Time Away Leads to Limited Series

1988 Columbus OH. *A reason to keep LGBT teachers out of schools.* Failed LGBT anti-discrimination in employment ordinance debate.

After careful consideration and professional advice, the documentary has morphed into a “limited series.” I cannot tell these stories in under two hours, and “limited series” have more weight in the current TV market. This will allow me give it some breathing room. I have at least two-and-a-half hours already edited. Now I need to slice it into episodes and continue through the worst years into 1995.

I found myself at a stage where I really wanted feedback. Was this morphing into a political statement rather than an historic account? Today’s rhetoric is taken from scripts in my archival footage. Just swap “Gay/Lesbian” for “Trans,” and its identical. It was time to “Show and Tell” those who had and continue to have faith in what I’m doing. I screened clips in Cleveland, New Orleans, Tyler & Dallas, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas.

Starting in Cleveland at the Darl Center, with two very attentive audiences, I learned a lot. I needed to include more “anti-gay protests” and more about the “opportunistic infections” that people with AIDS were getting. The first was no problem, the second I have to admit I’d been avoiding revisiting. Secondly I needed to identify each city as the focus changed. All fixed and amended I set off for an invited screening in New Orleans.

The New Orleans audience watched about twenty-five minutes. I included the fore-mentioned suggestions and received good feedback: I needed people’s names up longer and it seemed rushed in places - longer time spent on old photos and that sort of thing.

In Tyler the audience went beyond feedback and wrote checks too. Both Dallas and Wichita were delightful events as people watched themselves or their friends on the screen. The most disturbing realization overall was that many people knew very little about what had happened.

I want to thank everyone who either asked questions, completed the feedback form and most importantly, attended these events. Thank you.

Funding Update - Wow!

A few days after the Darl Center screening, I received a check for $10,000 and collected a pledge for $5,000 -both from private donors. On top of that we just received a grant in the amount of $5,000 from the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s LGBTQ+ fund. This is their second grant, the first in 2023.

We used some of the funds to upgrade the editing system and the rest will be used for research stipends, an assistant editor and ongoing expenses.

So relax, I can hold back on the begging and get back to work.
Thanks for all your ongoing support.

Valda