* Beauty Before Age: A Documentary; New Day Films ; 1997 ; 22m. VHS 6607
Explores the power of youth and beauty in the gay community. A diverse group of men, ages 19 to 77, navigate their fears of becoming old, undesirable, and alone. This film also offers a male perspective on a historical female issue, and illuminates the larger societal obsession with physical appearance.
* Do I Look Fat? ; Blah Blah Blah Films ; 2005 ; 58m. DVD 2886
Seven men who are gay or bisexual and suffer from eating disorders talk about the gay male community’s obsession with the issue of fat. Experts on eating disorders discuss some of the underlying causes of eating disorders: childhood trauma, internalized homophobia and substance abuse.
* Private Dicks: Men Exposed; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1995 ; 55m. DVD 2466, VHS 9422
Surveying men from all walks of life, young and old, gay and straight, large and small, this documentary presents interviews with 25 men who explore how men feel about their penises. The men, many of whom appear nude, offer personal revelations that are honest, humorous, and often poignant as they frankly discuss puberty, masculinity, impotence, circumcision, sexuality, myths and perceptions, growing old, and, of course, size. Among those interviewed are a retired 73-yr. old professor who reflects on the decline in libido and prostate troubles, a 28 year-old porn star, a paralyzed advertising director who talks about sex as a paraplegic and a slang dictionary editor who explains the etymology of penis-related slang words and offers some rare historical slang.
* After Stonewall: From the Riots to the Millenium; First Run Features ; 1999 ; 87m. DVD 3608, VHS 852
The sequel to Before Stonewall (DVD 3607, VHS 2521) chronicles the history of lesbian and gay life from the roots at Stonewall to the end of the century.
* Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community ; MPI Home Video ; 1989 ; 87m. DVD 3607, VHS 2521
A social history of homosexuality in America from the 1920s to 1969, this video shows how the gay and lesbian community has moved from a secret shame to the status of a publicly viable minority group. Tells how a group consciousness coalesced after the 1969 police raid on Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, and the three-day riot that followed gained them national publicity and the birth of the gay movement.
* No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon ; Moonforce Media ; 2003 ; 57m. VHS 9131
Chronicles the lives of two women who have been partners in love and political struggle for half a century. San Francisco icons, Del and Phyllis are known as the founders of the modern lesbian civil rights movement. No Secret Anymore follows them through six decades, tracing the emergence of lesbians from the fear of discovery to the expectation of
equality.
* Out of the Past: the Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights in America ; Ardustry Home Entertainment ; 1997 ; 70m. DVD 1704
This film traces the emergence of gay men and lesbians in American history through the eyes of a young woman coming to terms with herself and her place in the world. The hour-long film explores the critical link between knowledge of history and knowledge of self. The film tells the story of Kelli Peterson, a teenager from Utah who founded a Gay-Straight Alliance at her high school in 1996. Her efforts provoked a statewide backlash as the school board and the state legislature attempted to keep the group from meeting.
* Scout’s Honor ; New Day Films ; 2001 ; 60m. VHS 9296
Documentary examining the Boy Scouts of America policy against gays in the organization. Focuses on Steve Cozza, boy scout and activist against the policy, and relates the stories of others removed from the Boy Scout organization for being gay or for working to have the policy eliminated. Moving from Petaluma, CA to the Supreme Court, the film chronicles a modern interpretation of the Scouting ideals of courage, citizenship, and honor.
* Screaming Queens: the Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria ; Frameline ; 2005 ; 57m. DVD 3430
Tells the little-known story of the first known act of collective, violent resistance to the social oppression of queer people in the United States — a 1966 riot in San Francisco’s impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood, three years before the famous gay riot at New York’s Stonewall Inn.
* Blossoms of Fire ; Intrepidas Productions ; 2000 ; 74m. VHS 9336
Documentarist Maureen Gosling captures the creative, outspoken spirit of the Zapotec women of southern Oaxaca, Mexico in this exuberant portrait of an often misrepresented culture. It’s a society marked by female independence, progressive politics, and an unusual tolerance of homosexuality. Juchitecan women, celebrated by artists Frida Kahlo and Miguel Covarrubias, run their own businesses, embroider their signature fiery blossoms on clothing, and work with the men in their community to preserve the soul of their traditional culture.
* Everything Must Come to Light; First Run / Icarus Films ; 2002 ; 25m. VHS 9676
This documentary focuses on the lives of three dynamic lesbian women who are sangomas (traditional healers) living in Soweto, South Africa. They are articulate, sympathetic women who are willing to share their stories. After leaving their husbands, two of the women were able to explore their sexuality in relation to other women as a result of their dominant male ancestors instructing them to take wives. The relationship with their ancestors and the roles that they play in their healing powers as well as their sexuality, are focal points in this documentary.
* History Lessons; First Run Features ; 2000 ; 70m. DVD 817
This film by Barbara Hammer explores lesbian images from 1896 until 1969, focusing on pervading images prior to Stonewall, the film exposes popular representations of lesbian culture.
* Juchitán Queer Paradise; Filmakers Library ; 2003 ; 64m. DVD 1664
This is a video portrait of Juchitan, a small Mexican city near the Guatemalan border. Here homosexuality is fully accepted; gays are simply a third gender. If a boy shows a predisposition to homosexuality his family will rejoice and be thankful for receiving what is considered a blessing. In Juchitan a man who wants to be a woman only has to dress like a woman to be considered and treated as a woman by the entire community. The film profiles three gay people: a teacher, a hairdresser and a shop owner.
* Keep the River On Your Right ; New Video Group ; 2000 ; 94m. DVD 2222
Discusses the life of anthropologist and gay activist, Tobias Schneebaum, and the time he spent among cannibalistic tribes in the 1960s.
* A Little for my Heart and a Little for my God: A Muslim Women’s Orchestra; Filmaker’s Library ; 1993 ; 60m. VHS 3734
Documents an orchestra of meddahatts, Algerian women musicians who customarily entertain gatherings of women, since traditionally they are not allowed to mix with men. When these orchestras play, women remove their veils and dance. Though they are much in demand, the orchestraa are held in low social esteem. The orchestra portrayed includes Sid Ahmen and Amin, a gay male couple. Nobody seems to question their presence in this exclusively female world.
* Tongues Untied: Black Men Loving Black Men ; Strand Releasing ; 1989 ; 55m. DVD 3568, VHS 6987
In an experimental amalgam of rap music, street poetry, documentary film, and dance, a gay African-American man expresses what it is like to be gay and black in the United States. Although he deals with social ostracism and fear of AIDS, he affirms the beauty and significance of the gay black man.
* The Aggressives ; Seventh Art Releasing ; 2005 ; 73m. DVD 3051
Features intimate interviews with 6 transgendered lesbians (5 African American, 1 Asian) living in New York City who define themselves as “aggressives.” They exhibit masculine appearances and behaviors, but do not aspire to be men. Shows their daily lives and their participation in the underground lesbian “ball” scene, where cross-dressers compete for trophies.
* Anatomy of Desire ; Cinema Guild ; 1995 ; 48m. VHS 4887
Looks at the history of scientific research on the question of sexual orientation and how this research has affected lesbian and gay rights.
* Being Gay: Coming Out in the 21rst Century ; Cambridge Educational ; 2003 ; 25m. DVD 2358
This program presents the accounts and stories of people who have recently taken the step of coming out. Interviewees and experts discuss the benefits of this important transition by examining the six stages of coming to terms with one’s sexual identity.
* Campus Culture Wars: Five Stories About PC ; Direct Cinema Ltd. ; 1993 ; 82m. VHS 4086
Examines five controversial incidents at universities around the country involving conflicts of values and “political correctness”. Cases involve the use of racially insensitive language, gay rights and religious expression, pursuit of multicultural ideals, sexual harassment in the classroom, and radical feminism.
