In the Life: Ep. 1304, "The Culture Wars"

[Bill Brochtrup:] This month, an "In the Life" retrospective. The culture wars. Coming out around the world. I was really curious, you know, about this lesbianism. I learned that it's something natural, no? [Brochtrup:] One man's battle with ovarian cancer. [Robert Eads:] That last only part of me that was really female is killing me. [Brochtrup:] And, Father's Day. They're the first people that's ever respected me. And they actually took care of me. [Brochtrup:] All this, and more on America's gay and lesbian newsmagazine, "In the Life". [Harvey Fierstein:] "In the Life" is funded in part by the H. van Ameringen Foundation. Additional support provided by: the Ford Foundation; the Pride Foundation; the Gill Foundation; The Overbrook Foundation; The Ted Snowdon Foundation; the Arcus Foundation; the Lily Auchincloss Foundation; ADAM: Funding Collaborative Empowering Queer Youth; The Terry K. Wantanabe Charitable Trust; Michael A. Leppen; and the annual support of In the Life members, like you. ["In the Life" theme music] Welcome to "In the Life". I'm Bill Brochtrup. For as many years as LGBT people have been out, we've also been the subjects of controversy, in churches, in governments, and in cultural institutions across the country and around the world. Tonight, "In the Life" looks back at some of the local skirmishes and global campaigns that have marked the last decade of the culture wars. [Brochtrup:] A peace and justice center, under attack. [Graciela Sanchez:] We're expected to say, "Si, senor," you know, and not look up. [Brochtrup:] A church divided over civil unions. [Elmer Berhenne:] He is no good. He should be de-robed and cleared out of the Methodist system. [Brochtrup:] And a referendum, on a referendum on gay rights. It's a spiritual battle with me. [Ann Bannon:] Oh, that's marvelous. Back in the '50s, the LGBT community congregated in newly formed gay ghettos, like New York's Greenwich Village. There they created a culture, while working hard to form communities, to stay out of paddy wagons, and in the case of lesbian pulp fiction writers, to get the word out, albeit in tawdry code, to those isolated in the heartland. In the 1950s, America was gripped in the vice of the Red Scare. In a world shaped by McCarthyism, rock and roll, and the suburb, an underground movement swept the aisles of the drugstore novel. Bold, lurid covers. Titles like "Dormitory Girls", "Part-time Lez", "Twilight Lust" and "The Dark World of the Lesbian". These novels journeyed into secret subcultures and into desires that were forbidden, and a lot of fun. ["All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley] Ladies and gentleman, the queen of pulp: Ann Bannon. [applause] Okay, I'm going to read you a little bit of the first big love scene between two sorority sisters, Beth and Laura. [crowd laughs] Fresh from this experience myself, these two young women share a room and they have discovered that they are REALLY good friends. [laughter] "Mmmm," Beth murmured as Laura's hands began to trace the curves of her back. "Ohhh, that's marvelous." [Lesley Gore:] Many of the pulps were written by men, and driven by sex and sales. In their stories, lesbians were evil or alien, and their lives were riddled with tragedy. [Bannon:] But women were writing romantic stories about women brave enough to buck the odds to find each other, to make a life together, in a period that was very hostile to that. I think that's why the women all around the country who had no other outlet, loved them. [camera shutter] [music] [camera shutter] [Bannon:] I got an awful lot of letters from women who, hard as it is to believe in the 21st century, really did not know that they were not isolated, freaky people. And it was very painful, very tough for them. And when these books came out, they were usualy available on drugstore kiosks, at bus stations, at airports, at the train station. That was an adventure in itself, to have the courage to go up to a clerk with a couple of gay novels and you'd slide them under the box of Kleenex and on top of the toothpaste. You'd sort of try to sneak 'em past the guy at the cash register. The character, that I think probably is the most autobiographical is Beth Cullison. She is the beautiful senior in the sorority house in the original book, "Odd Girl Out" with whom Laura falls in love. And many books later, having been married and had children, Beth finds the courage to break away from a handsome, successful, young husband and come to New York where she knows Laura is. But doesn't occur to her until she gets here is that Laura wasn't in the deep freeze while Beth was busy having kids and being married out in Pasadena. So it doesn't turn out as she thinks it will, but it turns out even better, because she connects with Beebo Brinker. [Bannon:] I didn't literally see Beebo Brinker walking around the streets of the Village, but I wanted to see her. Greenwich Village had the same magnetic pull that the Castro came to have, or that Paris in the '20s had. You had to get here. [Gore:] "It excited Beebo intensely, all that femininity. [page turn] There was no shame, no shock, no self-consciousness about it all. They were enjoying themselves. They were having fun in the most natural way imaginable. They were all in love, or so it seemed. They were, what did Jack call it? Gay." We lived in Philadelphia. I was newly married. And I would come up on the train and stay with friends up here. We were very frightened of the bars being raided and we knew it would happen. And the last thing you wanted was to get hauled off in the paddy wagon and find your name the next morning in the paper. I mean, that would have been a disaster. I had a children. A lot of women did. [Bannon:] What a tremendous relief it was for me, who could not get out there and live a life, to live it through my own imagination. And to know this place well enough, I could capture a little bit of it, and make it real for the women who were hungry for a connection. [jazz music] [camera