Rob Epstein

A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film. A comprehensive documentary of the history of gays and lesbians in cinema, from negative to positive reflections of gay characters and the troubles of actors and actresses. —R. John Berggren <jberg@nina.pagesz.net> The history of the portrayals of homosexuals in the movies, especially mainstream ones widely distributed in the United States, is presented, this topic important as movies were and are how audiences, the general public, heterosexual or homosexual, often learned about societal mores and norms. It has only been quite recent that homosexual characters could be the stars, they more often on the fringes. While such portrayals were more open in the early stages of movie making, they became more coded - the terms gay or lesbian never used - starting in what is considered the Golden Age of Hollywood, especially with the onset of the Hays Code and the Legion of Decency in the 1930s. In filling gender stereotypes, the gay male was the harmless effeminate - a source of humor - in making straight men more masculine and straight women more feminine, while lesbians, in their masculinity, were more sinister characters. As the restrictions through the Code and by the Legion became more relaxed, homosexual characters, now more openly so, became the unhappy, self-loathing, tragic figure that needed to meet a gruesome end, except when the homosexual nature was done in subtext. The character of the homosexual victim, a decade or so later, became the character of the societal menace. The more diverse characterizations over the past 10 to 15 years are discussed, as is the acceptance of general audiences to see two women being affectionate with each other compared to two men. —Huggo

A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor. 2 Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by recently resigned Supervisor Dan White on Monday, November 27, 1978, approximately 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.. Milk's life leading up to his election, his successful efforts to politically represent San Francisco's gay community, and the city's reaction to the assassinations are documented with extensive news film and personal recollections. —Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu> Monday morning, November 27th, 1978, approximately 8:45 AM to 9:15 AM, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Board of Supervisors Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by Milk's former fellow Supervisor Dan White. Underlying the assassinations were White's social conservatism, Milk's open homosexuality (Milk being the first openly gay elected official in the United States), and Moscone's support of Milk. Friends and supporters (some of whom were homophobic before meeting Milk) speak of Milk's life as a social crusader in the Castro District, a want-to-be politician, and his astuteness as an elected official in the position of what most would consider a political outsider. Although Milk fought for gay rights, he also worked toward general human rights. His biggest political battle was fighting against Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Proposition, which would have restricted the rights of openly gay teachers in California. This fight seemed to be a losing battle in an era when gay rights were being repealed across the U.S. A more complete story of White, the reasons for the assassinations, and the public response to the verdict in his murder trial also are presented. —Huggo