Luckily, the battle for gay liberation—as it was called back in the ’70s—was well documented, as were the actions of the AIDS activist group ACT UP in the ’80s and ’90s. Both can provide inspiration for contemporary queer activists, as can the struggles of Black people, trans people and women to claim their place within movements that don’t always want to acknowledge them. An outlaw streak runs through queer cinema generally, and terrorists, activists and calls to revolution have captured the imaginations of LGBTQIA+ filmmakers for decades.
There’s a distinction to be made between queer activism and “be gay, do crime,” as Shayna Maci Warner defined it for Pride Month in 2021; both are anti-authority, but crime isn’t necessarily political in the same way that activism is. Either way, the queer revolution may not be televised per se—not many TV stations would have the guts to air some of these selections—but it will be captured on film. The movies presented here mix fiction and documentary, races and genders and sexual expressions. Some are mainstream, and some are underground. But they all have one thing in common: they believe that a better world is possible, and they’re going to fight for it.
