Blogging the NewFest: The Kids Are Alright

This was an important program filled with documentaries that need to be screened in every school district across the United States. From the courage of high school students in rural America standing up against intolerance and bullying by students, teachers and administrators to the individual stories of 8 young homeless queer people in NYC in Queer Streets, it was hard to walk out of this selection of shorts unmoved, unshaken, or unwilling to do something. If you are unfamiliar with Sylvia's Place, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth run by the MCC Church, you should learn about it right now, and then send them some money. When I was in Gay Youth in NYC (see below on Mark Segal) there were many kids in the group who were homeless, staying with older men, hustling, doing what they could to get by. I was lucky — I wasn't thrown out by my parents when I came out to them at that age. And incredibly, my mother even took in one of the GY members for a summer until he could save enough from driving a cab to get his own place. But these kids aren't that fortunate. And in all the celebrating in the next few weeks, we need to do more than party. We need to take action on many fronts. And this is one of them.

One of the films had a title I loved: Our Parents Are Gay And So Is Life. This little film followed the kids of a lesbian couple as they searched for other teens who have similar famlly structures to share their experience. This little French documentary captures in miniature a whole generational shift that will lead to great changes in the future, assuming there is a planet left by then.