* The Castro: A Documentary; KQED ; 1997 ; 86m. VHS 5323
Chronicles the history of the Castro district from a working class neighborhood to the center of gay and lesbian life in San Francisco.
* A Conversation with Brian McNaught On Being Gay; TRB Productions ; 1986 ; 80m. VHS 2530
Author, counselor, and lecturer Brian McNaught dispels myths about homosexuality. He talks about growing up gay in a straight world and discusses such topics as Bible-based bigotry, stereotypes, transvestism, transexualism, and AIDS.
* Desire: Sexuality in Germany 1910-1945 ; Water Bearer Films ; 1989 ; 88m. VHS 6605
Examines the discovery of homosexuality by the medical and psychoanalytical professions in the 1890s and subsequent movements in Germany during the early years of this century. Uses historical and archival films of the period to chronicle events leading to the imprisonment of homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Survivors tell how they managed when Hitler was in power.
* Friends and Lovers; Univ. of CA Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning ; 1993 ; 28m. VHS 6566
Gay men discuss what it means to be lovers and the meaning of friendship; explores anthropological, sociological, and psychological issues about gender, sexuality, and relationships.
* Gay Bingo ; WHYY ; 2000 ; 60m. VHS 7932
It’s outrageous. It’s funny. It’s deadly serious. It’s Gay Bingo, the monthly bingo game that has become the premiere AIDS fundraising event in the Philadelphia region. Gay Bingo debuted in Philadelphia in 1996 as a fundraiser for The AIDS Fund, which benefits more than 40 AIDS service organizations in the region. To date, the games have raised more than half a million dollars.
* Gay Sex in the 70’s ; Wolfe Video ; 2006 ; 71m. DVD 2763
Focuses on the sexual promiscuity among gays in New York City after the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969 but before the AIDS crisis hit in the 1980s through the use of candid first-hand interviews, photographs and films of the era.
* Homosexuality: Nature vs. Nurture ; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 1988 ; 26m. VHS 4298
Explores the origins of human sexuality, examining the biological, genetic, psychological and cultural roots of sexual behavior. Includes interviews with gays, psychiatrists and researchers.
* Kinsey ; PBS Home Video ; 2005 ; 90m. DVD 1791
Through interviews with Alfred Kinsey’s research assistants, his children, people who took his sex questionnaire, and historians, this documentary assesses Kinsey’s remarkable achievements. This includes his assessment of homosexuality as part of the human condition.
* Last Call at Maud’s; Water Bearer Films ; 1993 ; 77m. VHS 2745
A look at the world’s longest running lesbian bar, Maud’s in San Francisco. The film interweaves rare archive film of the gay bar scene in the 1940s, the vice raids of the 1950s, the gay counter culture of the 1960s and "coming out" in the 1970s up until the bar closed its doors in 1989.
* Lasting Love ; PBS / Madison Inc. ; 2002 ; 57m. VHS 8924
To understand what makes relationships work, nine couples, including a gay and a lesbian couple, are interviewed. All couples have been together for at least 25 years.
* Lifetime Commitment: A Portrait of Karen Thompson; Wolfe Video ; 1987 ; 33m. VHS 2505
Karen Thompson, a physical education faculty member at St. Cloud State University , chronicles her legal battle concerning guardianship and rights of a disabled person to determine their own care. The disabled person in this case is Sharon Kowalski, her lover. Ms. Thompson also discusses homophobia, sexism and discrimination against the handicapped.
* Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100; Our Film Works ; 1999 ; 60m. VHS 9028
Documentary with narrative recreations about the life and times of Ruth Ellis, the oldest “out” African American lesbian.
* Out in Suburbia: The Stories of Eleven Lesbians; Filmakers Library ; 1988 ; 28m. VHS 3312
Eleven women discuss their lives, including marriage, motherhood, discrimination, stereotypes, and female roles.
* Pink Triangles: A Study of Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men; Cambridge Documentary Films ; 1982 ; 34m. VHS 2775
Takes a look at the nature of discrimination against lesbians and gay men and challenges some of society’s attitudes toward homosexuality. Also examines historical and contemporary patterns of racial, religious, political, and sexual
persecution.
* Psychotherapy with Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Clients ; Buendia Productions ; 2005 ; 314m. DVD 3356
A video series based on the collaborative efforts of mental health professionals with research and experience on psychotherapy with gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. The purpose is to provide information to students and to other mental health professionals.
* Rainbow’s End; Frameline ; 2006 ; 75m ; DVD 3575
A multinational journey throughout Europe and the world, exploring the future of lesbian, gay, bi and transgender people. From parades and protests in Warsaw and Krakow to personal stories with social, religious and political insights, the film moves from street activism to the United Nations in Geneva.
* Responding; Focus International, Inc. ; 1980 ; 6m. VHS 1552
Using one continuous interaction of partners, portrays heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual lovemaking. Conveys the message that human lovemaking is essentially the same regardless of sexual orientation.
* Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the House ; Women Make Movies ; 2002 ; 55m. VHS 9450
This documentary follows two very funny, rather traditional housewives who turned their lives upside down when they left their husbands and children and moved in with each other. Twenty years later, the two Jewish lesbian grandmothers made history in a landmark lawsuit winning domestic partner benefits for all New York City employees. A film about taking risks and challenging values adds a powerful chapter to America’s search for the meaning of family.
* Sexual Orientation Issues in the U.S.A.; Insight Media ; 1993 ; 120m. VHS 6762
Part one talks about homosexuality, the difficulties of gays and lesbians in establishing open relationships, homophobia, and violence against homosexuals. Part two discusses the experiences of individuals who were denied equality because of their sexual preference and specifically “The Forgotten Boy Scouts”, an organization of individuals expelled from scouting because of their sexual orientation.
* Silverlake Life: The View From Here ; Zeitgeist Films ; 1993 ; 99m. VHS 2687
Presents the story of Tom Joslin and Mark Massi, a homosexual couple who have become victims of the AIDS disease, and discusses their lives and lifestyle.
* 30 Days; 20 th Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 2005 ; 270m. DVD 2810
This television series explores some of America’s most pressing social issues by following the lives of ordinary people who agree to live well-outside their comfort zones for 30 days: Spurlock and his fiancée try to make ends meet by working minimum-wage jobs, a devout Christian immerses himself in Islamic culture, a homophobic young man goes to live and work in San Francisco’s largely gay Castro District, and more.
* Where Are We?: Our Trip Through America ; New Yorker Video ; 2004 ; 75m. DVD 1146
At the end of the Gulf War, the filmmaker takes a trip in order to try and get a perspective about gay life in the South.
* Why Am I Gay?: Stories of Coming Out in America ; Ambrose Video Publishing ; 1993 ; 52m. VHS 3261
Gays and lesbians talk about their coming out and how it effects their lives.
* ... But Words Do Hurt: Stories from GLBTT Youth ; Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre ; 2005 ; 30m. DVD 3550
Young people who identify as GLBTT talk about identity issues, the media, coming out, their family, their experiences in school and their hopes for the future. Professionals who work with GLBTT youth, including a psychologist, a human rights lawyer, a teacher and a hate crimes police officer also talk about some of the issues faced by these youth.
* Coming Out 101 ; Towson State University ; 1992 ; 27m. VHS 2541
Examines the complex, often fearful, process that gay, lesbian or bisexual students may have in telling others how they are different from, yet similar to, their friends.
