Clashing Differences

House of Womxn has a diversity problem. Or so the all-white board members have been told. Forced to take action with the threat of being removed from the International Women’s Conference, the board hires Paula — a lesbian with her own closely-held thoughts around privilege—to assemble the perfect mix of marginalized people to develop the organization’s all-inclusive manifesto.

Among those enlisted include an Asian divorcee fighting for custody of her gender-neutral child, a Black woman tired of being taken advantage of, and a disabled immigrant. Forcing queer folks to cohabitate for a weekend for the sake of solidarity certainly has its pitfalls. As their different viewpoints on race, feminism, and other hot-button issues threaten to derail the entire weekend, they find themselves dealing with a much more dangerous threat.

At a time when many organizations seem to view diversity as checking the right boxes for show rather than genuinely being inclusive, filmmaker Merle Grimme’s Clashing Differences uses humor to take a frank look at nuanced, layered, and complex topics like labor exploitation, colorism, and intersectionality.

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