Pride Month Movie Rec #2
Traditionally, June is Pride Month. This is the month to shout, talk, express, understand, find more information and support those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and all those within the Queer community. This is wolfiekins and my fourth year running on giving our annual LGBT movie recs. For the month of June, we will post about once a week each.
Here is my intro pride post from June 1st and wolfiekins intro pride post on June 3rd that includes a master list of all our recs over the years. Here is wolfiekins recs from June 6th and June 12th. Here is my first rec from this year on June 7th. Check them out if you missed them.
This weekend was Pride in Los Angeles. I live in the Los Angeles area, but unfortunately due to odd weekend work hours I’ve never been able to go specifically to LA Pride in West Hollywood. But this year was different and the parade was amazing! I had a lot of fun, got sunburn, hot and very tired. :D
The Human Rights Campaign finally cornered me today to become a member. While I have no problem becoming a member, I don’t have a bottomless pit of money and I had been giving money locally, which I think is important as well.
However, after the last couple of weeks, some things have changed my mind. Some are personal, so I won’t go into that in a public post, but others I will.
I think repealing Prop 8 in California is extremely important. It is unfair, cruel, and unconstitutional. I am disturbed that my state, that I have been born and raised in and professes itself to be rather liberal (at least on the coast), is one of those states where same-sex marriage is illegal. Everything must be done to change this.
But...now I’m wondering if it’s the only thing we should be working on and if marriage is more important than other things.
At Pride, most of the groups and floats had some mention of repealing Prop 8 and marriage. I thought, hmmm, did we get to a point that marriage is more important or getting more publicity then hate crime legislation?
So, when HRC stopped me and reminded me what they do, I signed up on the spot. EQ CA will still get my time and support, but maybe a little less of my money. I think we need to work on the bigger picture. I imagine there are people out there who would be happy not to be afraid. And marriage for them is an afterthought.
Don’t get me wrong HRC works on everything do to with inequality, it’s just with a well-rounded idea of the issues and goes beyond the marriage subject.
Here is their website and a blurb of what they do -
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
HRC seeks to improve the lives of LGBT Americans by advocating for equal rights and benefits in the workplace, ensuring families are treated equally under the law and increasing public support among all Americans through innovative advocacy, education and outreach programs. HRC works to secure equal rights for LGBT individuals and families at the federal and state levels by lobbying elected officials, mobilizing grassroots supporters, educating Americans, investing strategically to elect fair-minded officials and partnering with other LGBT organizations.
Please discuss. I don’t shy away from a good debate. :)
This week I have two documentaries for you. A little non-fiction to go with terrific feature films and you’ll see one reason why all this thinking came up this week!
On to the recs!
A Jihad for Love (2007) A documentary starring GLBT Muslims.
A Jihad for Love takes a look at LGBT people in the Muslim community. This is an excellent documentary that shows what it is like in other countries and other religions. I know very little about Islam. The people I know who are Muslim are very Americanized and not religious. This documentary opened my eyes to the struggle people have with all religions not just Christianity.
The makers of the documentary talked to people from Iran, Egypt, South Africa, Pakistan, among others. Some had their faces blurred out because they were afraid of retribution.
Others, such as one man in South Africa who is very involved in the Muslim community is out and is now a counselor for others who feel the struggle between being gay and wanting to maintain their religion. But he does live with the fact he could be killed.
There are pretty much two choices. Stop “being gay” and get married and have children like a *good* Muslim or leave. If you don’t choose one of those, there will be punishment. These people struggle everyday to try to understand why they are gay. Amazingly they want to love their God and live a good religious life. The conflict that exists tortures them.
There is one man who admitted to cross-dressing and going to parties. He came to realize that unless he stopped and got married, he wouldn’t be able to live in the Muslim society. So, even though he still goes to the parties (he doesn’t cross-dress anymore) and hides the fact, he has every intention of finding a wife.
This is not a clean and pretty documentary. It is real life, but I think it’s important to understand or at least know what LGBT people go through in other countries.
It’s an well-done documentary. It makes us aware of the rest of the world which I think sometimes the Western world gets a little self involved. Knowing that there are LGBT people out there with no way out is heartbreaking. At least in the US, you can try to move to another state.
