Synopsis
The Politics of Celebration
Shot on one day by 25 different cameramen across the USA under the co-ordination of Arthur J. Bressan Jr. this film documents Gay Pride parades across the United States in the late 70s.
Gay USA
1977 Directed by Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.
Cast
Director
Producers
Editor
Sound
Studios
Blossom Studios Diana Press Image Works Leo Diner Films San Francisco Sentinel W.A. Palmer Films Inc.
Country
Language
Alternative Title
Gay Liberation
Genre
Popular reviews
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to the woman who said jesus was gay and would definitely enjoy the parade: we need more people like you in the world! thanks for your service ma’am
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there was one shot amidst some of the older footage of a woman and it shows her sign ‘i am a lesbian and i am beautiful’ and i think it’s simplicity is what broke me, it’s very hard to see beauty in being a lesbian sometimes when you have grown up with slurs and objectification and being told by your own family members to not even say it out loud because it’s “inappropriate”, it’s very hard to see beauty when your entire life you’ve been presented as this warped idea of the feminine, that you are ugliness but it’s just something so special to see all these people, in 1977 and before, just, out and living life and revelling in their identity even when you know that so many of them didn’t make it to tell their stories, they are beautiful, we all are.
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“It’s a statement to everyone in the world that there are gay people, that there is a gay life, that there is a gay community. For the young person somewhere feeling very much alone, this kind of statement does away with that terrible sense of isolation and loneliness.”
as a gay kid, i’ve spent a lot of time feeling alienated, isolated, and alone. i’ve also spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to feel less of that, because feeling like that is miserable.
i’ve found a lot of solace in learning about LGBT history and politics, it’s been one of my most effective ways of combatting the soul crushing alienation i find myself having to live with.…
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Arthur J. Bressan, Jr., the future director of Buddies (1985), assembled this collage-like documentary of the 1977 Gay Freedom Day marches, with footage of events from across the country. Unlike modern Pride Parades, these are low-budget affairs: no big floats, nary a corporate logo in sight. Mostly it's hundreds and hundreds of people in the streets, with some in ad hoc groups of Jewish, Hispanic, and other gay communities. We also hear from a lot of heterosexual liberals affirming that they are "straight but not narrow," plus as a few Christian fundamentalists saying that they just want to show these homosexuals the path of God. Some interesting context from the film's distributor: "In that month of June 1977 alone: California's…
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just had the biggest smile on my face this whole time tbh, i feel like i should have sm more to say about this but no words come to mind. honestly it’s just so elating to see queer people happily existing throughout time
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Journalist: Are you gay?
Man #1: Yes, I am.
Journalist: Are you gay?
Man #2: Yes, I am.
Journalist: Are you gay?
Man #3: Yes.
Journalist: Are you?
Man #4: Yes.
Journalist: You?
Man #5: Yes.
Journalist: You?
Man #6: Yes. -
The woman's speech about the hypocritical heterosexual outrage for queer "lifestyle" visibility is too damn relevant 40 plus years later.
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Gay USA captures a moment of queer history, of gay pride parades in the 1970s. Here there is power in numbers, as people are free to be themselves. These people are brave, as some have suffered violence, lost jobs, and been abandoned by family. Gay USA is a document of history, being a reflection of an era and all the differing opinions. So many words and interviews make up this film of raw footage and montages. We hear both prejudice and love. But mostly love. These people are marching, knowing an attack on any oppressed group is an attack on all society. People want the world to move to something better, that is not a new feeling. Gay USA uses…
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I can't think of a better description for this than the original newspaper tagline: "the politics of celebration." It's easy to write this off as just a pride documentary, but what makes it so interesting is how director Arthur J. Bressan, Jr. (whose hardcore debut, Passing Strangers, climaxed at the 1973 Freedom Day parade) uses a nationwide celebration to probe the issues and feelings within a newly-energized queer community -- not just about figures like Anita Bryant, but about identity, language, and presentation. These parades were 41 years ago, but not a whole lot has changed since -- including the complete lack of trans representation.
I can't even begin to imagine the logistical nightmare of trying to coordinate units in…
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"Gay people need to learn their own history."
It's so sweet at heart and just full of love and pride. I wish this was more widely seen or talked about, i'd never even heard of it until I dug deep into the LGBT section of Amazon Prime. Please give this a watch if you have Prime because it's a really important time capsule and it's only a little over an hour.
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“Fact is blatant heterosexuals
are all over the place.
Supermarkets, movies, at work,
in church, in books, on television
every day and night, every place –
even in gay bars.
And they want gay men and women
to go hide in the closets –So to you straight folks
I say – Sure, I’ll go
if you go too.
But I’m polite –
so – after you"poem by Pat Parker