KCET Celebrates LGBT Month with Programming Recognizing the Stories and Achievements of the LGBT Community
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Funding Made Possible by the David Geffen Foundation and the David Bohnett Foundation
Los Angeles - June 14, 2010 - KCET, public media for Southern and Central California celebrates Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Month with a series of primetime specials beginning Wednesday, June 16, 2010. Examining the reaction towards homosexuality from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, LGBT programming highlights the universal movement for fairness and equality, the immeasurable contributions of LGBT American and reminds viewers of lingering prejudice suffered by the LGBT community. These narratives offer a greater understanding of LGBT issues throughout history.
Wednesday, June 16
Celluloid Closet (8:00 - 10:00 p.m.) - Explore sexual myths and how the attitude towards homosexuality has evolved throughout the century. This Peabody-award winning documentary, narrated by actress Lily Tomlin, features over 100 Hollywood films and interviews filmmakers and actors including Whoopi Goldberg and Tom Hanks. Sunday, June 20
The Forever Home: Going Green (6:00 - 6:30 p.m.) - Forever Home documents the award-winning remodeling project of a lesbian couple in Northern California. The women are celebrating their legal marriage in California after being together over 28 years. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry recognized the project with numerous awards for universal design and environmental friendliness.
Tuesday, June 22
Out in the Silence (10:00 - 11:00 p.m.) - Follow the story of a small American town confronting a firestorm of controversy ignited by a same-sex wedding announcement in the local newspaper. This gripping documentary illustrates the challenges of being an outsider in a conservative, rural community and the change that is possible when courageous people break the silence and search from common ground.
Thursday, June 24
Naked Civil Servant (9:30 - 11:00 p.m.) - Naked Civil Servant narrates the exuberant story of the openly gay Quentin Crisp, who came out in London in 1931. Adopting an outrageously effeminate manner and eccentric appearance, Crisp experienced harassment, ridicule and beatings. However, he was determined to be unsparingly truthful about himself to propagate the message that homosexuality should not exclude anyone from the human race. This special recreates the way society perceived homosexuals over the past five decades. Actor John Hurt stars as Quentin Crisp.
Saturday, June 26
After Stonewall: From the Riots to the Millennium (10:00 - 11:30 p.m.) - Narrated by singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge, After Stonewall chronicles three decades of gay and lesbian activism following the Stonewall riots of 1969. From the 1970s to the present, gays and lesbians struggle for the right to live their lives in the open socially and legally. This documentary shows how the gay and lesbian movement resulted from the women's movement, the nightmare of the AIDS epidemic and reaction to attacks by the religious right. This story is told through the perspectives of gay and lesbian witnesses and activists who identify significant and positive change. After Stonewall also examines new challenges present for gays and lesbians who want to marry, raise children or live in communities free from prejudice.
Saturday, June 26
POV "Beyond Hatred" (11:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.) - In September 2002, three skinheads in Rheims, France were looking to "do an Arab," when they decided to commit a hate crime against a gay man instead. Twenty-nine-year-old Francois Chenu fought back fiercely, but he was beaten unconscious and thrown into a river, where he drowned. This film is the story of the crime's aftermath and of the Chenu family's brave struggle to seek justice while trying to make sense of pointless violence and unbearable loss. With remarkable dignity, they fight to transcend hatred and the inevitable desire for revenge.
Sunday, June 27
In the Life "Dismantling Hate" (11:00 - 11:30 p.m.) - This documentary considers the nature of hate and offers a compelling discussion between hate crime victims and perpetrators. Also profiled is photographer Alix Smith whose images of same-sex couples challenges stereotypes and takes conventional portraiture to a new level. In the Life remains the longest running television show documenting the gay experience.
Sunday, June 27
In the Life "It's About Time" (11:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.) - "It's About Time" explores what it means to grow old as a gay person in America--how a generation once at the frontlines of establishing the modern LGBT movement finds, in what should be their golden years, new challenges living life openly gay. This special highlights the leaders spearheading a national effort to protect the rights of LGBT senior citizens and care for elders. In the Life remains the longest running television show documenting the gay experience.
Tuesday, June 29
Independent Lens "Ask Not" (10:00 - 11:00 p.m.) - explores the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The film exposes the tangled political battles that led to the discriminatory law and profiles charismatic activists determined to abolish it. As military entanglements continue, Ask Not reveals personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy.
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