As one woman put it, she worries for the girls in the rural deserts who have no choice but to submit and marry. She was hiding her face, yet, she said, being in a big city she could more easily hide her relationships and find others like her. And she is grateful for having that.
Here is the website for the film.
Please note: There are a couple of graphic pictures in this documentary. One is a man’s back after he was whipped and another of a sacrifice of animals.
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family (2004) Starring Sam Cagnini, Steven Margolin, and Samantha Singh. A documentary about three people living in a trio.
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family is the story of two men and one woman who live in a trio relationship. This follows their story over eight years.
Sam and Steven were together seven years before welcoming Samantha into their family. Sam felt they would be a complete family with a woman and Steven was more hesitant about it, but fell in love with Samantha as well.
For 13 years they remained a family, with the ups and downs of having children, changing jobs, moving and all the things that go on in life.
This is an unconventional family, but they are portrayed in a way that is not *abnormal*. The family is very normal. They could be your neighbors, your relatives, or you. They fell in love with each other and made it work.
Over the eight years that were filmed, you can see the progression of the relationships, how they shift and change. Things do eventually come to an end, but the ending of the relationship isn’t looked at as a failure just because it was a trio. Some marriages don’t last as long.
There is happiness and love during the relationship and there are regrets and anger when any relationship ends.
It’s not as cut and dry to what happens to everyone as one might think. There are signs during the documentary as to who is happy and who is not and why. Things evolve as life does and the ending isn’t really an ending of the relationship, but a moving on and dealing with the aftermath of bringing children into the world and living with people for decades.
This is an important documentary to show that people can live in all kinds of relationships and arrangements and it’s no different than anyone else.
Regardless of what the genders are or how many people there are in the relationship, what works for one person is up to them as consenting adults. What works at one point in your life, may not work in another time in your life. But reaching out and loving one another even for a little while is important regardless of how it may end up.
So, it’s unconventional or maybe it’s not. No regrets and never say never.
It was the 2005 winner of Best Documentary at Outfest Los Angeles.
Here is the website for the film.
Of all the things LAPD and the LA Sheriff's Office have problems with, this is NOT one of them.
Here is my intro pride post from June 1st and wolfiekins intro pride post on June 3rd that includes a master list of all our recs over the years. Here is wolfiekins recs from June 6th and June 12th. Here is my first rec from this year on June 7th. Check them out if you missed them.
This weekend was Pride in Los Angeles. I live in the Los Angeles area, but unfortunately due to odd weekend work hours I’ve never been able to go specifically to LA Pride in West Hollywood. But this year was different and the parade was amazing! I had a lot of fun, got sunburn, hot and very tired. :D
The Human Rights Campaign finally cornered me today to become a member. While I have no problem becoming a member, I don’t have a bottomless pit of money and I had been giving money locally, which I think is important as well.
However, after the last couple of weeks, some things have changed my mind. Some are personal, so I won’t go into that in a public post, but others I will.
I think repealing Prop 8 in California is extremely important. It is unfair, cruel, and unconstitutional. I am disturbed that my state, that I have been born and raised in and professes itself to be rather liberal (at least on the coast), is one of those states where same-sex marriage is illegal. Everything must be done to change this.
But...now I’m wondering if it’s the only thing we should be working on and if marriage is more important than other things.
At Pride, most of the groups and floats had some mention of repealing Prop 8 and marriage. I thought, hmmm, did we get to a point that marriage is more important or getting more publicity then hate crime legislation?
So, when HRC stopped me and reminded me what they do, I signed up on the spot. EQ CA will still get my time and support, but maybe a little less of my money. I think we need to work on the bigger picture. I imagine there are people out there who would be happy not to be afraid. And marriage for them is an afterthought.
Don’t get me wrong HRC works on everything do to with inequality, it’s just with a well-rounded idea of the issues and goes beyond the marriage subject.
