Question of Equality (The)

The Question of Equality was a four part PBS documentary on the history of the U.S. gay rights movement, which aired in 1995. What was the state of gay rights in 1995? A lot has changed since then. Or not. This is a good, comprehensive view of what was happening in gay America at that time.

PBS aired this series in 1995 and released a VHS box set along with a companion book. They have never issued it as a DVD and at least currently, do not stream it online. I have uploaded it for posterity and because I find it interesting how historical narratives change over time, if even subtly.

Part 1: Out Rage ’69

Revisiting key historical moments that sparked the formation of the gay and lesbian rights movement, Out Rage ’69 explores the turbulent 1960’s, when political and social unrest finally burst into the Stonewall riots of 1969. The program shows:

~ Key historical moments at the outset of the modern lesbian and gay rights movements, with rarely seen footage of the first Mattachine Society demonstrations.

~ The explosive Stonewall riots. First-hand witnesses’ contrasting recollections show the diverse forces that made this the watershed event for the movement.

~ The heady years or the early 70’s, when a new generation of activists emerged to organize groups, demonstrations, and the first Gay Pride events.

~ Anita Bryant’s 1977 Dade County “Save Our Children” campaign, the first orchestrated attempt to squelch the lesbian and gay civil rights movement as it gained visibility and power. Description text from VHS box

Part 2: Culture Wars

Through an exploration of three key events, Culture Wars probes the violent anti-gay backlash in the midst of the AIDS crisis and the galvanized community’s response:

~ The brutal murder of Julio Rivera in Queens, New York, by three teenagers who openly boasted about their crime, which went unpunished until police and New York City’s mayor belatedly responded to the organized protests of the victim’s friends and family.

~ The release of Marlon Riggs’s ground-breaking film Tongues Untied, which became a lightning rod for the conservative attack on lesbians, gay men, public arts funding, and artistic freedom.

~ Oregon’s Ballot Measure 9, backed by the religious right, one of the first of more than two dozen initiatives nation-wide attacking the lesbian and gay movement’s quest for equality, which was finally defeated.

Watch...