ITVS and WNIN Present ASK NOT

Johnny Symons, producer and director of ASK NOT, a film that explores the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, airing on Independent Lens, June 16 at 10:00 PM (check local listings), discusses his most recent Community Cinema screening in Evansville, Indiana. Find out what it was like for him as he ventured into this unfamiliar Midwestern region and discovered a much more diverse community than expected.

WNIN Community Cinema organizer Suzanne Hudson-Smith with ASK NOT filmmaker Johnny Symons.

A large crowd gathered at the Evansville Community Cinema screening, which included Military vets, members of a gay youth group and a number of devoted senior citizens, among others.

I was on my way to Evansville, Indiana. Though I consider myself a geography geek, I’d never even heard of it. The map in the airline magazine revealed that Evansville was near St. Louis, MO and Louisville, KY––and further south than both of them. As I gazed out over rectangles of green and brown Midwestern farmland shimmering in the spring sunlight, I thought about the Community Cinema screening I’d been at the night before––the one in San Francisco, where the first four questions came from anti-military activists concerned about the American imperialist agenda. I had a feeling tonight’s event wouldn’t consist of the same crowd.

I was greeted at the airport by Suzanne Hudson-Smith, the upbeat and charming organizer of Community Cinema at WNIN, Evansville’s PBS affiliate. As we chatted on the way to the event, I noticed Indiana license plates emblazoned with slogans like “In God We Trust” and “Where Good Men Get Better.” “Your Wife is Hot,” declared a billboard, “Better Get the A/C Fixed.” Suzanne shared her own, somewhat different perspective on life in Evansville as an open lesbian.

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Tags: Evansville, gay, Military