Sexual Diversity Studies

Location: St. James
Assembles footage from over 120 films showing the changing face of cinema homosexuality from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist cinema of the 1990s.

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Such raids were not unusual in the late 1960s, an era when homosexual sex was illegal in every state but Illinois. That night, however, the street erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.

A true twentieth-century trailblazer, Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world. The Academy Award-winning THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK, directed by Robert Epstein and produced by Richard Schmiechen, was as groundbreaking as its subject. One of the first feature documentaries to address gay life in America, it’s a work of advocacy itself, bringing Milk’s message of hope and equality to a wider audience.

An inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government neglect.

Location: St. James
Twenty-five years ago, Toronto's gay pride parade was a protest march, held to speak out against police raids against gay bathhouses. In 2005, the city's Police Chief, Bill Blair marched alongside the muscle boys, the leather daddies, the drag queens and the dykes on bikes. It was a first for Toronto. We've come a long way. Or have we? Badge of Pride is a documentary that looks at the lives of gay cops in Canada; cops who are out, cops who are closeted and cops who are somewhere in between the closet and the cruiser.

Although he has a girlfriend who is expecting his child, Philipp, a young teacher in Berlin, meets Matthias and falls in love. After years of repressing his homosexuality, he must finally accept himself for who he truly is. The first and only DEFA feature film about homosexuality, COMING OUT premiered on November 9, 1989 … the evening the Berlin Wall came down. Winner of a Silver Berlin Bear and Best Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Location: St. James
This documentary follows several people whose homosexuality is at odds with their religious beliefs, and are now ex-gays, adherents to a controversial evangelical movment that purports to convert gay people into heterosexuals.

Location: St. James
Recounts the experiences of Canadian lesbian women in the 1950's and 1960's who sought romance in gay beer parlours and bars. Their stories are interwoven with a fictional love story and set against the tabloids and pulp novels of the time and illustrate the stereotypes and intolerance they faced.

Location: Waterfront
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender older people who fought the first battles for equality now face so much fear of discrimination, bullying and abuse in the care setting that many are hiding their lives to survive. Thousands are dying earlier than their straight counterparts because they are isolated and afraid to ask for help. But a growing number of people are fighting to keep their elders from being silenced.

Location: St. James
The story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation, and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence. This improbable group of activists bucked oppression and infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, helping to identify promising new medication and treatments and move them through trials and into drugstores in record time.

Location: St. James
A documentary about homosexuality and Muslim faith. Fourteen centuries after the revelation of the holy Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad, Islam today is the world's second largest and fastest-growing religion. This is the story of Islam from its most unlikely champions: lesbian and gay Muslims. Made in secret, under the radar of ruling Muslim governments and clerics, A jihad for love is the world's first feature documentary to explore the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality.

Location: St. James
A history of the lesbian and gay rights movement in Ontario from 1967 to 1987.

Location: St. James
Presents interviews with same-sex married couples who share their views on marriage, religious and political opposition, child adoption, and love. Also includes interviews with their families, the lawyer who represented them, and gay rights activist Jane Rule--who takes issue with the institution of marriage.

Location: St. James
A documentary built around personal stories of gay and lesbian Hasidic and Orthodox Jews. Portrays people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passion for Judaism with the biblical prohibitions against homosexuality. Includes interviews with closeted and out gay Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, including the first openly gay Orthodox rabbis, Steven Greenberg.

Location: Casa Loma
Filmed in Istanbul and Oslo, Turkish/Norwegian filmmaker Nefise Ozkal Lorentzen explores what it's like to be both gay and Muslim.