* Counseling Gay and Lesbian Youth: A Multiethnic Demonstration Video; Microtraining Associates ; 2005 ; 84m. DVD 2867
This multifaceted training video contains four short personal testimonials from lesbian and gay individuals. Moderators provide guidelines for working with persons who who are in the Identity Confusion or the Coming Out phase of gay identity. Highlights of the video include: African American and European American women and men as counselors and clients, making the video more meaningful in a multicultural world, helpful headings and titles that preview and reinforce the issues being modeled, and a lively, interest-engaging presentation. Useful for practicing counselors and therapists in all settings, school leaders, students of counseling, and any individuals who wish to be inspired and informed by these demonstrations.
* Speaking for Ourselves: Portraits of Gay and Lesbian Youth; Intermedia, Inc. ; 1994 ; 27m.
VHS 3901
Issues pertaining to identity, sexuality, family and self acceptance strike a common chord for most young people regardless of their sexual orientation. In this program, the viewing audience meets a wide range of young people who were courageous enough to share their life experiences on camera.
* Tarnation; Wellspring Media ; 2003 ; 88m. DVD 2421
A multitude of family snapshots, Super-8 home movies, old answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, snippets of ’80s pop culture, and dramatic reenactments are used to create an epic portrait of an American family travesty. Begins in 2003 when Jonathan, a young gay man, learns that his schizophrenic mother, Renee, overdoses on her lithium medication. He is shot back into his real and horrifying family legacy of rape, abandonment, promiscuity, drug addiction, child abuse, and psychosis. He grows up on camera and finds his escape in musical theater and B-horror movies. A look into the future shows Jonathan as he confronts the almost unbearable love he shares with his tragically damaged mother.
* The Videos of Sadie Benning; Video Data Bank ; 1989 ; 88m. VHS 6009
Eighteen-years-old Sadie Benning recorded thoughts and images of her nascent lesbianism with the help of a Fisher Price Pixelvision camera.
* The Amasong Chorus: Singing Out; New Day Films ; 2003 ; 54m. VHS 9607
Founded in 1991 by Kristina Boerger, Amasong Chorus tells the inspiring story of the rise and success of this small-town lesbian / feminist chorus, and how the beauty of their music comes to win acceptance from a conservative community.
* The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde; Women Make Movies ; 2000 ; 59m. VHS 9444
Documents black lesbian poet and activist Audre Lorde’s (1934-92) social vision, using footage from the four-day conference: I am your sisters: forging global connections across differences, held in Boston in 1990. At the conference 1,200 men, women and young people from 23 countries examined the issues of the relations between race, class, gender and sexuality through Lorde’s work. Interviews with the organizers of the conference are intercut with conference footage, including performances, controversies and speeches.
* Fabulous!: The Story of Queer Cinema ; Wolfe Video ; 2005 ; 82m. DVD 3047
An overview of the history of gay and lesbian cinema, from Kenneth Anger’s pioneering Fireworks (1947) to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005).
* A Meditation on Langston Hughes ; Water Bearer Films ; 1992 ; 45m. VHS 7018
A surreal dramatization, including documentary film clips, of Langston Hughes’ milieu in the Harlem of the 1930s. The voice-over narration is from the poetry and prose of James Baldwin, Essex Hamphill, Bruce Nugent, and Hilton Als.
* Paris Was a Woman; Zeitgeist Films ; 1995 ; 75m. VHS 5014, DVD 2913
Through a combination of still photos, archival film footage, and interview commentary this film documents the creative community of French, English and American women, many of whom were lesbians, who gravitated to the Left Bank in Paris during the early part of the 20th century.
* The Celluloid Closet; Columbia TriStar Home Video ; 1996 ; 102m. DVD 2706, VHS 5543
Based on the book by Vito Russo. Assembles footage from over 120 films showing the changing face of cinema homosexuality from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Many actors, writers and commentators provide anecdotes regarding the history of the role of gay men and lesbians on the silver screen.
* The Darker Side of Black ; Filmakers Library ; 1994 ; 59m. VHS 8099
Gangsta chic, violence and nihilism, the hard edge of Rap and Reggae increasingly dominates the image of black popular culture. This film investigates the issues raised by the genre, such as ritualized machismo, misogyny, attitudes towards homosexuality and religion, and gun glorification. Filmed in dance halls, hip hop clubs, and using interviews and music video clips, film takes us to London, Jamaica and the U.S. to examine the "darker" side of contemporary black music.
* History Lessons; First Run Features ; 2000 ; 70m. DVD 817
This film explores lesbian images from 1896 until 1969, focusing on pervading images prior to Stonewall, the film exposes popular representations of lesbian culture.
* Off the Straight and Narrow: Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Television ; Media Education Foundation ; 1998 ; 63m. VHS 6665
Casts a critical eye over the growth of gay images on TV. Leading media scholars provide the historical and cultural context for exploring the social implications of these new representations. Challenges viewers to consider the value and limits of available gay images: who is represented, what they get to say, and how people respond to them.
* The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender ; Water Bearer Films ; 1998 ; 100m. DVD 824
An exploration of the way Hollywood dealt with or ignored issues of homosexuality during its so-called Golden Age, when the studio system reigned supreme. A re-examination of the subterfuges by which Hollywood has alluded to and at the same time avoided an issue that it could not even name, much less identify, it is at the same time a serious survey of gender issues and how they were perceived and perpetuated by the Hollywood dream factory from the 1930s up to the 1960s.
* The Times of Harvey Milk; Pacific Arts Video ; 1986 ; 88m. DVD 2731, VHS 308
A portrait of the life and career of Harvey Milk, a charismatic grass-roots activist, and one of the first avowed homosexuals elected to political office. Through television news footage and interviews, follows him from his early days as a Castro Street businessman to his murder, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, in 1978. Relates these events to the ongoing movement for gay rights in the United States.
* Voting in America; Swell Cinema ; 2004 ; 71m. DVD 1250
Nine short documentaries about why some people don’t vote and how others are trying to change their minds. One is
entitled Out of the Closet, Into the Booth: the Gay Vote in America by Tom Shepard.
* A Woman’s Place is in the House: Portrait of Elaine Noble; WGBH ; 2002 ; 30m. VHS 8769
Elaine Noble is a lesbian who was elected to the Massachusetts state legislature in 1974. The film follows her through a typical day from her Back Bay apartment to the state house.
* Creating Schools That Are Safe for All of Our Students; IDEA ; 1998 ; 73m. VHS 8690
Kevin Jennings addresses homophobia and gay and lesbian issues in schools.
* Homophobia: Gays in the Workplace ; Motivational Media ; 1993 ; 58m. VHS 6763
Brian McNaught explains the losses for everyone when homophobia exists at the workplace, at school, or anywhere in society. He offers keys to overcoming ignorance in a homophobic work setting.
* It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School; New Day Films ; 1996 ; 78m. VHS 5105
An exploration of what happens when experienced teachers talk to their students about lesbians and gay men. Students are asked to consider issues related to homosexuality at six elementary and middle schools. Footage of classroom activities and discussions are presented with students exploring questions and issues presented to them by teachers and guest lecturers who come into their classes. School-wide presentations, activity-days, and how these events affect faculty, parents and teachers are also discussed.
* Out at Work: America Undercover; HBO ; 1998 ; 58m. VHS 9398
This documentary addresses the startling reality that in forty American states it is legal to fire an employee for being homosexual. It reveals the ongoing perils that gays and lesbians face in companies in many states across the U.S. through moving case studies of two gay men and one lesbian worker who are exposed to job discrimination and finally take action to fight for their rights.
