Before Stonewall

An absolutely fascinating account of gay life in the United States before 1969, especially how WWII changed everything.

This collection of interviews, archival material, and history gives a clear picture of how gays and lesbians lived and interacted in this country before people "came out" publicly.

I was impressed with those who came out openly in the 50s and started the first gay and lesbian organizations and magazines. These were people of extreme courage.

The incorporation of gays and lesbians in the civil rights movement and the women's movement was thoroughly examined.

This film should be seen by all to have a better understanding of oppression in America, and how far we have come.

A humanising and edifying account of the emerging gay rights movement across the early to mid twentieth century. Before Stonewall documents the struggles gay people faced leading to the protests of the 1960s. Containing archive footage of early depictions of gays on film, original interviews with gay rights activists, frequenters of early gay scenes of New York and San Francisco and authors including Allen Ginsberg. This film made me realise what a force for the creative voice the gay scene was in how it championed the subversive and the ironic. It is testament to the boundless positivity and optimism of the prominent individuals of the gay rights movement featured in this film that despite the often painful experiences they had to endure, their stories are retold in a witty and engaging way. Highly recommended for both educational and entertainment purposes!

The Stonewall Uprising in 1969 is widely seen as the kickoff of the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Greta Schiller's "Before Stonewall" looks at the history of LGBT people throughout the 20th century. I would never have guessed that World War II turned out to be an earlier kickoff.

Since this documentary only goes up to Stonewall, it doesn't cover Harvey Milk (he got his own documentary that same year). A similar documentary is "The Celluloid Closet", about the depictions of LGBT people in cinema. All three documentaries are worth seeing to learn about LGBT history in the US. It sounds as though there's a sequel to this one, so I'll try to see that also.

This informative and enlightening documentary examines how gay people lived and supported and recognized each other in the days before the landmark disturbance at the Stonewall bar in New York in 1969, an event that gave new impetus to the gay rights movement in the U.S. It features many brave individuals who risked life and limb back in the "dark ages" by even broaching the subject of homosexuality in the open. Many viewers will find revelations here that are fascinating, for example how World War II, of all things, served to end the isolation felt by many gays who fought and served back then. It deserves a wide audience.

A truly landmark documentary about the experience of being gay in America over the course of the 20th century, at least up until the 1969 Stonewall riot. Through the use of a wide variety of archival footage and lots of interviews with people who lived through the times and helped bring about change, it gives the context for bigger historical moments (like the Kinsey report, the McCarthy driven purges in government, and the trial over Ginsberg's Howl), as well as profoundly personal moments (like being a gay soldier in WW2, the WAC bravely standing up to Eisenhower, and the influence of Ann Bannon's books, or countless others). It was heartbreaking to hear the stories of the repercussions of being gay in some of these years, e.g. being committed to an asylum, losing one's job, or being publically outed and branded a pervert.

As one of the people interviewed points out, it's hard to imagine all of this happening - and that was in 1984, so it's even harder to fathom these things 36 years later. (Or is really hard to fathom with homophobic incidents still regularly popping up in the news? I don't know.) The film feels a bit frayed and it isn't perfect - but considering the enormous step forward even making it represented, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It's a snapshot in time and since then there has been further progress, including a greater appreciation for the full LGBTQ community and MUCH greater acceptance in mainstream culture - as well as backlash and serious struggles along the way (I would love to see an updated version of this film!).

Ironically, the documentary was made right as the AIDS crisis was taking off, to which the Reagan administration's depraved indifference would certainly count as a struggle (and we see Reagan lamely commenting that he believes being gay is a psychological disorder). If anything, I wish the film had pointed out more of the problems which still remained to the community; it has the air of finality, as if Stonewall happened and then "we made it." Then again, its focus is history, as its title suggests. Anyway, this is a good documentary, and it would be good as an educational film.