1920's:

 

1920 – As a result of World War I, the new female archetype of the shop girl emerges.  The movie Underground features two men, an electrician named Bert (played by Cyril McLagan), Bill an underground porter (played by Brian Aherne), and the shop girl who they both fall in love with named Nell (played by Elissa Landi).  Landi was an Italian born actress who was rumored to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and was famous for her aristocratic bearing. 

1929 – Harry Beaumont’s The Broadway Melody – The convention of using effeminate males for humor has become acceptable.  Gay screenwriters express mixed feelings:

Screenwriter Jay Presson Allen: "There were sissies, and they were never addressed as homosexuals. It was a convention that was totally accepted. They were perceived as homosexuals just subliminally. This was a subject that was not discussed, privately. Certainly not publicly."

Screenwriter Arthur Laurents: "[Homosexuals] were a cliché... like Steppin Fetchit for the blacks."

Actor/Screenwriter Harvey Fierstein: "I like the sissy. Is it used in negative ways? Yeah, but... I'd rather have negative than nothing. That's just my own particular view -- and also cause I am a sissy!"

1927 – William Wellman’s Wings – First film to win Academy Award – shows two men kissing on the lips in celebration of victory.