* Out! Making School Safe for Gay Students; Attainment company ; 1999 ; 70m. VHS 8670
This two part set shows how to combat homophobia through the sensitization of every member of a school community. The first part is intended for staff and features interviews with teachers and counselors as well as tips for forming a gay-straight alliance. The second is designed for students and presents candid interviews with gay teenagers who discuss the reactions of their friends and families and ways in which they have coped with harassment.
* Out for a Change: Addressing Homophobia in Women’s Sports ; University of California Extension ; 1994 ; 29m. VHS 4582
Addresses the issues of women in sports, homophobia in sports, the common assumption that all female athletes and female coaches are lesbians and the discrimination attached to those assumptions.
* Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story; Anchor Bay Entertainment ; 2005 ; 87m. DVD 2647
March 24, 1962: Rival boxers Emile Griffith and Benny Paret entered the ring for their anticipated world title bout. Earlier Paret allegedly taunted his homosexual opponent with a slur. That night Griffith beat Paret to death in the ring. Tells the story through archival footage and new interviews with journalists, historians and others, and Griffith himself.
* Running Gay ; Cinema Guild ; 1991 ; 20m. VHS 6708
Interviews with gay and lesbian athletes participating in the 1990 Gay Games III in Vancouver, Canada.
For the Bible Tells Me So; First Run Features ; 2007 ; 98m. DVD 4526
Reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and reveals that religious anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a misinterpretation of the Bible. Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American familes - including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson - discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member.
* Gay Rights, Marriage, and the Supreme Court; Films for the Humanities and Sciences ; 2003 ; 21m. DVD 1204
This ABC News program uses the landmark Lawrence v. Texas case and the legalization of gay marriage in Canada to shed light on the future of gay marriage in the U.S. Changing attitudes toward homosexuality in general are addressed as well.
* In My Father’s Church: A Wedding Diary ; Women Make Movies ; 2004 ; 49m. VHS 9622
Charissa is a lesbian who wants a church wedding, but it doesn’t seem to help that her dad is the pastor of the town’s United Methodist Church. While he has been quietly supportive of his daughter’s lesbian relationship, Charissa’s father knows he would put his career at risk if he chose to officiate at her marriage ceremony. In 1999, the Methodist church took a firm stand by suspending a pastor for officiating a same sex union—and the clashes between clergy and gay couples have been making headlines ever since. A poignant exploration of the intersection of homosexuality and religion.
* One Nation Under God ; First Run Features ; 1993 ; 82m. DVD 1147
Two former leaders of an “ex-gay” ministry expose and ridicule therapies and techniques used by some Christian organizations to attempt to change the sexual orientation of homosexuals along with commentary from gay leaders.
* The Return of Sarah’s Daughters ; Women Make Movies ; 1997 ; 56m. VHS 8982
Three Jewish women, Myriam Klotz, Rus Burdman, and Marcia Jarmel, discuss their relationship to Judaism. The film allows us to enter the world of Orthodox Judaism through the lives of these women. Rus, for example, has found tremendous fulfillment and a sense of community in Orthodoxy. Mariam, on the other hand, left Orthodoxy when she felt rejected for affirming her lesbian identity.
* Trembling Before G_d; New Yorker Video ; 2001 ; 84m. DVD 1238
A documentary built around personal stories of gay and lesbian Hasidic and Orthodox Jews. Portrays people who face a profound dilemma — how to reconcile their passion for Judaism with the biblical prohibitions against homosexuality. Includes interviews with closeted and out gay Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, including the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Steven Greenberg.
* Why Thee Wed ; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2005 ; 51m. DVD 2663
Presents interviews with same-sex married couples who share their views on marriage, religious and political opposition, child adoption, and love. Also includes interviews with their families, the lawyer who represented them, and gay rights activist Jane Rule, who takes issue with the institution of marriage.
* The Year of Paper; Frameline ; 2007 ; 91m. DVD On Order
Chronicles the newlywed year of three couples -- lesbian, heterosexual and gay--exploring why they got married and how saying “I do” has changed their relationships. While the film focuses on these three relationships, it also follows the firestorm of debate that surrounds the very idea of marriage for same-sex couples.
* Caught in the Crossfire: Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents ; Films for the Humanities and Sciences ; 2002 ; 27m. VHS 8549
Prompted by the surprising comments of her own daughter, director and lesbian mother Sandra Williams made this program to give voice to the thoughts, emotions, and positive and negative experiences of seven children who are being raised by gay or lesbian parents. The children, ranging in age from 8 to 16, speak about their parents’ sexuality and how it makes their own lives complicated and often difficult. What comes through in these sometimes painful disclosures is the strength of the bond between child and parent.
* Dear Mom and Dad, I’m Gay ; Films for the Humanties and Sciences ; 1994 ; 30m. VHS 4299
Presents gay teens and their parents in a discussion of what happens when children tell and parents are told: a range of scenarios from love and acceptance to anger and hostility. Adapted from Phil Donahue show.
* Florence and Robin; Films for the Humanities and Sciences ; 1995 ; 52m. VHS 6373
This documentary follows the lives of Florence Spalding and Robin Ruotolo, a lesbian couple in San Francisco, as they make the decision to become biological parents through artificial insemination. Follows their journey towards parenthood in a society which exhibits polarized attitudes towards lesbianism. Also meets the children of gay couples and talks to pupils in a nursery school where one in six has gay parents.
* Love Makes a Family: Gay Parents in the 90s; Fanlight Productions ; 1993 ; 16m. VHS 6733
This video presents issues of co-parenting, children from previous marriages, and adoption in families with gay parents through interviews with families. Also presents interviews with a clinical psychologist and a therapist who work with gay families and their children.
* Making Grace ; First Run / Icarus Films ; 2003 ; 86m. VHS 9630
A candid look at the daily challenges faced by two lesbian mothers attempting to have their first child. Ann will carry the baby and Leslie will leave her job to stay at home and raise their child. Choosing the route of the anonymous sperm bank, they hope to match Leslie’s vital statistics so that Ann can give birth to a baby with the potential to look like them both.
* Mom’s Apple Pie ; Frameline ; 2006 ; 60m. DVD 3406
While the beginnings of the LGBT Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum, the 1970s witnessed horrific custody battles for lesbian mothers. The film revisits those early tumultuous years of the lesbian custody movement through the stories of five lesbian mothers and their four children. This program also discusses two organizations in the 1970s that provided funds and support for lesbian child custody cases: The Lesbian Rights Project in San Francisco and the Lesbian Mother’s National Defense Fund in Seattle, Washington.
* Other Families; Fanlight Productions ; 1993 ; 49m. VHS 6698
Young adult children of lesbian mothers talk about growing up in a lesbian household: how they found out that their mother was lesbian; how they felt about the secrecy; their relationship with their mother; and how they were treated by others outside the family. Counselors discuss the parent-child relationship in a lesbian family.
* Our House: A Very Real Documentary About Kids of Gay and Lesbian Parents; Cinema Guild ; 1999 ; 57m. VHS 8849
Interviews five families from New York, Arkansas, Arizona, and New Jersey describing their experiences of living in households led by gay and lesbian parents.
* That’s a Family! ; New Day Films ; 2000 ; 35m. VHS 9497
Designed for children in elementary school, this film shows the many different shapes that families take today. Children describe their own families and explain concepts like “birth mom”, “mixed race”, “gay and lesbian”, and “stepdad”.
* Three of Hearts: A Post-Modern Family ; Thinkfilm ; 2004 ; 97m. DVD 3273
Examines the structure of a polyandric family in New York consisting of two originally homosexual men and one woman.
* Transparent ; Frameline ; 2004 ; 61m. DVD 4098
Looks at 19 female-to-male transsexuals living in the United States who have given birth and, in all but a few cases, gone on to raise their biological children. Focuses on their lives as parents, revealing the diverse ways in which each person reconciles giving birth and being a biological mother with his masculine identity. Traditional views of gender are re-examined through the variety of genders the children use to conceive of their parents. Challenges the ways that people relate to one another, particularly within immediate families, based on gender.