shutter] [Gore:] A populace of now out-and-proud lesbians have rescued their pulps from the realm of the disposable dime-store novel, and transformed them into the treasured artifacts of a pivotal era. I would have been very surprised if I had had any idea that I was, in a sense, writing a social history. But I think that's what the pulp fiction gave us. It was a perspective on a life that was just beginning to be a little more aware of itself as a community, and that's why it's kind of fun. It's a snapshot of what we were and where we got started, after the great Second World War. [Brochtrup:] What was in the '50s a struggle for the survival of an underground and ghettoized culture, today plays out in open, frequently even high profile clashes, far from Greenwich Village and the Castro. [E. Lynn Harris:] The entire state population of Maine is less than that of New York's Annual Gay Pride March. But in this rural landscape activists now battle the Christian Coalition in their search for governmental protection. [Scott Robbe:] Maine has the dubious distinction of being the only state in the Union where anti-discrimination ordinances that have been put in place at the state level have been overturned by referendum, not once, but twice. [Harris:] Maine Speak Out formed in 1995 in response to the first state-wide referendum. That year, and again in the year 2000, Maine's politicians passed laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination in housing, public accommodation, and the workplace. [Louise Tate:] The mission of Maine Speak Out is to go out into the community and get conversations going about discrimination, about equal rights. [applause] [Harris:] The theory is that sharing personal stories will lead to a change in Maine and influence the next vote. While Maine's gay and lesbian activists have lost two state-wide referendum battles, on the local level they have seen some recent victories. In the small town of Westbrook, for example, voters recently kept in place laws protecting gays and lesbians. [Robbe:] And it was a volatile issue. Westbrook was an old mill town. Westbrook was important in Maine, because Westbrook is the home of the Christian Coalition here in Maine. So basically we defeated the Christian Coalition in their own backyard. I founded the Co- Christian Coalition of Maine in 1992. [Harris:] As the head of Maine's Christian Coalition, Paul Volle spearheaded the two referendums that overturned the non-discrimination laws. He succeeded by rallying voters from hundreds of conservative churches across the Central and Northern parts of the state. [Paul Volle:] People of Christian faith can have a Christian business or be renting property and, and suddenly the law says, "Well, your faith doesn't count, as much anymore. Now you have to hire somebody." Or "Now you have to to rent to somebody." And saying, "Well, wait a minute." Why... why do I have to give a special consideration to someone who's exercising a lifestyle? Everyone has refuted that argument of special rights that the Christian right puts out there. [Harris:] Karen Geraghty was President of the Maine Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance before becoming the Mayor of Portland. [Karen Geraghty:] Our Attorney General has written an opinion about the inequalities under Maine law for gay people. Our Governor has spoken out on it, all of our mainstream religious leaders, our business leaders. We are the only state in New England not to have statewide protections. It's a spiritual battle with me. I'm a born again Christian. I take the word of God as, as, as a literal - when he says it's an abomination. It's a sin. A man should not lie with a man, or a woman with a woman and so forth. I take that to be... to be truthful. [Harris:] Reverend Eric Kelley of Portland's Williston West Church takes issue with Paul Volle's application of Christian values. Judeo-Christian scripture, bottom-line, deals with accepting people and none of us should stand in judgment over anybody else. [Eric Kelley:] This church plays a vital role in helping people to see a normal church family coming together that is comprised of gay couples, lesbian couples, heterosexual couples. We need to all walk towards a day, particularly in religious organizations, when we say that "everybody is welcome," we mean that everybody is welcome. [Volle:] Whether or not it becomes a reality, you know, gay rights laws, I'm true to my beliefs. [Harris:] But perhaps, surprisingly, Volle predicts that the Christian Coalition will eventually lose in Maine, on the question of protection for gay men and lesbians. Interior of the state, the people don't want it. And what's happened over the years is, the coastal areas are growing faster because a lot of people from out of state, with more liberal views, coming from New York and Connecticut, and Rhode Island and Massachusetts. And that seems to be the tipping the balance. That's why, in all probability, the gay rights laws will pass in Maine. Wouldn't like it. But, there's all sorts of things, all sorts of laws that are in no matter what state you go to, you may not like, but you still live with 'em. We've worked hard in our land, to right injustices as we have struggled together. [Harris:] Reverend Kelley may have found something that he and Paul Volle agree on. [Kelley:] We're going to win. I mean, it's going to happen. It's gonna be at least for, for the near future, it's gonna be a town by town, uh, kind of a process. But, but, it will happen. [Geraghty:] I think that our opposition, which is mostly the Christian Coalition of Maine and the Maine Christian Civil League, how they have been successful is that they have really scared people. We have really found great success in one-on-one efforts like the Maine Speak Out Project. We really have been able to change hearts and minds, but it's a very slow process. The main thing that you have to remember, if you're in any kind of civil rights work, is to keep a big-picture mentality. The change is not going to occur in a year, two