Gay usa 1977
Gay USA
Beautifully restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in collaboration with Frameline and Outfest, Gay USA is the first American feature-length documentary by and about LGBTQ+ people. Director Arthur J. Bressan Jr. (best known for his 1985 gay drama Buddies) mobilized camera crews across the country to document the national Male lover Freedom Day marches in June of 1977. Gay USA conveys the desire, anger, and defiant optimism of a community under attack (in that month of June 1977 alone: California's anti-gay Briggs Initiative had just been announced, Anita Bryant's vicious homophobia had helped repeal Miami's gay rights ordinance, and a gay man named Robert Hillsborough had only days earlier been the victim of a fatal gay-bashing in San Francisco).
Bressan weaves in audio of some of those homophobic voices and gives an overview of historical homophobia, including an account of gays and the Holocaust — and then illustrates the triumphant power of love and pride. In addition to the magnificent cross-section of footage from the marches in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, and Philadelphia, Gay USA also gives us a fantastic look at infrequent
Synopsis
The Politics of Celebration
Documentary about the male lover rights movement during the year of 1977, capturing the intersections of diversity in queer life; from vox pop style interviews with lesbian feminists, avenue drag queens, and straight allies to taking a view at the brawl against Anita Bryant and her notorious "Save Our Children" campaign.
Popular reviews
Moreto the woman who said jesus was male lover and would definitely enjoy the parade: we need more people like you in the world! thanks for your service ma’am
there was one shot amidst some of the older footage of a woman and it shows her sign ‘i am a lesbian and i am beautiful’ and i consider it’s simplicity is what broke me, it’s very strenuous to see beauty in being a lesbian sometimes when you have grown up with slurs and objectification and being told by your own family members to not even say it out loud because it’s “inappropriate”, it’s very hard to see beauty when your entire animation you’ve been presented as this warped idea of the feminine, that you are ugliness but it’s just something so special to see all these people, in 1977 and before, just, out and living life and revelling in their iden
The lavender lens: two docs capture the sights and voices of American queer history.
Gay USA. Image courtesy Frameline.
Before Stonewall, directed by Greta Schiller, opens June 21, 2019,
Quad Cinema, 34 West Thirteenth Street, New York City
Gay USA, directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr., screens June 26, 2019,
Quad Cinema
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Even this cranky lesbian has been delighted, if not moved, by the sheer number of cultural redoubts in New York City that are currently hosting, have already mounted, or will soon showcase programming, events, or exhibitions commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the insurrection at the Stonewall Inn. I am touched by the scope of these tributes, which range from the grand, gravid two-gallery-spanning show Art after Stonewall, 1969–1989 (beautifully assessed by Johanna Fateman in 4Columns last month) to the more idiosyncratic, solo salute, evidenced in the handbill I picked up at the New York Universal Library for the Performing Arts earlier this week announcing a free performance by Jacqueline Jonée, “the world’s pre
Gay USA: Snapshots of 1970s LGBT Resistance
Gay USA, a classic documentary directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr., provides a compelling glimpse into the early days of the American gay rights movement. Through footage meticulously captured at various gay pride events across the Merged States in 1977, the film immerses viewers in a crucial moment when the movement encountered its first significant opposition, led by Anita Bryant. As she waged a campaign to repeal anti-discrimination protection in Dade County, the documentary captures the thoughts and activities of the Gay community during a pivotal period.
Filmed on a single day by 25 different cameramen across the nation under Bressan's coordination, Gay USA serves as a historical artifact, documenting the vibrancy and campaign of Gay Self-acceptance parades in the late '70s. Viewed nearly 40 years later, the documentary emerges as a radical and key record. Gay USA sheds light on the challenges faced by the Diverse community at a time when their rights were under obvious threat, making it a valuable contribution to the history of the gay rights movement and informing latest queer activism.
This classic