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The Motion Picture Production Code nicknamed the HAYS code is a set of rules and guidelines that Hollywood films were made to follow between the early 1930s and late 1960s. Officially named the Motion Picture Production Code, these were a set of moral guidelines and rules that were meant to make Hollywood pictures “presentable” and “safe” for the public at large, which meant not covering or featuring certain controversial topics, themes, or actions.

It was the precursor to the MPPA film rating system, which introduced letter ratings for films and television productions - G (general), PG (parental guidance suggested), PG-13 (parental guidance under age 13), PG-14 (parent guidance under ages 14), R (admittance restricted to 16+ but later revised to 18+), NC-17 (no children under 17), MA (mature audience), and the now unused X.

These guidelines applied to dozens of aspects in film, not just the LGBTQIA+ community. It censored criminal acts, sex, vulgarity, obscenity's, profanity, nudity and depictions of female bodies, dancing, religion, interracial relationships, and more.

Beginnings of a movement
The 1920s showed a spike in queer characters as the period itself was a point of shifting societal norms and artistic experimentation. Feminism was beginning to grow while the prohibition was fiercely challenged, spurring filmmakers to to expand into controversial plotlines. William A. Wellman's 1927 film Wings included what is considered the first gay kiss in an American film. The 1930 film Morocco, directed by Josef Von Sternberg, is one of the earliest depictions of a lesbian kiss in film. The story, however, mentions the instigator of the kiss as only doing so for male attention.

Mae West was a Broadway star who pushed the boundaries of sexual and moral propriety. She outraged critics, was arrested, wrote two Broadway productions Sex, about prostitutes', and The Drag - a self-described homosexual comedy-drama. West moved to Hollywood in 1932 where she continued to push the boundaries and, subsequently, was blacklisted by the industry.

While Hollywood portrayed queer characters as comical, many viewed them as a serious immoral attack against traditionalism and religion. They activated for regulations in film in the form of censorship against the "debauchery infiltrating society". The groups found a leader in Republican politician William Hays.

Introducing the guidelines
In 1922, Hays left his position as a Congressman to become the head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA). He created a production code that "optional" for film companies. However, production companies were forced to abide or risk mass boycotts or PR crisis from opposing believers. The code used ominous language such as "should be avoided" or "should not suggest". However, clause six of section two "Sex" stated clearly that "sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden".

Its guidelines restricted indecent or immoral filmic content. Characters that had become known as the "sissy", or effeminate man, were heralded to a stop. It marked the beginning of queer characters being buried under subtext and innuendo. Between 1938 and 1968, Hollywood's "Golden Age" of films included obscure queer characters that were either written with ambiguity or written out completely. Additionally, the Hays Code demanded that anything depicting "sexual perversion" be done in a negative light. Queer characters became murderous villains, juridical misfits, farcical fairies, or sexual rebels. These archetypes took hold and are still seen today. Filmmakers could get away with including LGBT characters if they were demonized, condemned, or mocked.

Ramifications
"Will Hays’ Production Code doomed LGBT characters to be demonized and exploited from 1930 to present day."

While many of the Hays guidelines fell out of practice following the abandonment of the Production Code, LGBTQIA+ characters remained taboo for decades and are still shrouded in subtext. Any character who appeared as openly interested in same-gender attraction or were transgender, they would be gruesomely killed off or presented as morally corrupt.