Freedom Day Parade & Gay USA
Part of The Lehigh Valley LGBTQ+ Film Series
Thursday, June 5 · view days & times
Venue: Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas
Free Tickets
1977 | NR | 1 hr 23 min
Directed by: Arthur J. Bressan Jr.
Beautifully restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in collaboration with Frameline and Outfest, Gay USA is the first American feature-length documentary by and about LGBTQ+ people. Director Arthur J. Bressan Jr. (best known for his 1985 gay drama Buddies) mobilized camera crews across the country to document the national Gay Freedom Day marches in June of 1977. Gay USA conveys the passion, anger, and defiant optimism of a community under attack (in that month of June 1977 alone: California's anti-gay Briggs Initiative had just been announced, Anita Bryant's vicious homophobia had helped repeal Miami's gay rights ordinance, and a gay man named Robert Hillsborough had only days earlier been the victim of a fatal gay-bashing in San Francisco).
Bressan weaves in audio of some of those homophobic voices and gives an overview of historical homophobia, including an account of gays and the Holocaust — and then illustrates the triumphant power of love and pride. In addition to the magnificent cross-section of footage from the marches in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, and Philadelphia, Gay USA also gives us a fantastic look at rare footage shot by Lilli Vincenz of the very first gay pride parade in New York City in 1970 (which was then known as Christopher Street Liberation Day) as well as showing Bressan's own previously shot footage from San Francisco's first major gay pride celebration in 1972.
This screening will begin with the 11-minute documentary short Freedom Day Parade. Director Wakefield Poole moved to San Francisco in 1974 and captured the energy and sights of an early San Francisco gay pride parade, set to a campy, eclectic soundtrack.
Schedule
- Thursday, June 5, 2025 @ 7:00 PM 06/05/2025 07:00 PM 06/05/2025 10:00 PM 15 Freedom Day Parade & Gay USA https://www.steelstacks.org/event/17013/freedom-day-parade--gay-usa/ Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas false MM/DD/YYYY
Venue Information
Frank Banko Alehouse CinemasArtsQuest Center
101 Founders Way
Bethlehem, PA 18015
610-332-1300
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