years, or three years. It's going to occur in 10 years. The real change that you want. [Brochtrup:] Currently, Maine's culture wars are centered on the city of Portland, which is being sued by a group of heterosexuals who claim the city's domestic partnership ordinance violates their rights. In the Fall of 1991, Harvard University's conservative undergraduate magazine Peninsula published a special double issue devoted to homosexuality. The magazine labeled homosexuality, amoral and pitiable, and used as its cover the image of a pink triangle exploding. Acts of hate and discrimination against gay students followed swiftly and so did a campus-wide meeting. The professor and reverend Peter J. Gomes, the minister of Memorial Church, addressed the crowd with these words: Gay people are victims, not of the Bible, not of religion, and not of the church, but of people who use religion as a way to devalue and deform those whom they can neither ignore nor convert. Gomes told the crowd that he was speaking to them from a special perspective, as a Christian, who happens as well to be gay. I'm Bill Coleman, and you're watching "In the Life". In 2000, Paul Mueller reported that a gay and lesbian film festival had triggered a showdown between a San Antonio cultural center and the city government. [Paul Mueller:] San Antonio. It's the eighth largest city in the U.S., with nearly three quarters of its residents of Hispanic descent. Nestled in this big city, a reminder of the city's cultural roots. 170 years after thousands of Mexican troops tried to capture the city, people still remember the Alamo. Its people managed to retain the city's sense of history and tradition, while carefully blending in cosmopolitan progress. But it hasn't always been easy, especially for Latinos in their fight for civil rights. In Spanish, the word for "hope" is "esperanza". San Antonians who have felt the pain of social inequality and perhaps have nothing but their hope know there is a place they can turn to. [Mueller:] The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is a non-profit arts and education center offering programming in the visual and performing arts and cultural studies, that are politically relevant to the local San Antonio community. [Graciela Sanchez:] You know, Esperanza doesn't just do art, you know, without talking about issues. We wanted to talk about the issues that divide us. And we want to kind of break down stereotypes about, you know, brown people, gay people, women, feminists. And we wanted to try to create, sort of, sort of thinking where communities could come together to talk about the issues that divide us. [Mueller:] Sanchez is a native of San Antonio's Westside. She's a Chicana, a lesbian, and a filmmaker, a woman who works for change, and has been involved in the arts and culture of the city all of her life. We're the homeboys and the homegirls of San Antonio, who've been here centuries and who are human beings and want to be treated as such, and respected as such. [Mueller:] In 1997 the city cut the center's $76,000 funding which not only affected Esperanza, but two other arts groups for which it acted as fiscal agent. At issue, the center's sponsoring of the San Antonio Gay and Lesbian Media Project. [Amy Kastely:] The evidence, I think, clearly shows that homophobia and the Lesbian & Gay Film Festival was used as a way to stir up the community, to stir up that prejudice and that fear. [Mueller:] Kastely says a local disc jockey went on the airwaves, inciting residents to borage the mayor and city council members with negative calls and letters about the center, and demanding that the city take action. [Kastely:] The Esperanza was attacked as a gay and lesbian organization that was corrupting the youth, that was promoting so-called homosexual agenda. [Mueller:] Sanchez says racism is a taboo subject in San Antonio. Homosexuality on the other hand, was and is an open target. Surprisingly after the city defunded Esperanza, a group of prominent local gay men wrote a letter of support to the mayor and city council members commending their decision. They thanked the council for seeing through what they called "Esperanza's rheteric" thereby representing the interests of all San Antonians. But why would these gay men support the defunding of an organization, which provides services to the gay and lesbian community? You know, the operative word in San Antonio and politics is, is patronage and favors. And I think that had to do about 90% of it and the other 9% might've had to do with ideological differences within the Hispanic community. And maybe 1% of it to do with, you know, with the gay and lesbian thing. [Glenn Stehle:] I do not consider the Esperanza to be a gay and lesbian organization. [Katherine Acey:] You have people of color as well as lesbians in the leadership, who are vocal. And I believe it wasn't to this particular group of gay men, to their, to their interests. I think it was about power. I'm flattered that she thinks that we, you know, we have some sort of power, which just isn't true. [Stehle:] The people that took her funding away were the Hispanic majority on the city council. [Sanchez:] The threat that we have towards, you know the larger community, is the fact that we're outspoken women of color. We're expected to say, "Si, Senor" and you know, not look up at, you know, at the mayor and the city council as we speak to them. It's like, "Por favor, can we ask you for, you know, money?" [Mueller:] But Esperanza wasn't the only arts agency who lost funding. The city cut arts funding across the board that year by 15%. [Frank Garza:] There were other agencies defunded. And with regards to agencies that are focused more on the homosexual lifestyle, there - we still have some that we still fund. [Mueller:] In August of 1998, Esperanza took legal action and sued the city and its mayor, Howard Peak, for violating its right to freedom of speech, and taking away their rights without due process of the law. [Kastely:] It's a violation of equal protection for the