No, Sam Smith isn't the first openly gay man to win an Academy Award
As Sam Smith accepted the Academy Award for Best Song for his Spectre anthem "Writing's on the Wall," he dropped an intriguing piece of Oscar trivia. "I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen, and he said that no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar. And if this is the case — even if this isn't the case — I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community around the world."
For the record: No, Sam Smith is not the first openly gay man to win an Oscar. To name a few: there's Stephen Sondheim, who won Best Song in 1990 for Dick Tracy's "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)"; Elton John, who won Best Song in 1995 for The Lion King's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"; and Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter behind 2009's Milk.
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