Gay Identity Refracted in Multiple Voices

[lsanderson]

From left, Lucy Massie Phenix, Nancy Adair and Andrew Brown, three of the six directors in the Mariposa Film Group, viewing video during pre-production on “Word Is Out” (1977).
By DENNIS LIM
Published: January 22, 2010

WHAT did gay liberation do for gay cinema? To begin to tackle this question, one has to survey the shadowy history of on-screen homosexuality, consider the elusive notion of a gay sensibility and — as with all minority-group debates — weigh the conflicting ideological positions on difference and assimilation. But while there may be no easy answer, the coincidental appearance this week of two gay-theme events in New York repertory houses provides a window into the evolution of gay cinema, both in the shadow of liberation politics and far beyond it. More