Ernie was a Navy chaplain in World War II before the two met in a large lecture hall class at Columbia University after the war. I can’t think of one fictional television or cinematic depiction of a gay couple that stayed together that long.Įrnie and Sal had a fascinating story. There are scores of films and Hallmark television movies that show young couples falling for each and then later depict them as an elderly pair, deeply in love. As a media critic, my immediate thought was, why have I never seen this type of story before? Sixty-five year relationships are celebrated and praised in straight culture. Yes, 1947! That is a sixty-five year relationship. Ernie and his partner Sal had been together since 1947. McNamara.My good friend, Jim, recently lost his uncle Ernie. This is an engaging look at a special character, a woman who was always true to herself. The film is illustrated with vintage photographs of Ellis, her family, lovers, and friends, and footage shot in the present day shows her at dance class, having fun at her favorite bowling alley, and shooting pool with friends. At one point she is even asked about the last time she had sex, and she replies it was when she was 95, adding with a laugh, "that was a one-night stand."Ī businesswoman, Ellis lived openly as a lesbian and often played host for an active social circle of gays and lesbians in Detroit at a time when mainstream America scarcely acknowledged the existence of the community.
As a lesbian academic interviewed in the documentary puts it, "Ruth is a gift to us" as she is able to tell what it was like to suffer "triple oppression, being a woman, being black, and being a lesbian." Ellis tells about discovering her sexuality some 80 years ago, and when discussing her romantic involvements (which included one relationship lasting 35 years), she is utterly honest. In this charming documentary, Ruth Ellis, a 100-year-old African American lesbian, recounts her life. As we watch the challenges that these men and women face, we are offered new hope as each person crosses paths with impassioned people trying to change LGBT aging for the better." source: Find out more about the documentary Gen Silent 'Gen Silent,' shows the disparity in the quality of paid caregiving from mainstream care facilities committed making their LGBT residents safe and happy, to places where LGBT elders face discrimination by staff and bullying by other seniors. Many who won the first civil rights victories for generations to come are now dying prematurely because they are reluctant to ask for help and have too few friends or family to care for them. Unlike any film before, 'Gen Silent' startlingly discovers how oppression in the years before Stonewall now affects older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with fear and isolation. It puts a face on what experts in the film call an epidemic:gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender older people so afraid of discrimination by caregivers or bullying by other seniors that many simply go back into the closet. Their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their day-to-day lives over the course of a year. "'Gen Silent' is the critically-acclaimed documentary from filmmaker Stu Maddux that asks six LGBT seniors if they will hide their friends, their spouses- their entire lives in order to survive in the care system. Source: First Run Features Find out more about the documentary Stonewall Uprising
Featuring Dorothy Allison, Michael Bronski, Rita Mae Brown, Barney Frank, Barbara Gittings, Arnie Kantrowitz, Larry Kramer, Craig Lucas, Armistead Maupin, Leslea Newman, Barbara Smith, and many more!" It also explores the impact that AIDS had on the movement, and the new direction it took as a result. After Stonewall: After Stonewall chronicles lesbian and gay life from the 1969 Stonewall riots to the new century, capturing the hard work, tragic defeats and exciting victories experienced. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film re-lives events from the 1920s up until the fevered 1969 riots. Before Stonewall: Experience the fascinating and unforgettable history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and interviews with those who lived through it. These two seminal documentaries tell the remarkable tale of how homosexuals, a heretofore hidden and despised group, became a vibrant and integral part of America's family, and, indeed, the world community. With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay pride movement had begun. "On June 28, 1969, the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a mafia-run gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. Directed by: Kate Davis, David Heilbroner.