Arts & Entertainment - Gay & Lesbian Studies, Documentary Films, Peoples & Cultures in Film

Word Is Out: A Queer Film Classic

Name: Word Is Out: A Queer Film Classic
Author: Greg Youmans
ISBN: 9781551524207

by Greg Youmans

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Overview

A Queer Film Classic on the groundbreaking 1977 documentary that profiles the lives of gay men and lesbians of different ages, races, and backgrounds, and played a role in the then-nascent struggle for gay rights (being released at the same time as Anita Bryant waged her anti-gay campaign in Florida). Greg Youmans is a scholar, maker, and programmer of queer film and video. Arsenal's Queer Film Classics series cover some of the most important and influential films about and by LGBTQ people.

Synopsis

In 1977, the Mariposa Film Group produced a groundbreaking documentary that profiled the lives of 26 ordinary gay men and lesbians. Broadcast widely in cinemas and on television, Word is Out appeared soon after Anita Bryant launched her anti-gay `Save Our Children' campaign, offering an important counter-image to the homophobic images that Bryant and others were promulgating. Interviewees cover a broad spectrum and include writer Elsa Gidlow and civil rights leader Harry Hay. Word is Out provides an essential guide to the significant documentary, still relevant today.

About the Author, Greg Youmans

Greg Youmans: Greg Youmans is a scholar, maker, and programmer of queer film and video. His research focuses on gay and lesbian activist and experimental filmmaking of the late 1970s, in the context of the rise of the religious right and the channeling of gay and lesbian politics into a liberal, rights-based agenda. He also creates an ongoing video series with Chris Vargas, entitled Falling in Lovewith Chris and Greg.