Revisit Our Live Chat on Gender Identity, Violence, and Two Spirits

On Monday, June 13 leaders from the LGBT community joined ITVS, KQED, and Independent Lens for a discussion about issues raised in the film Two Spirits.

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Tags: gay pride, gender, KQED, LGBT, pride month, San Francisco, sexual identity, sexuality, transgender

Top Five LGBT Films with Pride

By Johnny Symons

Johnny Symons has made two films with ITVS: Ask Not and Daddy & Papa. In celebration of LGBT month this June, the Bay Area filmmaker offered BTB his top five, favorite LGBT films.

I make non-fiction films about the LGBT experience to help right a wrong:  there aren’t nearly enough authentic, complex images of gay people out there.  The result is that too many people – gay and straight – perpetuate narrow, homophobic stereotypes, and continue to live in fear.  My work is inspired by other gay documentaries, including the ones below.  I plan to keep making films like these until there’s no more need for them.
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Tags: gay pride, Independent Lens, independent producer, ITVS, Johnny Symons, LGBT, pride month, public media

Positively Groundbreaking: Cinematic Reflections on World AIDS Day

Over the years, ITVS has been responsible for producing ahead-of-their-time films about HIV-AIDS and LGBT issues. In honor of World AIDS Day, we wanted to highlight a few of the documentaries that have helped raise awareness about one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.

Lance Loud! A Death in an American Family
Decades before reality programming took over primetime television, PBS made television history with the documentary series An American Family. Lance Loud, the eldest son, inspired and shocked a generation of viewers as the first openly gay character on TV. Lance Loud! A Death in an American Family examines a life of quiet inspiration that speaks volumes about pop culture, sexuality, fame, and family.
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Tags: documentary, gay rights, HIV AIDS, ITVS, LGBT, world AIDS day

Jerusalem Gay Bar as Metaphor for Peace and Unity

Filmmaker Yun Jong Suh

Filmmaker Yun Jong Suh discusses how she came to make a film about the only gay bar in Jerusalem. Her film, City of Borders, airs on public television this month. Check listings in your area here.

As a Buddhist Korean American, I am frequently asked why I am interested in the Middle East and how I discovered Shushan, Jerusalem’s only gay bar. I’m not the most obvious candidate to tell this story. But I believe my outsider status proved to be instrumental in making City of Borders.

I’m drawn to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because I intimately relate to both sides of the war. Like the Israelis, I grew up in constant fear of my neighboring country, North Korea, attacking my small village in South Korea. I did not see North Koreans as humans but as demons determined to kill us if they had the chance. My childhood playtime often involved devising escape routes and places to hide in my home if North Koreans ever invaded.

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Tags: gay, Israel, LGBT, Palestine