Gay Cowboy Flicks Pre-'Brokeback'

2/5/2006 1:20 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF

Gay Cowboy Flicks Pre-'Brokeback'

Though studios deny it, homoerotic undertones have been part of the fabric of Westerns for decades. TMZ did some digging and turned up these eye-opening examples:

'The Magnificent Seven' (1960)
In his day, Steve McQueen defined virility. But home on the range with few ladies present, Steve's character gets mighty friendly with a fellow cowboy.

'Midnight Cowboy' (1969)
Jon Voight's character - gay cowboy/prostitute Joe Buck - is hardly subtle. Ironically, the movie caused less of a stir than 'Brokeback' has more than 35 years later.

'Tombstone' (1993)
While Jason Priestley was becoming famous for his TV romances on 'Beverly Hills 90210,' he also hit the big screen as Deputy Billy Breckinridge -- and his love interest seemed dramatically different.

Check out these films at a video rental service outlet near you.

Movies

Your comments:

Please check your inbox ... your comment will not appear until you have confirmed your identity via email.

When you enter your name and email address you'll be sent a link via email to confirm your comment. Please keep your comments relevant to this post. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make the link live for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.