Gay cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain led the Golden Globe awards last night with four prizes, including best dramatic film and the directing honour for Ang Lee.

Homosexual and transsexual themes dominated Monday's Golden Globe with the key wins by Brokeback Mountain, plus acting honours for the film biography Capote and the gender-bending Transamerica.

But lead actor Heath Ledger lost out on the best dramatic actor award to Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won it for Capote.  Brokeback Mountain also won Globe for best screenplay and song.

The four Globes for Brokeback Mountain, the story of an enduring love affair between two cowboys who conceal it from their families, included the directing award for Ang Lee.

Top prizes also went to the corruption thrillers Syriana and The Constant Gardener, the terrorism drama Paradise Now and the White House series Commander in Chief, while the Johnny Cash film biography Walk The Line won three honours.

Felicity Huffman won the best dramatic actress award for her remarkable transformation in the road-trip tale Transamerica, in which she plays a man preparing for sex-change surgery.

Hoffman was honoured as best dramatic actor for his role as gay author Truman Capote in Capote.Phoenix as country legend Cash and Witherspoon as the singer's soul mate, June Carter, earned the lead-acting prizes in a musical or comedy for Walk The Line.

Political thrillers picked up both supporting-acting Globes, Clooney winning for the oil-industry saga Syriana and Weisz for The Constant Gardener, a tale of government and corporate corruption centred in Africa.

Ang Lee picks up his Globe

Backstage, Clooney said the films were just dealing with issues he felt important.

Desperate Housewives won the Globe for best musical or comedy series, while Lost won for best TV drama series.

The Globes are seen as an indicator to the Academy Awards, which are being held on 5 March.

Best performance by an actress in a television series - Drama
Geena Davis - Commander in Chief

Best performance by an actor in a television series - Drama
Hugh Laurie - House

Best television series - Musical Or Comedy
Desperate Housewives

Best performance by an actress in a television series - Musical Or Comedy
Mary Louise Parker - Weeds

Best performance by an actor in a television series - Musical Or Comedy
Steve Carrell - The Office

Best mini-series or motion picture made for television
Empire Falls

Best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for television
S Epatha Merkerson - Lackawanna Blues

Best performance by an actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for television
Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Elvis

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television
Paul Newman - Empire Falls