government to implement animus, fear, prejudice of the community. [Mueller:] The center claims some city council members made anti-gay comments on the radio, a claim the City Attorney denies. [Garza:] I am not aware of any city council member doing that. I would be very surprised if that occurred. [Mueller:] In the meantime, Esperanza continues to provide hope for so many in San Antonio. We are out about being queer. We are out about being people of color. We are out about being feminists. I mean, Esperanza means "hope", so we've always got to maintain the hope. [Mueller:] It would be so much easier though, not to stir the pot. [Sanchez:] For me, it would be like being dead. [Brochtrup:] The Esperanza Center won its lawsuit in 2001, and its funding has been restored. In 1994, "Tales of the City" aired on PBS. We were acutely aware that it was groundbreaking. On the night that we were to air, there was a bomb threat at the Chattanooga PBS affiliate. And a lot of other states just refused to air it all together. Donald Wildmon and his American Family Values made a 12-minute bootleg tape of all the "naughty bits" that were in "Tales". It consisted mostly of me sitting up in bed with my top off, talking on the telephone with a black bar across my breasts. And of course, two guys kissing in the back - in a Cadillac. They sent one of these tapes to each member of Congress, saying this is what your funding dollars are going towards. On the other side of it, the response was... overwhelmingly supportive. You know, to see a show with gays, lesbians, transsexuals, heterosexuals, living full lives, having sex lives, being compassionate with each other under all circumstances had just never happened before. And thank God it's happening more and more now. I'm Barbara Garrick, and you're watching "In the Life". In a 2002 Reel to Reel, documentarian Kate Davis discussed her film "Southern Comfort", which follows her friend F-to-M Robert Eads through his battle with ovarian cancer. and his love affair with his M-to-F girlfriend Lola Cola. [Kate Davis:] I first met Robert Eads at a female-male convention. And here came this cowboy kind-of guy with a pipe and a hat and boots and had incredible stories to tell. He had a lot to say about his medical situation. He was philosophical about it. [Robert Eads:] I have terminal cancer. I have cancer of the cervix and the ovaries, of the uterus. And it's kind of a cruel joke. That last only part of me that was really female, is killing me. [Davis:] In "Southern Comfort", Robert's really open with the camera and the audience feels pulled in to a very intimate situation with him. Actually, it was hard for him to make this film and I often asked him about where his anger lay. I mean, here were these doctors that turned him down for treatment and all that. And he just wasn't. He just saw things a little bit more broadly and understood that the world had a far ways to go, in terms of us, in general, understanding that it's okay to be different. [Davis:] At the beginning, I perceived it as a story of prejudice. However, when Lola became a part of it, and I saw there was this spark between them, I latched onto that as really being in a sense, the, the primary upfront story. [Lola Cola:] He could be, his legs would be all given out on him and, you know, he's using the walker, and he'll insist on taking the trouble to open my door for me. [laughs] It's cute. [Brochtrup:] In addition to Lola, we meet Robert's close community of transgender friends, who are also willing to risk coming out on camera. I hoped, above all, that "Southern Comfort" could create a picture of this transgender community as just being a group of people, who are much more like all of us outside the community. I thought the minute it gets too political, then it becomes a diatribe or telling what the audience what to think, and a lot of people might not want that to begin with and would turn the channel. [Brochtrup:] Kate's instincts about the film were right. "Southern Comfort" won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001 and has gone on to win numerous other awards around the world. [Davis:] The hardest part was becoming so close to my subjects and breaking all those rules and in terms of keeping a distance, as a filmmaker. And so, as I grew so close to Robert, it became incredibly hard to separate my roles: producer, friend, producer, friend. And sometimes I just put down the camera, you know, and give him a back rub. And, the friendship really came first, at the end. [Davis:] It was really my discretion to turn off the camera if something was sort of, too hard to watch. [Brochtrup:] As Robert's illness progressed, it was his dream to live long enough to attend one more Southern Comfort Conference with Lola at his side. [Eads:] Now it's our turn. It's our turn to stand up and say, "Hey, I have the same dignities, I have the same indignities that you have. I deserve to be treated like anybody else." The main reasons that he chose to participate in this and divulge his life on camera had to do with wanting to change people's minds and open their hearts and reach a general public and defy stereotypes that many people have about what a transgender person is. [Eads:] And the main thing that she tells me, "Don't, don't, don't hold on for me." And yet I can't help but hold on for her. [Davis:] I remember Robert saying that if this film could just help save one person's life, or open one straight person's mind, then it'll be worth it. In August of 2003, shortly before the California recall Governor Gray Davis signed into law protections for transgender people against discrimination in housing and in employment. California is only the fourth state in the Union to adopt laws protecting transgender people. I'm Imani Henry, and you're watching "In the Life". Still to come on "In the Life", a Christian crusade. [Jimmy Creech:] And if I'm to follow Jesus, I can not tell anyone that because of who they are, God's love is not available to them. [Brochtrup:] "In the Life" goes international. [Helen