* We Are Dad ; Tavroh Films ; 2005 ; 67m. DVD 2140
Chronicles the parental experiences of 20-year-plus life partners Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau and their extended family of five foster children. Lofton and Croteau, both pediatric nurses, take in HIV-positive children of various ethnic backgrounds who were abandoned by their families and “the system”. When one of the children sero-reverts and becomes HIV-free, the state of Florida considers the child a “desirable” candidate for adoption and threatens to remove the child from his home. Following the tight-knit family’s struggles with racism, homophobia, and the struggle to keep one’s family together – no matter what the cost – the film is a remarkable (and at times humorous) study that will infuriate and inform.
* The Believers; Frameline ; 2005 ; 80m. DVD 3570
Built around the lives of 15 founding members of the world’s first transgender gospel choir, the film portrays the choir’s dilemma — how to reconcile their gender identity with the widespread belief that changing one’s gender goes against the word of God. Filmed over three years, the film takes us from the Transcendence Gospel Choir’s shaky beginnings, when the heartwarmingly chaotic, cacophonous group is unable to agree on much of anything, arguing over appropriate wardrobe and learning to sing with transitioning voices, through their transformation into a polished, award-winning choir and close-knit family.
* Boy I Am ; Women Make Movies ; 2006 ; 72m. DVD 4188
Follows the transitions of Nicco, Norie and Keegan, three young New Yorkers from different race and class backgrounds, as they prepare for and undergo female to male transition surgery. Their stories are interspersed with interviews with lesbians, activists and theorists who engage with the often-contentious questions and issues that are raised within the queer and feminist communities but are rarely discussed openly.
* A Boy Named Sue ; Women Make Movies ; 2000 ; 57m. VHS 9225
Documents the transformation of a female-to-male transsexual over the course of six years, highlighting changes in his relationships with his female partner and close friends.
* Breasts: A Documentary ; First Run / Icarus Films ; 1996 ; 50m. VHS 9407
Presents interviews with 22 women, most of whom appear topless, speaking candidly about their attitudes toward breasts. The participants represent a wide range of age, size, race and background including two women with mastectomies, another who is concerned about the safety of her silicone implants, a self-proclaimed leader of the “Strong Breast Revolution”, a transsexual, a 420-pound comedienne and two mother-daughter pairs. Interwoven with the interviews are segments of breast-related archival footage, including a racy 1920s animated cartoon, a 1950s beauty pageant, and a 1970s bra ad.
* Girl Inside; Women Make Movies ; 2007 ; 70m. DVD 4192
Following Madison during three years of her transition from male to female, this film highlights Madison’s loving relationship with her glamorous 80-year-old grandmother. Their conversations raise profound issues about the nature of gender, femininity, and sexuality.
* Harsh Beauty ; Frameline ; 2005 ; 54m. DVD 3276
Existing as they have for centuries, the Eunuchs (or “Hijra”) are considered the third gender, neither men nor women. The film follows the lives of Jyothi, Usha and Hira Bai, three Eunuchs who live openly as women. They want to be accepted for what they truly believe themselves to be.
* I Am My Own Woman: The Life Story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf ; Milestone Films ; 1993 ; 91m. VHS 3898
East German Lothar Berfelde, a.k.a. Charlotte Mahlsdorf, is a transvestite and proud of it. In this film, Charlotte serves as a guide through his own life story, as he coaches young actors through the dramatized sequences of this documentary. Illustrates the persecution homosexuals endured during the Nazi and post WWII eras.
* Inside Out; First Run / Icarus Films ; 2006 ; 39m. DVD 4428
Documents the daily activities of three individual who are coming to terms with their transgender identities and the related emotional and physical transformations while living in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
* Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2006 ; 75m. DVD 2889
This program explores the lives of those who do not conform to rigid gender concepts and examines changes in brain science that are shedding light on grey areas between male and female.
* No Dumb Questions ; New Day Films ; 2001 ; 24m. VHS 9493
This lighthearted and poignant documentary profiles three sisters, ages 6, 9 and 11, struggling to understand why and how their Uncle Bill is becoming a woman. These girls love their Uncle Bill, but will they feel the same way when he becomes their new Aunt Barbara? With just weeks until Bill’s first visit as Barbara, the sisters navigate the complex territories of anatomy, sexuality, personality, gender and fashion.
* Portraits in Medical Issues; Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; 2006 ; 36m. DVD 3323
An investigation on how people with physical disabilities or with surgically altered bodies adjust sexually, including a man with a spinal cord injury, a male to female transsexual and a woman with breast cancer.
* Sex Unknown; WGBH Boston ; 2001 ; 58m. VHS 9648
Delve into the mysterious world of gender identity with the help of noted psychologists and researchers, and through personal insights from the Reimer family, including candid, heartrending interviews with Janet Reimer and her son, who ultimately rejected his female identity and is now living as a man.
* Southern Comfort; New Video Group ; 2003 ; 90m. DVD 849
Robert Eads is a 52-year-old wise-cracking cowboy who was born female and transitioned into living as a man after bearing two sons. Fifteen years later, he has fallen in love with Lola, a vivacious and magnetic woman who was born male. Together they are coping with Robert’s terminal case of ovarian cancer.
* Transgeneration; Docurama ; 2006 ; 300m. DVD 2652
Follows four American college students as they prepare for gender reassignment. They discuss their lives, their hopes and setbacks, and deal with varying reactions from family and friends.
* You Don’t Know Dick: Courageous Hearts of Transsexual Men; Univ. of CA Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning ; 1997 ; 58m. VHS 5290
Provides honest and riveting portraits of six men who once were women. Through their commentaries and the experiences of partners, friends, and family emerges an unforgettable story of self-discovery.
* Assault on Gay America: The Life and Death of Billy Jack; PBS Video ; 2000 ; 58m. VHS 7484
In the telling of the life and death of Billy Jack Gaither, explores the roots of homophobia in America and asks how certain attitudes, beliefs and fears contribute to the recent rise in violence against gays.
* Gay Bashing; Ambrose Video Publishing ; 1990 ; 40m. VHS 7740
This segment from the television program 48 Hours reports on gay bashing in Boston , mostly in the Fens . The group Act-Up (AIDS activists) distributes condoms and whistles and patrols the park at night. Also describes "outing", the process of publicizing famous gays and dragging them out of the closet. Includes a segment on gay parenting.
* The Secret Life of a Serial Killer; New Video Group ; 1997 ; 50m. VHS 6750
A story of the double life of a businessman, Herb Baumeister, who killed 8 young gay men in the area around Indianapolis, Indiana in 1993-94.
* Understanding Hate Crimes: A Service for Jeremy ; Cambridge Educational ; 2000 ; 47m. VHS 8355
A dramatization of the effects on a community after a junior high school student is abducted and beaten to death for being gay. While fellow students prepare a memorial service for the boy they hardly knew, they begin to question the forces that led to the murder. Comments from a variety of professionals are interspersed throughout.
* Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ; PolyGram Video ; 1994 ; 102m. DVD 49
Bernadette, a drag queen, relives her theatrical glory days with two young friends on one wild road trip through rural Australia.
* Aime & and Jaguar; Zeitgeist Video ; 1998 ; 125m. DVD 729
During the allied bombing of Berlin, a dangerous love affair blossoms between a married German woman and a Jewish woman, who happens to be a member of the underground. Based on a true story.
