15 best LGBTQIA+ characters in movies

Dr. Frank-N-Furter (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Dr. Frank-N-Furter is “just a sweet transvestite, from Transsexual, Transylvania!” Anybody who has seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show either loves the strange cult classic or hates it, and if you love it, then you definitely love Frank.

Sure, Frank kills several people, tricks both Brad and Janet into sleeping with him, creates a man for himself to marry and then tortures him, and tries to take over the world, but nobody is perfect. But Frank is an icon purely because of the fact that Rocky Horror fans are so dedicated to the film.

Frank isn’t even from this planet, and yet he has everyone wrapped around his finger. He takes the most prudish couple in the world and turns them into perhaps the least prudish couple in the world. He knows exactly what he wants and he goes for it, even if that means killing a few men to get them out of the way. Like Frank said, it was a “mercy killing!”

Okay, so Frank-N-Furter definitely isn’t an LGBTQIA+ character to aspire to. He certainly isn’t realistic, and he’s barely even human. But the impact that Rocky Horror has had on generations of LGBTQIA+ youths is obvious.

The film and its fearless antagonist emboldened young, queer people to get dressed up like Frank — in lingerie and garters, no less — and head out to screenings of the film. Rocky Horror screenings continue to be an open, accepting space where people can let their freak flag fly, and for that reason, Dr. Frank-N-Furter makes our list.