Genitalic

 

The documentary, Tongues Untied by Marlon Riggs engrained in me the importance of storytelling and using personal experience to create art. Marlon interweaves Black gay culture, poetry by Essex Hemphill and Joseph BeamSELRES_19391c97-4436-4c9f-abd1-46b2f929e1fcSELRES_646ec62c-616e-43ae-bba9-ae8b806d2647the poetry of Essex Hemphill and Jospeh BeamSELRES_646ec62c-616e-43ae-bba9-ae8b806d2647SELRES_19391c97-4436-4c9f-abd1-46b2f929e1fc, striking imagery, and a snapping tutorial. I have watched it repeatedly to learn more from Riggs.

Years later, I used some of the techniques that he used to produce my first documentary, Genitalic.

Last summer, I curated a reading at the LGBT Community Center of the Desert in Palm Springs with the writer, Dave Lara. Lara, in his 70’s, talked how he received a dishonorable discharge for being gay during the Vietnam War. I realized that I needed to preserve Lara’s story for younger LGBT generations because thousands of men like Lara were never able to share their story. I applied for a grant through the city of West Hollywood in order to film the documentary.

Genitalic centers on life for gay men in West Hollywood in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Eight older men were interviewed (seven in Los Angeles and one in London). Their narratives interweave as they discuss HIV/AIDS, race, racism, ageism, passing, daddy culture, and desire in the older male body.

The interviewees include Dave Lara, Lee Jackson, Philip Littell, Juan Castillo-Alvardo, David Friar, Clarence R. Williams, Brian Sean Gaston, and Martin Patrick. Each interviewee has a unique perspective. Dave Lara appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race on Season 5 on the military makeover episode. He was paired with the winner, Jinx Monsoon. In the documentary, he discusses the impact of AIDS on West Hollywood and how men started disappearing. He also discusses how he helped create a gay-run organization for HIV testing and prevention.

Lee Jackson, a fair-skinned Black man, discusses the three picture identification rule for Black and Mexican men enforced by doormen at nightclubs in West Hollywood. These groups of men had to present three I.D.s and without them, they were denied entry. On some days, Jackson passed for white and was allowed entry into the clubs without a problem.

There is a preview screening at the West Hollywood City Council Chambers on June 2nd at 1:15pm. It is part of One City One Pride’s A Day of History event. Watch the trailer below:

Film to Watch: Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight for Fairness

Marriage Equality Interview Excerpt with David Wilson

Thomas Allen Harris‘ documentary, Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight for Fairness, premiered at Aaron Davis Hall in New York April 26th. Harris’ film connects the Black civil rights movement with the gay civil rights movement for Marriage Equality. Marriage Equality, the documentary, “interweaves archival footage and photos with contemporary interviews to illuminate events surrounding the pivotal Massachusetts state constitutional convention on Same Sex Marriage which gave new momentum to the national same Gay Marriage movement as a Civil Rights issue,” according to Harris.

The documentary taken the perspective of communities of color stars Byron Rushing. Byron Rushing has been in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 1983 (Ninth Suffolk district). A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Byron is dedicated to human and civil rights and sponsored the gay rights bill. One of the original sponsors of the bill were Barney Frank in the 70’s.

Byron took the campaign for Marriage Equality into the Black community, “directly challenging many religious leaders, and defining the right to Same Sex Marriage as a Civil Rights issue on par with the liberation movements of the 1950s and 1960s.”

Byron Rushing @ Cambridge Rally Against Prop 8

Black, straight, and gay and transgendered civil rights ally, Byron was also the chief sponsor of the law to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Massachusetts public schools. He believes everyone, gay, transgendered, straight and oppressed, has the right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The documentary was commissioned by Tribeca Film Institute’s ‘All Access’ Program in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Image by GC Media Hub 09 via Flickr

The director, Thomas Allen Harris, is an out and proud gay Black man, who was raised in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and New York City. Harris founded Chimpanzee Productions, Inc (I’m not a fan of the name) in 1992 and through the company produced and directed Marriage Equality the documentary. Other movies Harris has directed include: VINTAGE – Families of Value, É Minha Cara/That’s My Face (which aired on the Sundance Channel), and the Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela.

Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela Trailer

“Chimpanzee Productions utilizes a wide range of media, including video, interactive platforms, still photography, installations, performance, and film; to draw audiences into an internal and external dialogue that transcends the artificial barriers which separate people from each other and themselves.”

For more information on Marriage Equality screenings go to their website.

Listen to Thomas Allen Harris and Bryon Rushing on NPR on Talk of The Nation.