* Angels in America ; HBO Video ; 2004 ; 352m. DVD 1248
Set in 1985, this miniseries production of Tony Kushner’s play revolves around two very different men with AIDS, one fictional, one fictionalized. Roy Cohn personifies all the hypocrisy, delusion and callousness of the official response to the plague. Nothing shakes Roy’s lack of empathy: even on his death bed, he’s fighting with his gay nurse and taunting the woman he helped put to death, Ethel Rosenberg. The other patient is Prior Walter, who is visited by an angel and deserted by his self-pitying lover, Louis. Louis moves on to a relationship with Joe Pitt, a Mormon lawyer whose closeted homosexuality drives his wife to delusions and brings his mother to New York.
* Bad Education; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ; 2004 ; 105m. DVD 1949
Filmmaker Enrique gets a visit from an aspiring actor claiming to be his old school friend Igancio, who has written a story about their traumatic childhood spent at Catholic school. In the story, a drag performer attempts to blackmail a predatory priest by exposing their scandalous past. When Enrique produces a film based on the story, the villainous priest from their school days arrives to tell his own version of the events.
* Before Night Falls; New Line Home Entertainment ; 2000 ; 134m. DVD 401
A look at the life of Reinaldo Arenas, from childhood in Cuba to his death in New York City. His writings and homosexuality get him in trouble with Castro’s Cuba and he spends two years in prison before leaving for the United States.
* Bent; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1996 ; 104m. DVD 4619, VHS 7447
Pursued and captured by the Nazis because he is gay, Max is placed in a concentration camp where he meets another gay prisoner and learns a life-altering lesson about human love.
* Better Than Chocolate; Trimark Home Video ; 1999 ; 102m. DVD 1091
Two attractive young lesbians, Maggie and Kim, meet in Vancouver, develop a passionate romance, and move in together. Meanwhile, Maggie’s well-meaning but naive mother Lila gets divorced and decides to move to Vancouver and join the household. Soon after, Lila is befriended by Judy, a transsexual about to undergo a sex-change operation. Complications ensue as the conservative Lila learns the truth about Maggie, Judy, and their diverse group of friends.
* The Birdcage; MGM/UA Home Video ; 1996 ; 119m. DVD 31
The story of a middle-aged gay couple’s comic encounter with a self-righteously straight and conservative family: Armand and Albert reluctantly accept young Val’s intention to marry the daughter of a conservative Senator, but when the fiancee’s family comes to visit, the whole household is turned upside down.
* Bound; Artisan Home Entertainment ; 1996 ; 109m. DVD 1165, VHS 6138
A mobster, his mistress and a tough female ex-con are caught in a dangerous plot with over $2 million of the mob’s money at stake.
* Breaking the Code ; National Education Association ; 1997 ; 86m. VHS 5238
The story of Alan Turing, British mathematical genius and designer of the computer that broke the German Enigma code during World War II, whose admittance to homosexuality at a time when it was illegal presented problems for him, for his family, for his colleagues, and for the State’s preoccupation with national security. Based on the play of the same title by Hugh Whitemore, and on the book, Alan Turing: The Enigma, by Andrew Hodges.
* Brokeback Mountain ; Universal Studios Home Entertainment ; 2005 ; 134m. DVD 2486
It’s 1963, a time in the United States when life was simple, straightforward and the lines between the sexes and sex roles were crisply drawn and severely delineated. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist find themselves thrown together when they are hired to tend sheep in the remote area of Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming. Because of the job, the two are forced to spend many hours together alone in the wild. Ennis and Jack are inexorably drawn to each other through their proximity, loneliness and through a shared lack of tenderness and emotion in their lives and are emotionally, physically and psychically bonded to each other almost from the start.
* Capote ; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ; 2005 ; 114m. DVD 2458
In 1959, Truman Capote was a popular writer for The New Yorker. He learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Kansas. Inspired by the story, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee, travel to the town to do research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, "In Cold Blood." He arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith. However, his feelings of compassion for Perry conflicts with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that would produce a literary account that would redefine modern non-fiction.
* Chasing Amy; Miramax Home Entertainment ; 1996 ; 113m. DVD 361
The complications of love and friendship among three New Jersey comic book artists; Holden, his partner Banky, and Alyssa, the woman Holden falls in love with only to be thwarted by her sexuality.
* Chutney Popcorn; Wolfe Video ; 1999 ; 92m. DVD 1128
Lisa and Reena are in love, but when Reena agrees to become a surrogate mother for her childless sister, the cultural divide between Reena’s Indian family and their lesbian lifestyle hits home. A heartfelt comedy about the cultural struggles between immigrant parents and their Americanized children and the strength of family ties.
* Crush; Fox Lorber Video ; 1992 ; 97m. VHS 9306
A darkly comic tale of seduction, betrayal, and revenge. Wreaking havoc is brash Lane, whose reckless driving leaves her friend Christina hospitalized. Fleeing the scene, she then crashes into the lives of a novelist and his teenage daughter by first seducing her, and then father.
* The Crying Game; LIVE Home Video ; 1992 ; 120m. VHS 4416
An unlikely kind of friendship develops between Fergus, an Irish Republican Army volunteer, and Jody, a kidnapped British soldier lured into an IRA trap by Jude, another IRA member. When the hostage-taking ends up going horribly wrong, Fergus escapes and heads to London , where he seeks out Jody’s lover, a hairdresser named Dil. Fergus adopts the name "Jimmy" and gets a job as a day laborer. He also starts seeing Dil, who knows nothing about Fergus’ IRA background. But there are some things about Dil that Fergus doesn’t know, either.
* Desert Hearts; MGM Home Entertainment Inc. ; 1985 ; 91m. DVD 822
It is 1950s Nevada, and Professor Vivian Bell arrives to get a divorce. She’s unsatisfied with her marriage, and feels out of place at the ranch she stays on, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Cay Rivers, an open and self-assured lesbian, and the ranchowner’s daughter. The emotions released by their developing intimacy, and Vivian’s insecurities about her feelings towards Cay, are played out against a backdrop of rocky landscapes and country and western songs.
* Desperate Living; Turner Home Entertainment ; 1977 ; 91m. DVD 2224, VHS 4362
A comedy dealing with mental anguish, lesbianism, and political corruption. A woman incites her maid to kill her husband, after which they escape to a sleazy part of Baltimore.
* Different for Girls; Fox Lorber Home Video ; 1996 ; 101m. DVD 1090
When Paul last saw his old school friend, he remembered a boy named Karl. Fifteen years later, he unexpectedly runs into him again, but now she is Kim, a post-operative transsexual. Worlds apart in their attitudes toward life, they no longer appear to have anything in common. However, the physical attraction they feel now is ironically as strong as their childhood friendship. Taking the best from their differing lifestyles, somewhere along the way they fall in love.
* Different from the Others ; Kino on Video ; 1919 ; 50m. DVD 1438
Paul Korner, a gay concert pianist blackmailed by a closeted low-life named Bollek. When Korner’s budding romance with a handsome young music student runs afoul of Bollek’s extortion, Korner goes to the German courts for protection. But the draconian Paragraph 175 makes criminals out of both accuser and accused, and the love Korner has found may cost him his career, his freedom or his life.
* Edward II; Columbia Tristar Home Video ; 1992 ; 91m. VHS 3243
Edward II embraces the essential dramatic themes of passion, murder, and unrequited love. Steven Waddington plays the monarch as a man whose destiny hangs on his overpowering passion and lack of responsibility to the British throne. He rebuffs his wife, Isabella, lavishing affection on the handsome Gaveston—a choice that ultimately seals his fate.
