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

More: Read our review of 'Blue Is the Warmest Colour'

'Pride' is the true story of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners charity

10. 'Pride' (2014) - An interesting comedy drama about the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign which arose in the early 80s during the British miners' strike. Starring Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine and Andrew Scott, it looks at the conflict of the Miners' unwillingness to accept help from the LGBT community, and much of the LGBT community's unwillingness to help a community that as ostracised them in the past.