Zia:] There's nothing that's guaranteed here for the lesbians who live in China. [Brochtrup:] And Harvey goes shopping. [Harvey Fierstein:] This little piggy went to market. [slate clap] In 1998, "In the Life" visited Iowa's Foster Parents of the Year, this time for a look at local harmony. [music] [Brochtrup:] When "In the Life" visited Ron Travis and Gair Bridges in the small town of Eldora, Iowa, they had already opened their home to 18 foster children. [Gair Bridges:] Ron and I had been together for 23 years, 10 years ago. I thought it would be kind of nice if we had a family, so I contacted the Department of Human Services, which is out of the state of Iowa. And, they thought instead of adopting, we should become foster parents first, and then from there see how we did with the kids, and adopt. [Ron Travis:] He wanted the family initially. And at that time they didn't know that we were a couple. And after he started going down the road for foster care, going to sign up for the training, that's when they said, "Well, all the adults in the house have to be involved." And so that's how I got involved. [Bridges:] Never intended on, on adopting a baby. Always was the thought, maybe we can make a difference in somebody's life, maybe change it around for 'em. Gary was our first foster kid, he came to us when he was 15. Came from a disrupted family. Juvenile court system was in control of him. And they called us at 5 o'clock, and at 6 o'clock, we had a kid. Very scared kid. It was - I didn't even know I was going to be gone until that day. I was told, you're gonna get your stuff together, you're going to a foster home. So, [snaps] just like that, that day I was gone. So, I had no idea it - like I said, my world was just turned right upside down. I just, didn't know what to think, and then I heard about their lifestyle and I was kind of afraid. And you know, the stereotype, the images were coming to my mind, and stuff. And... Until I finally met them, after a week, it was great. They were there for me. I could trust them. And I consider them my dads, you know, my two dads. [Brochtrup:] After Gary, being foster parents became a way of life. [Bridges:] All the kids that are in our home, understand that we're a gay family. Some of them we have not told immediately, we wanted them to get used to us first. Know that we are good people. And that there's nothing wrong with, you know, with being here. Some we've had to tell right away, just because of the school situation, depending on when they come into school. Actually, the kids in school know that we're gay, and we didn't want it to be brought out to 'em at school. I met Ron and Gair because I was a runaway from home. And my Mom just couldn't deal with it anymore, so I got put in involuntary foster care here. [Brochtrup:] Like many kids who end up in foster care, Andre would run away when his home situation became intolerable. [Andre Pelland:] I, I spent nights underneath viaducts, in my hometown, over at friends' houses, under friends' porches. And str- just people I didn't even know, in their garages. Living here with Ron and Gair, it was very safe environment. I didn't have to go through any abuse unlike with my Mom had to go through mental and physical abuse. And she couldn't deal with it anymore. And that's what caused me to go on run. We, we keep referring back to consistency in our home. These kids come from backgrounds where it doesn't matter how late they're out at night. Their meals are very haphazard, usually sitting in front of a TV, not full meals. And where our consistency is, we set down every night at the dining room table and for the most part, for most of the kids here, that's, that's a big change for 'em. You know, to actually set down, at the table and you pass the food around. And you wait til everybody is served, and then you eat. If the phone rings during the meal, we don't answer it, we don't have the TV on. There's no interruptions. Four years ago, I was in a youth shelter in Fort Dodge. And I ended up here 'cause my home environment was not acceptable. [Aaron Kendall:] Ron and Gair were more like friends because they treated me as a peer instead of as a child and allowed me to mature, like catch up to where I was. [Brochtrup:] While being foster parents means everything in the world to Ron and Gair, they also knew that someday, they wanted to adopt a child. After an almost successful attempt at adopting a two-year old named George, the Department of Human Services one day called them with the right child, named Eddie. [Bridges:] DHS kind of waited until they found a child that they knew that all rights had been terminated all the court proceedings had been taken care of, and they called us up and said, "Hey, we've got a little boy here, would you guys be interested?" And so we went to meet him, and fell in love with him right away, and brought him home and six months later we adopted him. He came to us at two, and he was not speaking at that time. He was still on the bottle and was still in diapers. [Travis:] Not on solid foods. So that was, that was a new experience. [Brochtrup:] Given Ron and Gair's dedication as foster parents, many in Eldora were not surprised when they won Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents of the Year Award in 1996. The surprise was who made the nomination. I nominated Ron and Gair for Foster Family of the Year for the fact that they're the first people that's ever respected me. And they actually took care of me instead of just, make me do things on my own. And I appreciated it and I thought they deserved it. And so happens, after I moved out and everything, they got elected for it. [Travis:] This was the first time the award was given where the nomination came from a foster child, and not from a foster parent or a social worker. So, it really made the award really special for us. [Quietly off screen:] One, two, three. [music] I'm E. Lynn Harris, and you're watching "In the Life". [music] Though Randy and Gair, clearly proved that living out of the closet