Using the form of The Christmas Carol and The Wiz, this film weaves together the past, present and future of LGBTQ homelessness in New York City, focusing on the intersection of housing, community and self-image. Four characters, each dealing with a different housing struggle, are visited by the spirit of queer history who takes them to three moments in the past. The story explores the relationships between our personal histories, the history of homelessness and the history of LGBTQ resistance, activism and creativity in responding to housing needs. The spirit asks our characters and the audience to consider: what have LGBTQ people of color done, what are we doing, and what will we do to create housing situations that are liberating?
A Global Action Project and SupaFriends Production: 2012
Tell us what you think:
1. As you saw at the beginning of our film, there was around 4000 youth who are homeless every night in NYC. What should we do about this?
2. Do you see any connections in what LGBT people faced in the past and what they face now?
3. What solutions are we creating today that will change our future? (What did you picture for the future?)
Additional Resources:
1) What Black History Month Doesn’t Teach You About the Harlem Renaissance: blackyouthproject.com/2012/02/what-black-history-month-doesn%E2%80%99t-teach-you-about-the-harlem-renaissance/
2) Fenced Out: FIERCE's Youth-Produced documentary documents the struggle of LGBTSTQ youth of color to save the Christopher Street pier and the West Village from re-development and gentrification. fiercenyc.org/index.php?s=120
3) FIERCE Pier Archive: queerpier40years.org/archive.html
4) Sylvia Rivera Documentary by Randy Wicker: youtube.com/watch?v=ybnH0HB0lqc
5) Pay It No Mind: Marsha P. Johnson Documentary: imdb.com/video/wab/vi2158076185/
6) ACT UP Oral History Project: actuporalhistory.org/
7) VOCAL campaign to protect housing services for New Yorkers who are living with HIV/AIDS: youtube.com/watch?v=7Lr3DBob3oo
8) Queers for Economic Justice Shelter Organizing: q4ej.org/projects/shelter
9) Picture the Homeless Housing Campaign: picturethehomeless.org/housing.html