Ahead of the Curve

This documentary is a heartwarming glimpse into the pages of queer herstory. A must-watch for queers, dykes, lesbians, and our allies! I loved getting CURVE magazines growing up, and now I know the inspirational story behind its creation. #VisibilityMatters.

Ahead of the Curve (2020) was directed by Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow.

Franco Stevens is a lesbian woman who had the courage to begin publishing an openly lesbian magazine in 1990.

Previously, lesbian publications were small and more-or-less under the radar. Stevens and her team put the word "lesbian" on the cover of the magazine. Either it would work, or it wouldn't. It worked.

The movie is full of detail about the struggles, the highs, and the lows of Curve magazine. It also shows us Franco's physical problems, which she meets with courage but also realism.

We saw this movie at Rochester's excellent ImageOut LGBTQ Film Festival. The film has a solid IMDb rating of 7.4. I thought it was even better than that, and rated it 9.

I definitely recommend this documentary to everyone. It's a story about the power of a community and the importance of coming together and fight for our rights and goals.

This film is a pure celebration of life. Franco Stevens realised that there wasn't a publication proudly supporting the lives of lesbians across the US and she did something about it. In the face of constant setbacks, she knew that a community needed to be created across the country.

Some might say that a magazine can't change the world, but when you hear the personal testimony of readers in the film, you can see how much this publication meant to them. It was a powerful reminder of how hostile the environment was 30 years ago, and how far the LGBTQ+ community has come in terms of representation and acceptance.

Highly recommended for those in the LGBTQ+/queer community, but more importantly those who want to learn more about the history of the space, and the work that still needs to be done to create an equal world for all.

It was fun to see and remember the early days of the "Lesbian Ouvre" that Curve amassed in its pages. But it did not strike me as a simple trip down memory lane. It asks some very relevant questions of the future. But, I'm not the spoiler alert type so you'll just have to see for yourself.