in America's Heartland doesn't have to ignite a cultural war, in 1997, a Methodist same-sex union, did just that. We begin our story in Nebraska, where the Reverend Jimmy Creech, elicited outcries of hellfire and damnation when he performed a commitment ceremony between two women. [chorale music] [Katherine Linton:] First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska. It was here that the Reverend Jimmy Creech first drew national attention. [Creech:] In July of 1997, I was asked to do a covenant ceremony for two women. I agreed to do so and then in September, did the covenant ceremony. [Linton:] A ceremony, which as of 1996, had been forbidden by the church's Social Principles. Principles that are voted on every four years by the Methodist hierarchy. [Creech:] In '96, there was added to our Social Principles a prohibition of clergy celebrating, to use the language of the Discipline, "homosexual unions". And it was on the basis of that prohibition, that charges were brought against me and I was taken to trial. [Linton:] A church trial with a Bishop presiding and a jury made up of 13 clergy members. It was the first time a pastor was tried for conducting a same-sex union. In our church, the - there is administrative law and there are Social Principles. And the Principles are really guidelines. Some people have wanted to treat them as if they are law, but they, they are not. And I conscientiously acted in conflict with them because I believe that the Social Principles are unjust and discriminatory in this particular case. [Linton:] Acting in conflict with the Principle forced the jury to vote on whether Reverend Creech had disobeyed the order and discipline of the Methodist Church. The jury's reponse: five voted no and eight voted yes. They needed nine to convict, so he was acquitted. [Creech:] Now what was, I think, significant about it is, I was not certainly the first ever to do a covenant ceremony. I have per- I have celebrated more than a dozen covenant ceremonies since 1990. But it's the first since the legislation was passed in 1996. And it was the first one that was made public. Performing a covenant ceremony in a church is tantamount to sanctioning the behavior. He is no good. He should be de-robed and cleared out of the Methodist system. And out of everyone's system as far as I'm concerned. On this - on the issue of gays and lesbians in society or in the church, we are divided. What I simply did was to, to take an action that caused people to address that division. And decide whether they could still remain together while divided on this issue, or whether they had to separate. There has been significant disagreement within the congregation and withdrawal of members. We really are hurting because of the loss. [Linton:] The day we arrived, Reverend Creech's supporters were showing their acceptance of diversity in the congregation. [Lucille Wood:] We're very much in support of Jimmy Creech and his efforts to be inclusive, particularly with the gays and lesbians. His life, his very career was placed on the line, and he stood up for... me, as a gay guy. We've had a lot of great ministers but I think he's been the greatest. I really do. If I'm to be a pastor, and if I'm to follow Jesus, in that kind of example, then I cannot discriminate against anyone. I cannot tell anyone that because of who they are, God's love is not available to them. [applause] [Creech:] Something special is happening here. This congregation is, is living out its faith in a very bold and courageous way to say that we are open to lesbians and gay men, bisexual, transgender persons. There has been so much oppression and abuse of this part of our community that I believe the church cannot just quietly say, "We welcome you." We must shout it out. [Brochtrup:] Though the Reverend Jimmy Creech was eventually fired from his parish, he now serves as Chairperson of Soulforce, an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence against LGBT people. Culture wars are by no means an American phenomenon. And in the late '90s, "In the Life" visited both China and the Philippines for an international perspective. [Chinese music] [Brochtrup:] Nearby, the fourth World Conference on Women is taking place. This meeting, and it's really two meetings, as you'll see, will set the agenda for women's issues for the next decade. Lesbian organizing for the Beijing conference began at the last World Conference on Women in Kenya in 1985. Memorably, the main lesbian event was daily meetings outdoors. The Nairobi conference, we were really pleased to have four workshops about the lesbian issue and we took out space on the, on the lawn. And we were happy that one Dutch minister mentioned the word "lesbian" and talked about the situation of lesbians at the official conference. Ten years later, we have lesbian tents. There are non-stop activities going on. Lesbians are being invited into all sorts of forums and workshops. And at the official level, sexual rights and lesbian rights have become quite an important political item. [translated from Spanish:] This discussion that takes place with members of the official delegation is important because sometimes they do become more open-minded. [in Spanish] [Brochtrup:] As predicted, the final consensus at the official United Nations meetings did not include the controversial phrase "sexual orientation". However, some thirty governments expressed their unequivocal support for sexual rights. In our own policies or already since a long time, we believe that there shouldn't be any discrimination on, on sexual, on the basis of sexual preference. And that there should be the possibilities for everybody to express also sexual preference in the way that individuals choose. [Chinese music] [Brochtrup:] Women have gathered from grassroots organizations all over the world to caucus on women's issues. And the existence of the lesbian tent ensured high visibility and shelter from the constant rain. [Anna Leah Sarabia:] One of the most common accusations of, about lesbian rights