The six-part documentary series "Pride" is more than just a journey through the history of the LGBTIQ* movement in the USA. It also points out little-known aspects and what can be learnt from them for today's fight for rights.
This series is simply entitled "Pride". But what is LGBTIQ* pride actually based on? And what paths had to be travelled, what battles had to be fought before waving the rainbow flag could become a sign of self-confidence and self-assertion?
The six-part US documentary series, which can now also be seen in Germany on the Disney+ streaming service, explores these questions, among others. Each episode is around 45 minutes long and is dedicated to a decade, starting in the 1950s, when homosexual civil servants were dismissed en masse during the McCarthy era, and ending in the 2000s, when LGBTIQ* are experiencing growing acceptance and diverse representation in the media.
But "Pride" is anything but a chronological history lesson on the history of the LGBTIQ* movement in the USA based on dates and events. The renowned and committed film producer Christine Vachon ("Carol", "Boys Don't Cry", "Dem Himmel so fern"), who has been making innovative queer films since the 1990s, has also focussed on new and individual forms here: Different filmmakers were responsible for the episodes, all of whom were also given full artistic freedom.
A rousing tribute to the LGBTIQ* emancipation movement
It was important to her to tell the story in a way that is just as chaotic and personal as the story was. When there is a lack of documentary material, you sometimes make do with animations, drawings, re-enacted scenes or, like Yance Ford in the episode about the 1990s, have queer people from today recite homophobic speeches by politicians.
There were LGBTIQ* protests as early as 1965
What is far more important, however, is that the directors set their own individual focal points and focus on aspects that have so far received less attention in general queer historiography. The legendary uprising on Christopher Street in 1969, for example, almost becomes a side note, as "Stonewall" was not the beginning of the LGBTIQ* movement in the USA.
For example, there were similar protests in Philadelphia in 1965 and in San Francisco the following year, but these were not documented or reported in the media.
"Stonewall" was not the beginning of the LGBTIQ* movement in the USA
And "Pride" makes something else clear: this early phase of the LGBTIQ* civil rights movement was primarily a protest by Black activists, many of them trans* people who had been inspired by the Black Power movement. The slogan "Black is beautiful" quickly became "Gay is good".
As different as the six episodes are, there is one thing that the makers have decided on: They tell history primarily through personal stories. In doing so, they draw on material from private archives, some of which is extraordinary, and allow contemporary witnesses to have their say.
Telling history with personal stories
In the episode on the 1950s, for example, directed by filmmaker Tom Kalin ("Wild Innocence", "Swoon"), the private photos and Super8 recordings of a gay couple's exuberant private parties and beach trips are juxtaposed with an exemplary case that shows how homosexuals were dismissed en masse from the civil service during the McCarthy era. Photographer Arthur Tress tells the story of how his lesbian sister Madeleine fought back. (Image: Disney+)
A seemingly endless treasure trove from an amateur filmmaker provides an authentic look at the club scene in New York in the 80s, including footage of RuPaul - long before he became a world-famous drag icon.
The African-American actress and director Cheryl Dunye portrays her two personal heroines - the filmmaker Barbara Hammer and the poet Audre Lorde - in the episode about the 1970s. They are exemplary not only for the growing self-empowerment and visibility of LGBTIQ*, but also for the development of intersectional feminism.
Political and social change is only possible through alliances
In any case, "Pride" shows that it is only through the alliances of the various groups such as the Black and trans* communitythe women's movement or the Aids-activists and the solidarity between them made political and social change possible.
Many of the conflicts mentioned in "Pride" may be very US-specific, such as the culture war against queer art in the mid-1990s, which was stylised by right-wing and Christian fundamentalists as a question of national survival. But if you look at developments in Poland and Hungary today, for example, or recall some of the statements made by the right-wing conservative camp in Germany, it becomes clear how this form of culture war has long since taken on threatening proportions in Europe too.
Decades of new beginnings
The last two episodes about the 1990s and 2000s depict decades of new beginnings. The portrait of the male couple Robert Compton and David Wilson, who fought for the right to marry and thus set an important milestone for equal rights, is touching.
And of course, the growing media representation of LGBTIQ* in show business, films and TV series is not left unmentioned. However, the two young trans* and non-binary directors Yance Ford and Ro Haber take the opportunity to give a voice to the Black trans* community, which is still marginalised in the queer scene.
With images of "Black Trans Lives Matter" demonstrations, "Pride" thematises one of the current debates and with the black actor Marquise Vilson we get to know a charismatic and impressive protagonist.
Liberating and vital
Among other things, he talks about how liberating and vital it was for him to have found not only a community but also a home in the New York ballroom scene. Only then was it possible for him to live his masculine identity and - now a successful TV and cinema star - to come out publicly as a trans* man. This required not only courage, but also queer pride.
All six episodes of the documentary series "Pride" are available to stream on Disney+.
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