20 LGBTQIA+ stories with upbeat endings

17. Big Eden

Sometimes, it feels as if queer stories have been created according to a narrow set of unspoken rules. They should be serious, first of all. How could they not be so, when LGBTQIA+ people have been subject to a variety of persecutions and humiliations throughout history? It’s naturally hard to feel cheerful when leaders and friends in your community preach hate towards you.

Rural communities especially have garnered a reputation for being unfriendly towards gay people. They are, at least in the popular imagination, deeply conservative and unfriendly towards change. Social systems stay the way they are for a long time and only shift under great duress or with great patience.

That set of circumstances then often leads to gay migration to the cities (a movement which is more complicated than you probably think and is undergoing serious change). You can’t really blame someone for wanting to move away from a situation like this. Wouldn’t you want to live in a place where you feel welcome and safe?

However, when this notion is reflected in a larger cultural sense, it’s easy to forget about the very real intersections of queer and rural communities. Even Henry Hart, the lead character in Big Eden (2001), may have forgotten this.

Henry is an artist living in New York City. He has a successful career but a rather barren social life. When he gets word that his dying grandfather needs his help, Henry moves back to his hometown of Big Eden, Montana.

Love in the country

That’s a dicey move, and not just because Henry has put his career on hold to care for his grandpa. There’s also Dean Stewart, Henry’s crush from high school. Poor Henry had it so bad for Dean — a typically unavailable popular kid — that he eventually left Big Eden for the big city.

Now, Dean is divorced from his wife, back in town, and surprisingly receptive to Henry’s attention. Meanwhile, Pike, the incredibly shy owner of the local general store, develops a serious crush on Henry himself.

Critics have called Big Eden “unrealistic” for its depiction of small-town acceptance. Henry’s sexuality confuses some, but they quickly adjust. The town gossip even tries to set him up on dates with men once she realizes what’s up. And in rural Montana, Henry has not one, but two male love interests.

It’s hard to strictly argue against that claim, but perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to condemn the notion that people might do the kind, loving thing they were supposed to do in the first place. And, of course, who’s ever gone to a romantic comedy looking for a true-to-life tale? Gay people deserve their light, unrealistic rom-coms just as much as anyone else.