and lesbian issues is that it's not the concern of people from Asia, from Africa or from Latin America. It's, it's something that the Australians, the North Americans and the Europeans like very much, because they're rich. But seeing the diversity of the people attending the, the workshops, coming together in the lesbian tent, every day. It's very encouraging. I was really curious, you know, about this lesbianism. In India we don't - we have - I mean, we don't know. We don't know much about lesbianism. Here I lea- I learned that it's something natural, no? Lesbianism is a natur- it's a way of life and something natural with some people. [People chanting:] What do we want? Lesbian rights! [Brochtrup:] The principle that lesbian rights are human rights became a demand as well as a rallying cry. Lesbians made their case when over 400 women staged a dramatic march at the NGO forum site. [Chanting:] What do we want? Lesbian rights! When do we want it? Now! There's nothing that's guaranteed here for the people who live here. And certainly not for the lesbians who live in China. When I was here in 1972, the Cultural Revolution was still in effect. Chairman Mao was still alive. Anybody who deviated in any way from the going political line was in danger of, of being killed. Today, there's actually Chinese lesbians who come forward, who have to be secret in their day-to-day life here in China, but they'll come to a conference like this and reveal themselves to be lesbians. Beijing, if nothing else, will have ensured that lesbian networking and lesbian strength is a reality, all over the world. [music] With a population of over 15 million gays and lesbians and its annual celebration of Carnivale, Brazil has become known as a gay mecca. However, it is also a world leader in hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. An LGBT person is murdered roughly every three days in Brazil, and many of the crimes go unsolved and unpunished. In urban centers like Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, "carecas" or skinheads have specifically targeted gay men and transsexuals. El Grupo Gay de Bahia estimates that upwards of 2,000 LGBT people have been murdered in Brazil since 1980, though the country did not prosecute an anti-gay hate crime until 2001. I'm Jade Estaban Estrada, and you're watching "In the Life". [Brochtrup:] We spoke to women from different social classes to illustrate the struggles and successes of the emerging lesbian movement in the Philippines. My mother's mother was the first woman lawyer to practice in this country. My father was, I think, he was the fourth son of the first Filipino optometrist. So they were kind of like pioneers on both sides. [Brochtrup:] A pioneer in her own right, today Anna Leah Sarabia is one of the most outspoken lesbian activists in the Philippines. Founder and executive director of Women's Media Circle, Anna Leah produces feminist media. [Sarabia:] We have right now campaign for women's empowerment, young women's empowerment through the media. [Jean Enriquez:] I think being middle class, it's still... less heavier, less harder for me compared to lesbian workers, or... [Brochtrup:] Jean Enriquez is a single mother and feminist who only three years ago came out as a lesbian. In late 1996, she helped organize The First National Lesbian Rights Conference in the Philippines. Today Jean works as an advocate for women's rights at a local NGO or Non-Governmental Organization. [Enriquez:] Well, it's kind of easy for me to be out in my work, 'cause I'm working within the NGO circle, you know, [...] some men in, in the movement would still be shocked. [Brochtrup:] Jean and Anna Leah may have some access to power, but women from the lower classes have fewer options. [JJ Josef:] The fact that you are less than. That already limits your employment opportunities. For instance, in the lower class, either security guard, faculty worker, vendor. [Polen Hafalla, translated from Filipino] [translated:] Of course when you apply for a corporate job you have to be in total makeup. So when I was having a hard time, I just applied for a factory job here and they took me. Up till now, I still work there. [Mel Macalood, translated:] Our general manager likes to hire lesbians, because she says we don't need to take maternity leave, so the factory saves money. But in my opinion, lesbians can have kids if they wanted to. [Brachtrup:] While lesbians in the Philippines may have different experiences according to their class, there are two things that unite them: the struggle against conservative church values, and the struggle for equality under the law. [Evalyn Ursua:] I think one of the primary problems of lesbians and gays in the Philippines is that there is no specific protection given to them. [Brochtrup:] Perhaps the most famous case of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Philippines is the case of Beth Lim and Vangie Castronuevo. In 1994, the were fired from their jobs in a human rights organization for having a lesbian relationship. [Beth Lim, translated from Filipino:] We were recommended to the Women's Legal Bureau. So, they took our case on. We talked to the lawyer. We saw that we had a case. We knew that it was wrong, that the termination was illegal. [Ursua:] The case of Beth and Vangie is the first case ever filed in the Philippines by lesbians, that challenges dismissal on the ground of lesbianism. [Brochtrup:] For Vangie, the cost of fighting back was high. Her teaching job at a local university was put in jeopardy. [Vangie Castronuevo, translated from Filipino:] I was demoted from being full-time and almost regular, back to part-time. So I became demoralized, because I'd worked there almost five years. I talked to the university president and he asked me, "How are you going to face your students now?" Given that my sexual identity had been made public. I defended myself, saying that, "my students were okay with it, that some already knew what had happened. And I explained it to them." But it was useless. It was like I was