FEBRUARY 18. 2011
OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
The U.S.
of Gay
Exclusive Oregon Public Broadcasting
premiere explores LGBT community,
one story at a time
ror— and truth—o f a
childhood friend’s taunt:
“My mom said you’re
gonna be gay when you
grow up.”
From a gay rancher to a
Latino rapper, Puerto Ri
co’s first openly gay and
H IV positive political
candidate to a Muslim
lesbian, these individual
tides of discovery are
united in their collective
truth. Says a San Francisco police lieutenant
who transitioned while on active duty: “Really
what I have ultimately learned is that whatever
we are, we are. And it will eventually percolate
back up to the surface. ... I am no longer a
lesbian, I really am a transsexual man.”
O U T in America touches upon the turning
points in LG BT history— and the importance
of coming out, and stepping up. As such, it’s
an overwhelmingly positive, inspirational col
lage, heartwarming, heartbreaking and heavy
on the heart-tugging music cues. From the
Stonewall riots to the women’s movement,
marriage equality to the repeal o f “Don’t ask,
don’t tell,” the documentary isn’t about head
lines— nor does it attem pt to be.
Goldberg’s lens is never more focused— or
affecting— than when focused on subjects
such as psychologist Dr. Patricia Hawkins,
who helped H IV /A ID S patients during the
early days o f the epidemic then referred to as
the “gay cancer,” and Tales o f the City scribe
Armistead Maupin, who tearfully credits the
lesbian community for “[coming] forward in
scores to care for dying gay men. It made a
difference.”
The folks most likely to stick with viewers,
Lens is
More
Do You Want
Longer Lasting
Erections?
1/2 Hour, 1 Hour?
BY AMANDA SCHURR
The queer American experience takes cen
ter stage in O U T in America, a new PBS pro
duction helmed by Emmy award-winning
director Andrew Goldberg. The hour-long
documentary is set for a national premiere in
June, to coincide with National Gay & Les
bian Pride month, but local viewers can catch
a special presentation Thursday, February 24
on Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Spanning coasts, careers, religions, eras,
ethnicities, classes and genders, O U T exam
ines personal narratives o f belonging against
the public milestones o f the past 50 years in
LG B T history. Figures famous and influen
tial, “average” and extraordinary recall the
coming out process— and how the decision
has intersected with other aspects of identity.
For some, owning their outness meant a
journey toward reconciliation with faiths that
haven’t traditionally welcomed queer folk.
Singer Chely Wright, who made headlines last
year as the first openly gay country music star,
describes a change in prayer, and the beginnings
of unlearning “the old habits o f compartmen-
talization,” of “the skill set and tools of hiding.”
The Reverend Peter Gomes believed that the
best “evidence” he could present to a pro
grammed and prejudiced congregation was
simply that of his own life. “The strongest argu
ment I could make is myself, so I did,” says
Gomes, explaining his speech on the steps of
Harvard’s Memorial Church: “In your presence,
in your face, I [say] I am terribly happy, I am a
functioning Christian and I am a homosexual.”
Elsewhere, a West Point graduate and for
mer captain in the U.S. Army remembers
signing an enlistment document assuring that
she was straight—even though the thought o f
being otherwise had not yet occurred to her.
Bravo T V host Andy Cohen reveals the ter
3L.JÄ
UP TO
2 HOURS!!
We Can Help!
Mike Hartman, of Eagle Creek, is
one of the “ locals” profiled in the film.
though, are the ones who’ve stuck together—
folks like Ruthie and Connie, two retired
grandmothers. They cook, they dance, they
tease, they quilt. They recall the “freedom” o f
coming out, they work with nursing homes to
ensure dignity and equal rights for LGBT
seniors and, yes, they love.
So, too, do “The Harolds,” a biracial couple
o f octogenarians still very much taken with
each other after five decades together— and
joyous in what one half o f the charming duo
describes as having “arrived.” A half century
of labels and codes, stigmas and struggles later,
“I feel that I am as open as a book,” he says.
Filmmaker Goldberg’s tidy “The E nd” is un
necessary— if inaccurate here— but it’s diffi
cult not to envision a happily ever after with
gratitude and pride like theirs so O U T in
America, and onscreen.
O U T in A merica airs on KOPB at S p.m.
Ihurs., Feh. 24 (encore at 9:30p.m.). Following
its exclusive screening in the Portland market, the
program premieres nationally on PBS in June.
They’re OUT in America. What about you? Two film
tests—one salacious in tone, one serious—in the
Portland Metro area need your help to happen.
Indulge your inner auteur and get involved.
Shorty Shorts
Q Center Film Screening Series
The brainchild of Fannie Mae Darling and Gula Delgatto, this
queer showcase promises— nay, encourages— an N C -17 free-for-all.
You cam do pretty much anything, web cam or cell cam, high def or
low def, regardless o f genre or theme. The only deal-breaker is a strict
“no penetration (on film) rule”— that, and the clip must be under 10
minutes. Registration closes Sunday, March 27, with plans for an (im)
proper fest come fall. Register hy emailing shortyshortspdx@gmail.
com, with a $10 entry fee via PayPal (e.sellers@comcast.net) or money
order to Eric Sellers, 47 NE Thompson, Portland, Ore., 97212. Regis
tration is final when payment is received.
The Q js soliciting cinema by local Northwest filmmakers, to be pre
sented in April.The center (4115 N. Mississippi) will also host the selected
filmmakers for a discussion session following each presentation.
Feature- and short-length narrative and documentary films are wel
come, with a preference given to queer-focused or “culturally signifi
cant material.” The deadline for submissions is Monday, February 28.
Submit your masterpiece to Q_Center, Attn: Sally Hansen, 4115 N.
Mississippi Ave., Portland, Ore., 97217, or send a link to an electronic
version to sally@pdxqcenter.org. For more information, visit pdxqcen-
ter.org or call 503-234-7837.
$99 Exam
Includes:
• Doppler Ultrasound Test
• Medical Evaluation
• Test Dose of Medication
• Office Visits for a
FULL YEAR!
Let the highly trained
medical professionals at
Diagnostic Male Medical
Center help.
GUARANTEED o r
O ffice V isit is FREE!
Same Day Solution
Diagnostic
* M ale
Medical
15895 SW 72nd Ave., Ste. 250,
Portland, OR 97224
888 705-7449
-
Walk-in’s Welcome • Mon-Fri 9-5
diagnosticmalemedical.com