* Fire; Zeitgeist Films ; 1996 ; 108m. VHS 6328
A young woman accepts an arranged marriage into a traditional New Delhi family, she finds postnuptial life a boring round of cooking, cleaning, and looking after people who barely seem to notice she’s alive. Drawn to her equally neglected sister-in-law she falls in love for the first time, and the fallout of their affair shakes everyone around her to the
core.
* Fox and His Friends; New Yorker Video ; 1975 ; 123m. DVD 4214, VHS 2192
Fassbinder directs and stars as a gay lower-class carnival performer known as Fox the Talking Head, who strikes it rich by winning a lottery. He then has an ill-fated romance with an elegant upperclass lover.
* Fresa y Chocolate ; Buena Vista Home Video ; 1994 ; 110m. DVD 2874, VHS 4593
Diego, a cultivated, homosexual and skeptical young man, falls in love with a young heterosexual communist full of prejudices and doctrinary ideas. First come rejection and suspicion, but also fascination. The film is the story of a great friendship, that is, a great love between two men, which overcomes incomprehension and intolerance.
* Gazon Maudit; Miramax Home Entertainment ; 1996 ; 106m. VHS 5867
Suburban housewife Loli is furious when she discovers her husband has been cheating on her for years. When the van of a tough-talking, tender-hearted lesbian named Marijo breaks down in front of Loli’s house, things take an unusual turn.
* Go Fish; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1994 ; DVD 819
Max is a trendy, pretty, young lesbian, who is having trouble finding love. A friend sets her up with Ely, whom Max likes, but Ely is a bit on the homely side, and older. Nor do they have much in common. Can Max learn to look past the packaging?
* Gods and Monsters ; Universal ; 1998 ; 106m. DVD 93
Depicts Hollywood horror director James Whale at a time when his heyday as the director of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper Hannah hires a handsome young gardener, Clayton Boone, the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship.
* Happy Together ; Image Entertainment ; 1997 ; 97m. DVD 877
Chronicles the stormy affair of a gay couple (Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung) living as expatriates in Buenos Aires . The two possess very divergent ways of dealing with the world; Lai is more responsible, holding down a job at a tango club, while Ho turns tricks for a living. Inevitably, they grow apart painfully, but when Lai finds Ho beaten severely by a bad trick, the pair set about making another try.
* Hedwig and the Angry Inch; New Line Home Entertainment ; 2001 ; 91m. DVD 866
The story of Hedwig, an ambitious glam-rocker from Berlin who comes to America determined to find fame, fortune, and his “other half.”
* High Art; Universal ; 1998 ; 103m. DVD 1176
A once-famous photographer’s career is revitalized when she meets a beautiful young assistant editor for a prestigious photography magazine.
* If These Walls Could Talk 2; HBO Home Video ; 2000 ; 96m. DVD 926
Dramatizes the lesbian experience in America in three different decades. “1961” features Vanessa Redgrave as an older lesbian who is left out of the decision-making process in the wake of her partner’s sudden death. “1972” looks at the lesbian role in the feminist movement of the 1970s through the eyes of a college-age couple. “2000” features Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Stone as a lesbian couple trying to conceive a child.
* The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love; New Line Home Entertainment ; 1995 ; 94m. DVD 1076
This coming of age comedy tells the story of two very different teenagers whose friendship develops into an unlikely
romance.
* Jeffrey ; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1995 ; 94m. DVD 1059
Based on the 1993 Obie-award-winning play Jeffrey by Paul Rudnick. Disenchanted with the not-so-romantic side of safe sex, sweet, single and obsessive Jeffrey vows to become completely celibate. No sooner has he sworn off sex than he meets hunky, sensitive Steve. But just as passion starts to ignite, Steve reveals some earth-shattering information, leaving Jeffrey to choose between losing the man of his dreams or taking a risk on what might be true love.
* Kiss Me Guido; Paramount ; 1997 ; 88m. DVD 1854
When apartment hunting Frankie Zito reads the classified ad, he doesn’t know GWM means Gay White Male. One hilarious mix-up follows another as straight-arrow Frankie comes to terms with his new roommate and with Greenwich Village gay culture.
* The Kiss of the Spider Woman; Charter Entertainment ; 1985 ; 119m. VHS 285
In a prison cell somewhere in Latin America, Molina and Valentin have only one thing in common -- they are both victims of society. This is the complex story of the relationship that develops between two men with radically different perspectives on life.
* Kissing Jessica Stein; Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 2001 ; 97m. DVD 625
Fed up with her fruitless search for “Mr. Right” and tired of blind dates from hell, attractive journalist Jessica Stein responds to a classified ad on a whim — from Helen. Making and breaking new rules of dating as they go, the two women muddle through an earnest but humorous courtship that blurs the lines between friendship and romantic love.
* The Laramie Project ; HBO Home Video ; 2002 ; 96m. DVD 3024
In October 1998, 21 year-old Matthew Shepard was found savagely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming. This film is a dramatization of a town forced to confront itself in the reflective glare of the national spotlight, responding with love, anger, sympathy, support, and defiance.
* Last Call at Maud’s; Water Bearer Films ; 1993 ; 77m. VHS 2745
A look at the world’s longest running lesbian bar, Maud’s in San Francisco. Film interweaves rare archive film of the gay bar scene in the 1940s, the vice raids of the 1950s, the gay counter culture of the 1960s and coming out in the 1970s up until the bar closed its doors in 1989.
* Law and Order: Manhood; Universal Studios ; 1993 ; 48m. VHS 2620
An episode of the television program Law and Order. Story of a gay police officer who is caught alone when confronting inner city drug dealers. He asks for backup support but his fellow officers will not come to his aid because of his homosexuality. An investigation follows.
* The Law of Desire; Sony Pictures Classics ; 1987 ; 102m. DVD 4241
Explores the relationships of a gay movie director, who has a transsexual brother (now a woman living with her daughter) and two lovers, one of whom murders the other and takes the director’s sister (brother) hostage in order to see the director one more time.
* The Living End ; Platinum Disc Corporation ; 1992 ; 85m. DVD 4035
Focuses on the relationship between a pair of young, HIV-positive gay outcasts.
* The Lost Language of Cranes ; Media Basics Video ; 1992 ; 85m. VHS 3179
Philip, a London college student is falling in love with a headstrong American - a young man named Elliot. The relationship makes him determined to tell his reserved English parents, an academicain and a book editor, of his homosexuality. But his revelation exposes a foundation of hidden secrets and repressed passions that threaten to destroy the family - even as it promises to set each of its members free.
* Love! Valour! Compassion! ; New Line Home Entertainment ; 1996 ; 120m. DVD 1078
Gregory invites seven friends to spend the summer at his home in upstate New York. The seven are: Bobby, Gregory’s significant other, who is blind but who loves to explore the home’s garden using his sense of touch; Art and Perry, two “yuppies” who drive a Volvo and who celebrate their 14th anniversary together that summer; John, a dour expatriate Briton who loathes his twin brother James; Ramon, John’s companion, who is attracted to Bobby; James, a cheerful soul who is in the advanced stages of AIDS; and Buzz, a fan of traditional Broadway musicals who is dealing with his own HIV-positive status.
* Making Love ; Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment ; 1982 ; 111m. DVD 4138
A married couple has to come to terms with their relationship when the husband finds himself falling in love with another man.
* Mala Noche ; Criterion Collection ; 1985 ; 78m. DVD 4008
Based on the Walt Curtis autobiographical novel of the same name, Mala Noche is a story of amour fou. Walt is madly in love/lust with a young illegal Mexican immigrant. “I wanna show this Mexican kid that I’m gay for him,” says Walt. However, the object of his unrequited affection doesn’t even speak any English and finds Walt really strange and undesirable.