forced to resign. Because why else would they be doing this? [Josef, in Filipino] [Josef:] Lesbians grow up thinking that they're sinful, that they're doing something immoral. [Josef, in Filipino] [Brochtrup:] JJ Josef is a sociology professor at the University of the Philippines, whose master thesis "Sexual Identities and Self-Images of Woman-Loving Women" is the first study of its kind among lesbians in the Philippines. [Brochtrup:] Whatever their personal struggle, lesbians of all backgrounds are coming together to organize for equal rights across this country of more than 7,000 islands. [Castronuevo, translated:] If the outcome of the case is favorable, it's not just a victory for us, really. I guess, especially for the lesbian movement in the Philippines. I think it'll help in advancing the gay rights movement, the emerging gay rights movement in the Philippines. [Brochtrup:] In November 2003, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, a gay rights advocacy group, held their 25th annual conference in Manila. This marked the first time such a conference was held in the Asian region. And finally, Harvey Fierstein's take on the culture of his local grocery store. [slate clap] So what ha-ha-happ-ppened was - these words are making me nervous - [breathing:] Hoo-hoo-hoo. Well so far that's - not offensive. [slate clap] Come on papa, what do you say? True story. This little piggy went to market to lay in supplies for the holidays. I live in a small fictional town in Connecticut, whose quaint country purveyors I decided to forego for the larger, better stocked and much cruisier Super Stop-n-Shop, of a neighboring mini-metropolis. [slate clap] While ringing up my order, the cashier said casually, "So, you do the shopping and your wife does the cooking?" "No, DeeDee," I replied, reading her name off the plastic tag dangling dangerously close to her third chin. "I don't have a wife. I'm gay." "You are not," she said dismissively. "Ohhh, yes I am," I countered. "You are not no gay," she insisted, pushing my baby carrots from the scale. "Honey," says I, hands now aflutter, "I am as gay as a pink hairnet." [slate clap] I guessed my voice was raised a little too loudly, when I spied the adjoining cashier ring her silent security alarm. DeeDee stopped work and looked me straight in the eye. "I know you, and you are not one of those gays." And with a big incredulous smile I asked, "What makes you so sure that I am not?" "Because, if you were a gay," she countered assuredly, "you would be too ashamed to say it out loud." I was dumbstruck. By now, two of the cashiers, a security guard, and another employee with whom I was acquainted, and who, by the way, happens to also be gay, surrounded us. He asked if there was a problem. Still shocked into silence, I waved him off, paid my bill and left. "If you were a gay, you would be too ashamed to say it out loud." How could anyone still think that way? Have we made no progress? Aren't we everywhere now? "Will & Grace", "Before Night Falls", "Ellen"? Or are we just fictional characters living out our own fictionally liberated lives? [slate clap] But then I thought, how is the average American heterosexual to think anything else when the only examples they have of our lives is shame? Our big breakthrough mainstream comedy TV show has one gay character, played by a proudly heterosexual actor. And the other, played by an actor who claims his sexual preference as nobody's business. What message is being sent out there? Congratulations on your Emmy, Cookie, but I wouldn't hold my breath for the cover of "Portraits in Pride". Our two latest breakthrough TV shows "Queer as Folk" and "Six Feet Under" both ended their seasons with gay bashings, illustrating, yet again, that we are still victims and not masters of our lives. Obviously Hollywood finds us acceptable only when we are funny, dying, or portrayed by a 100% gold-standard heterosexual who is stretching his artistic muscles attempting such a strange and challenging character, but really didn't enjoy kissing another guy in front of the whole crew, so let's go crush beer cans. [slate clap] In other news, the Tomboys - no, not Rosie and Martina -Tom Selleck and Tom Cruise. Both won huge lawsuits against newspapers that had identified them as gay. What kind of message do you think is broadcast by a celebrity suing for being called gay? Or by a court awarding millions of dollars to those celebrities validating that the association with homosexuality has indeed harmed their careers? Could you imagine a court awarding me millions because "Saturday Night Live" said I was heterosexual? Looking at this from another angle. Open any magazine or newpaper to the Personals. How many ads read "straight-acting seeks same", or "not into gay lifestyle"? You too, can stop waiting for your "Portraits in Pride" cover story. Well, my children, if this is how we feel about ourselves; if we stay in the closet because we don't want to hurt our families; if we hide our identities for fear the truth would damage our careers; if we passively accept heterosexualized images of our lives in TV and movies; if we support those films and shows even though they portray us only as jokes or victims; if we are so self-loathing that we seek sexual partners who could not possibly be sexual partners; then how can we be shocked when a cashier says, "If you were a gay, you would be too ashamed to say it out loud."? Carry on. I'm Bill Brochtrup. From all of us at "In the Life", here at Therapy in New York, thank you for watching and we'll see you next month. [Fierstein:] "In the Life" is funded in part by the H. van Ameringen Foundation. Additional support provided by: the Ford Foundation; the Pride Foundation; the Gill Foundation; The Overbrook Foundation; The Ted Snowdon Foundation; the Arcus Foundation; the Lily Auchincloss Foundation; ADAM: A Funding Collaborative Empowering Queer Youth; The Terry K. Wantanabe Charitable Trust; Michael A. Leppen; and the annual support of In the Life members, like you. [logo music] [logo music]