Stand OUT

I watched the documentary Outrage last night, and found it extremely thought-provoking.

Written and directed by Kirby Dick, this movie explores that uniquely Washingtonian phenomenon of gay politicians (especially gay Republican politicians!) to stay in the closet and work very hard to oppose all aspects of gay rights.

This film is quite controversial in that it actually does out several closeted politicians. Now initially that concept gave me pause-- I firmly believe that it's very wrong to out people who aren't ready to disclose their sexuality. It's a very hard thing to be gay in American sometimes, especially in conservative atmospheres. We all have our own experiences and demons to face, and coming out of the closet is an extremely personal thing.

BUT. The more I watched the movie, the angrier I got at these closeted politicians. It's one thing to prefer your personal life be kept private, but it's quite another to be a gay American and work every day to deny other gay Americans basic rights. It's not a matter of privacy any more when you are letting hypocrisy and fear affect the lives of millions of people just like you.

And what really got my blood boiling was the section of the movie that discussed early legislation regarding HIV and AIDS. In the 1980's, when HIV was just being discovered, several closeted politicians worked very hard to deny all funding for AIDS research, to sweep all patients under the rug, to deny people basic human rights. They literally have blood on their hands. For shame.

My only criticism of the film was the talking heads featured were awfully male and awfully white. It would have been great to hear from some more gay women/people of color.

But I highly recommend you checking it out! Very thought-provoking indeed.