Is Sam Smith the first openly gay Oscar winner?
Sam Smith dedicated his Oscar gong for Spectre theme tune The Writing's on the Wall to the LGBT community in his acceptance speech, paraphrasing an article written by Ian McKellen that said an openly gay star had never been recognised by the Academy.
Taking to the stage with co-writer Jimmy Napes, a delighted Smith said: “I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had won an Oscar.
“If this is the case, I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community around the world. I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope that we can all stand as equals one day.”
However, the singer was mistaken. McKellan's article was referring only to men in the acting categories, but openly gay stars have previously won Oscars.
Elton John took the gong for Best Original Song in 1995, and in 2009 Dustin Lance Black, who is engaged to Olympic diver Tom Daley, won Best Original Screenplay for Milk.
Gay composer Stephen Sondheim won the Best Song gong for 1990's Dick Tracy theme Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man) by Madonna and gay singer Melissa Etheridge won in 2007 for I Need to Wake Up, from An Inconvenient Truth.
Smith later corrected himself slightly when he spoke to GMB's Richard Arnold after the ceremony, telling him, "I think I'm the second openly gay person to win it, but either way it's important that we shine a light on what's going on."
Black addressed Smith's error in a tweet that linked to a video of his own acceptance speech in 2009.
The Writing's on the Wall beat favourite Lady Gaga to the award, making a James Bond film theme the second to win an Oscar after Adele's Skyfall took the prize in 2013.