5 Lesbian And Gay Documentaries Guaranteed To Turn You Into A Gay Activist

Exploring the real life issues that many gay and lesbian  people have to deal with, day in day out, these five hard hitting documentaries act to give, what are often hidden stories, a voice of their own.

Covering everything from lesbian rape, to the question of whether Christianity and homosexuality will ever be able walk hand in hand together, these are five films that are guaranteed to have you out marching with your rainbow flag and banners the minute you finish watching them.

She Stole My Voice : A Documentary About Lesbian Rape

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Any form of rape is horrific, but one of the most ignored, and hardest for the victim to come to terms with is lesbian rape. Met with disbelief and mockery from both people around them, and law enforcement agencies, victims often fail to get any form of justice, leaving their perpetrators to offend time and time again.

Filmmakers Justice Chang and Armand Kaye hope to change this with their documentary – She Stole My Voice: A Documentary about Lesbian Rape. Featuring reactions to lesbian rape from experts and the community, this documentary explores how whilst most feminist theorists agree on issues of power and positions in the workplace, lesbian rape sees far more contradictory responses.

Using footage of lesbian rape to challenge the society’s notion that, unlike male sexual organs, the female sexual organs are receptive and nourishing, but never destructive, this isn’t, by any means, an easy to watch documentary, but definitely thought-provoking, and worth watching.

For The Bible Tells Me So

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Questioning whether gays and lesbians and Christianity can ever live in harmony together, For The Bible tells Me So asks the question of whether the bible is being used as an excuse for hate. Using five Christian, American families as it’s subjects, it explores how these Christians handle the realisation that one of their children is gay, with the aim of offering some clarity, and understanding, to those caught in the crosshair between scripture and sexual identity.

Informed by respected voices such as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Reverend Jimmy Creech and Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg, this award winning documentary may not have all the answers, but definitely does help provide some understanding for the families of, as well as GLBT children.

The Times Of Harvey Milk

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A forerunner to the hugely successful Oscar winning Milk, The Times Of Harvey Milk, is a documentary which explores the story of how Harvey became the first openly gay man to be electedd to political office in California.

Beginning with his grass-roots triumphs, this documentary explores the ups and downs of  Milk’s life and beyond, exploring how his assassination by fellow City Supervisor, Dan White, united a city in both sadness and rage.

Told with both humour and compassion, this is a documentary not only about tragedy, but also about hope.

A Jihad For Love

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78jUBRio3So]

Filmed in twelve countries and in nine languages,  “A Jihad for Love“,  is a documentary made by Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma, that looks to explore  the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. Featuring the lives of people from India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa and France, this secretly filmed footage, whilst highlighting the discrimination faced by those homosexual Muslims,  also sees Parvez depict  Islam with the same respect that the film’s characters show for it.

Whilst for many in the West, Jihad is associated with  holy war, in this case it’s used in it’s more literal Arabic sense – meaning ‘struggle’ or ‘to strive in the path of God’, with several of those featured engaging in their own personal Jihad’s for love.  Watching how this brings them into conflict with their countries, families, and even themselves is extremely powerful, and will definitely make many of us of other religions (or non religions) appreciate the strides that have been made in terms of acceptance.

Much credit for this film must go to Sharma, but it is important also to appreciate how difficult it was for those who are featured to appear, and that they felt the importance of the film to Muslim gay world was more important than any personal consequences.

Celluloid Closet

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Narrated by Lily Tomlon, Celluloid Closet is a documentary that sees Oscar winning moviemaker Rob Epstein, and Jeffrey Friedman, bring together footage from 120 films, to show the changing face of sexuality in the movie world. Exploring how cruel stereotypes became covert love, and then activist triumphs, these clips are intersected with interviews and ancedotes from actors and commentators, including Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal.

Know of any other GLBT documentaries that are worth checking out? You can share them with everyone by commenting below.