* Maurice; Lorimar Home Video ; 1987 ; 140m. VHS 2511
Set in pre-World War I England, this film concerns the coming of age of two young men who meet at Cambridge and fall in love. Maurice and Clive struggle with the desires of their hearts and the rigid constraints of society.
* Mulholland Drive; Universal Studios ; 2001 ; 147m. DVD 810
After a brutal car accident in Los Angeles, California, Rita (Laura Elena Herring) is the sole survivor but suffers mass amnesia. Wandering into a strangers apartment downtown, her story strangely intertwines with Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), a perky young woman in search of stardom. However, Betty is intrigued by Rita’s situation and is willing to put aside her dreams to pursue this mystery. The two women soon discover that nothing is as it seems in the city of dreams.
* My Father is Coming; First Run Features ; 1990 ; 81m. VHS 5935
Vicky, a frustrated, out of work German actress in New York City, finds out she is about to receive a visit from her Bavarian father who mistakenly believes that she is happy, successful and married. Vicky’s attempts to fool her father include her persuading her gay male roommate to pose as her husband. Vicky’s world quickly collapses when her father inadvertently lands a role in a prime-time television commercial, and begins to have his own highly entertaining sexual adventures, including a session with New Age sex goddess Annie Sprinkle. In the wake of her father’s fame, fortune and new-found pleasures, Vicky also begins to open up to new experiences, slipping into a lesbian affair and a compelling relationship with a handsome female-to-male transsexual.
* My Own Private Idaho; Home Vision Entertainment ; 1991 ; 104m. DVD 1663, VHS 5217
Mike is a sensitive narcoleptic who dreams of the mother who abandoned him. Scott is a wayward son of the mayor of Portland and the object of Mike’s desire. Navigating a volatile world of junkies, thieves, and johns, Mike takes Scott on a quest from the grungy streets to the open highways of the Pacific Northwest, in search of an elusive place called “home.” A stirring look at unrequited love and life at society’s margins.
* Mysterious Skin ; Tartan Video ; 2005 ; 99m. DVD 2134
At age 8, Neil and Brian played on the same baseball team in their small Kansas hometown. Now 10 years later, Neil is a hustler and Brian a nervous introvert who believes he has been abducted by aliens. As their lives intersect, they discover a shared past shrouded in mystery.
* The Naked Civil Servant: The Autobiography of Quentin Crisp ; HBO Video ; 1975 ; 80m. VHS 2522
The biography of an English homosexual who came out of the closet long before it was fashionable to do so. The film dramatizes Crisp’s youth in the 1930s, his ill-fated friendships, his encounters with authority and the law, and his rare moments of real happiness.
* Normal ; HBO Video ; 2003 ; 112m. DVD 2072
Roy and Irma are a devoted couple living a normal life in rural Illinois. At a party celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, Roy inexplicably blacks out. As he awakens, it is with the realization that his life must change forever. Roy confesses to Irma that he’s a woman trapped in a man’s body and that he wants a sex change. A surprise to his wife, turns out to be a shock to the church-going community. Now Roy must face his friends, co-workers and his own children as he confronts his own transformation.
* Okoge ; Cinevista Video ; 1992 ; 120m. VHS 5671
A young Japanese girl likes the company of gay men and vicariously enjoys their sexuality. She offers them her apartment for sexual liaisons, but when a straight man enters the scene he directs violence at both the men and the woman.
* Our Lady of the Assasins ; 2000 ; 100m. DVD 2725
An older writer, Fernando, returns to his hometown, Medellin, Colombia. There he falls in love with 16-year-old assassin, Alexis. After Alexis is killed, Fernando hunts for his killer in the Medellin slums and falls in love with Wilmar, a boy who resembles Alexis.
* Parting Glances ; First Run Features ; 1986 ; 90m. DVD 843, VHS 5760
As Michael and Robert, a gay couple in New York, prepare for Robert’s departure for a two-year work assignment in Africa, Michael must face Robert’s true motives for leaving while dealing with their circle of eccentric friends, including Nick, who is living with AIDS.
* Personal Best ; Warner Home Video ; 1982 ; 128m. DVD 4205
A promising hurdler finds a needed emotional and athletic bond with her caring mentor. After the two fall in love, their relationship is threatened as both vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
* Saving Face; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ; 2004 ; 98m. DVD 2088
Wilhelmina is a Chinese-American lesbian and a young surgeon who has kept her sexual orientation secret from her conservative Chinese community in New York. But when her widowed mother becomes pregnant and is kicked out by her own parents, Wil suddenly has to juggle her mother’s secrets with her own. Wil has a new romance with Vivian who is a ballet dancer and the daughter of Wil’s boss.
* Simon Gray’s Butley ; Kino on Video ; 1974 ; 104m. DVD 648
Butley, a professor at a London University, finds out that his wife wants a divorce, his boyfriend is leaving him and his untalented colleague is getting a book published all in one day.
* Tea and Sympathy ; MGM/UA Home Video ; 1956 ; 123m. VHS 5034
Drama about a teenaged boy at a New England boarding school who is wrongly accused of homosexuality. The wife of a housemaster offers the boy her understanding and love when she finds that he is deeply troubled about the accusations and questioning himself.
* Torch Song Trilogy ; New Line Home Entertainment ; 1988 ; 121m. DVD 4167
In this film by Harvey Fierstein, a gay man in New York searches for love, respect, and tradition in a world that seems not especially made for him.
* Totally F***ed Up; Strand Releasing ; 1994 ; 80m. VHS 5631
The story of the troubled world of gay and lesbian teenagers who hang around empty parking structures and deserted car washes and agonize about drugs, sex, dating, suicide, violence, family and gay identity.
* Transamerica; Weinstein Company ; 2005 ; 104m. DVD 2550
Bree is a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual, who holds down two jobs and saves every penny so that she can pay for the one last operation that will make her a woman. One day, however, she receives a phone call from her unknown son Toby, the product of a clumsy sexual encounter years ago. Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York in order to get the boy out of jail, and the film focuses on their ensuing road trip together.
* Trick ; New Line Home Video ; 1999 ; 89m. DVD 867
Gabriel, an aspiring writer of Broadway musicals, meets Mark, an exotic dancer, on the subway. They spend the night trying to find somewhere to be alone, forced to contend with Gabriel’s selfish roommate, his irritating best friend, and a vicious drag queen at a gay dance club.
* Urbania; Trimark Home Video ; 2000 ; 105m. DVD 1069
Charlie takes an odyssey through grief during a fall weekend in New York City. His encounters are planned and chance: with a homeless man who sleeps by his building, with a friend who’s dying, with the couple who lives (and noisily loves) in the flat above him, with a bartender and a one-night-stand he follows home, and with a tattooed stranger whom he seeks out and befriends. Along the way, Charlie inhabits a city full of moments of violence and of stories and legends: a kidney thief, a microwaved poodle, a rat in a hot dog bun, a baby left on a car top, a tourist’s toothbrush, needles in public-phone change slots.
* The Watermelon Woman; First Run / Icarus Film ; 1996 ; 79m. VHS 5244
Set in Philadelphia, this is a story of Cheryl, a twenty-something black lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s black film actress, popularly known as "The Watermelon Woman". While uncovering the meaning of the Watermelon Woman’s life, Cheryl experiences a total upheaval in her personal life.
* The Wedding Banquet ; MGM Home Entertainment ; 1993 ; 108m. DVD 1088, VHS 5171
Comedy about the age-old conflict between parents and their children. In New York, the Taiwanese half of a gay couple hopes to end his parents’ matchmaking by announcing that he’s engaged. What he doesn’t count on is that they’ll fly in to meet the bride and plan the nuptials.
Jump to top of page.