Here TV Highlights Social Justice Programming.
By Michel Khordoc
Here TV, America’s first and largest LGBTQ+ video channel, is celebrating Pride Month 2020 with an exclusive selection of LGBTQ+ programming, documentaries and films.
Social Justice has represented a core value of Here TV’s mission since its launch in 2003 as the nation’s first LGBTQ television service. Here TV stands proudly in support of the Black community and solidarity with all who seek racial equality and justice. In observance of the diversity of its subscribers, Here TV commemorates those around the world that are raising their voices in solidarity, affirming that Black Lives Matter.
Same Rights. Same Fight. For LGBTQ people to gain full equality, the community must support all marginalized groups that suffer from inequality, prejudice, and discrimination. The fight for equality is an everyday battle. The LGBTQ community intersects all other underrepresented communities, and Here TV is committed to amplifying the voices in the LGBTQ+ community who don’t benefit from privilege.
Here TV honors, celebrates, and represents LGBTQ+ people. It’s its purpose. Every day. Every year. Social justice is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and Here TV wants to highlight the intersectionality of the LGBTQ+ community with so many others.
Some of the films available include:
UNDERGROUND Silver Lake / DTLA Pride Edition: Produced by Emmy-nominated actor/producer David Millbern and hosted by Charlie Harding. This series provides a complete LGBTQ travel guide along with historical context of Los Angeles’ great contributions to the civil rights movement.
THE MOST DANGEROUS YEAR: With the help of a coalition of civil rights activists and ally lawmakers, a group of families with transgender kids embark on an uncharted journey of fighting for their children’s lives and futures.
BROTHER OUTSIDER: The Life of Bayard Rustin is an eye-opening biography, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won more than 25 awards. It explores the life of Bayard Rustin, a visionary strategist and activist who has been called “the unknown hero” of the civil rights movement.
SOUTHERN PRIDE, the inspiring documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Malcom Ingram (Small Town Gay Bar), profiles two lesbian bar owners in Mississippi who help organize gay and black Pride events in Trump’s America.
A LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM: The Advocate Celebrates 50 Years, the Emmy-nominated documentary narrated by Laverne Cox with music by Melissa Etheridge, focuses on watershed moments in LGBTQ history through never-before-seen footage and engaging interviews. Starting with the Black Cat Riots, the film covers Stonewall, the disco sexual revolution, the AIDS crisis, marriage equality, and the trans movement to present day.
VOGUING: The Message is a pre-Madonna primer that raises questions about race, sex and subculture style while tracing the roots of this gay Black and Latino dance form.
30 YEARS FROM HERE, the Here TV original Emmy-nominated documentary, examines the trials and tribulations of the AIDS pandemic over the past 30 years. Larry Kramer, activists, medical experts and others who were on the ground in the early years share their stories from the war on AIDS.
AFTER STONEWALL is the sequel to the 1984 documentary ‘Before Stonewall’, which chronicles the gay rights movement from 1969 to the end of the century.
CHERRY GROVE STORIES dives deep into the unique character of Cherry Grove, a community on Fire Island, NY, which was a safe haven for gays during a time when two men holding hands in public was illegal.
POLITICAL ANIMALS is a powerful, award-winning documentary about four California lawmakers – all women – who took the fight for equality from the streets into the halls of government to create lasting social justice and equality.
PASSING profiles the lives of three men of color who have undergone gender transition from female to male.
GAME GIRLS follows Teri and her girlfriend Tiahana as they navigate their relationship through the chaotic world of Los Angeles’ Skid Row, a.k.a the “homeless capital of the U.S.”
GIRLS’ VOICES NOW is an anthology series featuring short films from Girls’ Voices Now, a summer youth program that amplifies the voices of young women from underrepresented communities in Los Angeles by teaching documentary filmmaking.
“Social justice has been a core value at Here TV and part of its mission since our launch in 2003 as the nation’s first LGBTQ+ television service,” says David Millbern, Emmy-nominated producer of UNDERGROUND and A LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM: The Advocate Celebrates 50 Years. “Here TV is committed to highlighting those on the front lines of the social justice movement and to amplifying underrepresented voices. We will always support marginalized groups that face inequality, prejudice, and discrimination every day.”
All films included in the special selection of social justice programming are available at: www.here.tv
