"Before Stonewall"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the film, "Before Stonewall", which presents a snapshot of 40 years of oppression and silencing of the gay community in America. Through discussion of clips in the film, the documentary is critiqued and explained.

From the Paper:

"The use of personal interviews addressing many of the taboos that accompanied the early 'bohemian sexual subculture' and the 'gay mental illness,' made the documentary all the more compelling. It is because of this straightforwardness that parts of the film were intensely hard to accept (it's always difficult to digest man's hatred and ignorance). From the beginning of the film, when one of the speakers made the comment "homosexuality has always been a dirty word," one could almost feel the ponderous nature of the early gay/lesbian experience. Yet somehow, even when discussing the ugly, dour truths of the time period, most of the interviews that follow are light-hearted and comical. "

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