15 best LGBTQIA+ characters in movies

Zac Beaulieu (C.R.A.Z.Y.)

Speaking of complex characters, we move on to Zac Beaulieu from C.R.A.Z.Y. Zac was born on Christmas Day, which he always hated, and a psychic once told his mother that he had special healing powers. His mom calls him a miracle, but his father scoffs at the idea. Even though they were close when he was a child, as soon as his more effeminate qualities comes out, a wall starts to form between them.

Zac would ask for a doll or a baby stroller for Christmas, and his father would instead insist on getting him an instrument or something sports related, in hopes of making him more masculine. Throughout his childhood, Zac prayed that he wouldn’t be gay. When his father catches him in his mother’s clothes, their relationship is never the same.

As he gets older, it only becomes more of a struggle. Even his older brothers make fun of him for being gay, something he always denies. Zac is constantly fighting with himself because of his sexuality. He doesn’t seem to really admit it to anyone, even himself, until he angrily comes out to his father in the pouring rain outside of his brother’s wedding.

Even after admitting it to himself, Zac still finds it hard to come to terms with being a gay man. After a sexual encounter with a man in Jerusalem (where Zac runs off on a spiritual voyage after coming out), he’s disgusted with himself and once again runs away from his feelings. Zac’s story proves that coming out doesn’t always go the way you plan. Sometimes, it takes you years before you realize.