Here is their website and a blurb of what they do -
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
HRC seeks to improve the lives of LGBT Americans by advocating for equal rights and benefits in the workplace, ensuring families are treated equally under the law and increasing public support among all Americans through innovative advocacy, education and outreach programs. HRC works to secure equal rights for LGBT individuals and families at the federal and state levels by lobbying elected officials, mobilizing grassroots supporters, educating Americans, investing strategically to elect fair-minded officials and partnering with other LGBT organizations.
Please discuss. I don’t shy away from a good debate. :)
This week I have two documentaries for you. A little non-fiction to go with terrific feature films and you’ll see one reason why all this thinking came up this week!
On to the recs!
A Jihad for Love (2007) A documentary starring GLBT Muslims.
A Jihad for Love takes a look at LGBT people in the Muslim community. This is an excellent documentary that shows what it is like in other countries and other religions. I know very little about Islam. The people I know who are Muslim are very Americanized and not religious. This documentary opened my eyes to the struggle people have with all religions not just Christianity.
The makers of the documentary talked to people from Iran, Egypt, South Africa, Pakistan, among others. Some had their faces blurred out because they were afraid of retribution.
Others, such as one man in South Africa who is very involved in the Muslim community is out and is now a counselor for others who feel the struggle between being gay and wanting to maintain their religion. But he does live with the fact he could be killed.
There are pretty much two choices. Stop “being gay” and get married and have children like a *good* Muslim or leave. If you don’t choose one of those, there will be punishment. These people struggle everyday to try to understand why they are gay. Amazingly they want to love their God and live a good religious life. The conflict that exists tortures them.
There is one man who admitted to cross-dressing and going to parties. He came to realize that unless he stopped and got married, he wouldn’t be able to live in the Muslim society. So, even though he still goes to the parties (he doesn’t cross-dress anymore) and hides the fact, he has every intention of finding a wife.
This is not a clean and pretty documentary. It is real life, but I think it’s important to understand or at least know what LGBT people go through in other countries.
It’s an well-done documentary. It makes us aware of the rest of the world which I think sometimes the Western world gets a little self involved. Knowing that there are LGBT people out there with no way out is heartbreaking. At least in the US, you can try to move to another state.
As one woman put it, she worries for the girls in the rural deserts who have no choice but to submit and marry. She was hiding her face, yet, she said, being in a big city she could more easily hide her relationships and find others like her. And she is grateful for having that.
Here is the website for the film.
Please note: There are a couple of graphic pictures in this documentary. One is a man’s back after he was whipped and another of a sacrifice of animals.
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family (2004) Starring Sam Cagnini, Steven Margolin, and Samantha Singh. A documentary about three people living in a trio.
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family is the story of two men and one woman who live in a trio relationship. This follows their story over eight years.
Sam and Steven were together seven years before welcoming Samantha into their family. Sam felt they would be a complete family with a woman and Steven was more hesitant about it, but fell in love with Samantha as well.
For 13 years they remained a family, with the ups and downs of having children, changing jobs, moving and all the things that go on in life.
This is an unconventional family, but they are portrayed in a way that is not *abnormal*. The family is very normal. They could be your neighbors, your relatives, or you. They fell in love with each other and made it work.
Over the eight years that were filmed, you can see the progression of the relationships, how they shift and change. Things do eventually come to an end, but the ending of the relationship isn’t looked at as a failure just because it was a trio. Some marriages don’t last as long.
There is happiness and love during the relationship and there are regrets and anger when any relationship ends.
It’s not as cut and dry to what happens to everyone as one might think. There are signs during the documentary as to who is happy and who is not and why. Things evolve as life does and the ending isn’t really an ending of the relationship, but a moving on and dealing with the aftermath of bringing children into the world and living with people for decades.
This is an important documentary to show that people can live in all kinds of relationships and arrangements and it’s no different than anyone else.
Regardless of what the genders are or how many people there are in the relationship, what works for one person is up to them as consenting adults. What works at one point in your life, may not work in another time in your life. But reaching out and loving one another even for a little while is important regardless of how it may end up.
So, it’s unconventional or maybe it’s not. No regrets and never say never.
It was the 2005 winner of Best Documentary at Outfest Los Angeles.
Here is the website for the film.
Of all the things LAPD and the LA Sheriff's Office have problems with, this is NOT one of them.