Nancy Nicol

From Criminality to Equality: 40 Years of Lesbian and Gay Movement History in Canada

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I was around eight years old when I went to my first Pride parade with my mom and her girlfriend. I was fourteen when my mom went on national television for a campaign demanding the right to marry for lesbians and gays. And I was twenty-five when I married my long-term girlfriend within months of same-sex marriages becoming legal in my country. In many ways, the struggles for social equality and equal rights for LGBTQ people have been tied to key events in my life, and these days at Pride, as a thirty-two year old, I often feel like an old timer, like a living, breathing embodiment of history.

I know every detail of key steps in the lesbian and gay rights movement since the late 1970s because they have been a part of me. But when I say I know every detail, I mean every detail of the German lesbian and gay rights movement. When I moved to Canada a few years ago, I realized that I knew virtually nothing about how these struggles have played out in my new home.

Nancy Nicol’s film series From Criminality to Equality closed that gap in knowledge for me. On four DVDs with a total playing time of over six hours, Nicol chronicles the history of the lesbian and gay rights movement in Canada. Starting with the struggles over anti-discrimination clauses in the Human Rights Act in the 1970s and '80s, to the fight over marriage equality in the late 1990s and early 2000s, wach DVD focuses on separate issues within a certain timeframe. When watching the entire series, the interconnectedness of these issues through time becomes very apparent. Key individuals of the lesbian and gay rights movement appear again and again, and the films show a clear progression of issues from the step out of criminality to societal and legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Each film is jam-packed with information, and while some segments are a bit lengthy, the series provides an enlightening summary of the past forty years of LGBTQ history in Canada.

The most moving of the four DVDs for me was Politics of the Heart, which portrays lesbian and gay families in Quebec as they fight for equal parenting rights. Not only did it remind me of my own history growing up with two mothers, it also presented a perspective the other three films lacked. It reminded the viewer that even in times when lesbian and gay people didn’t have the same rights as heterosexuals, we found unique and often very creative ways to live our lives and live them well. Politics of the Heart shows that queer families existed in spite of not being recognized by law or the broader society. As one friend put it: “I would have liked to have seen less about the fights and more about our alternative lives. We don’t just exist in opposition to heterosexuals.”

While it is certainly important to remember and highlight that the path to equality has been a bumpy one, as someone who has lived, breathed, and been defined by the struggles for LGBTQ equal rights, the film series missed an opportunity for showcasing one of the key features of that distinguishes the lesbian and gay rights movement from many other social movements: that we love who we love, not in opposition to something, but in embracing who we are and what makes us happy.

Written by: Annette Przygoda, March 24th 2010

One Summer in New Paltz: A Cautionary Tale

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Directed by Nancy Nicol

Intervention Video

Weddings always tug at my heartstrings, but there is nothing quite as heartwarming as hearing people sing in the streets. The Whos in Whoville taught me that.

The name New Paltz may ring a bell. It is a small college town in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York State that gained national attention in 2004 when the town’s twenty-six-year-old mayor, Jason West, married two dozen same-sex couples, an idea that was the result of a conversation between West and a local same-sex couple during a house painting project. As a consequence, charges were brought up against the mayor, crowds and cameras flooded New Paltz, and copycat weddings and demonstrations began to occur far and wide.

One Summer in New Paltz is framed around the concept of a fairytale. In the beginning, a voice-over describes New Paltz as a little village in a large kingdom (the United States) ruled by a powerful king (George W. Bush), and continues throughout to speak like the narrator of a Brothers Grimm story. This is perhaps one of the only aspects of the film that does not quite hit the mark. It is clearly intended to bring us back to traditional storytelling elements and present the story in a simplified manner, but the half-rhymes and dreary tone fall flat, and the device feels corny as a result.

If you’re looking for a debate on the morality or legality of gay marriage, this film is not going to provide it. However, if you are looking for a close look at the events that followed West’s decision, a taste of what went on beyond what made it onto the news, and to hear people who defend their lifestyles and their support of gay marriage with class and poise, you’re looking in the right place. In one tense yet powerful scene from the film, the town is paid a visit by members of the congregation of Westboro Baptist Church (a Kansas-based group known for their neon “God Hates Fags” signs and for screaming the word “perversion”) who shout slurs at gay marriage supporters. In response, the group is met by a chorus of “All You Need is Love.”

Part of the beauty of this story is the unlikely setting of such a monumental stand against precedent. The shots of New Paltz and the nearby Catskill Mountains show nothing spectacular, which is of course the most important message of all: change can start anywhere.

Written by: Kelly Palka Gallagher, March 23rd 2010

One Summer in New Paltz: A Cautionary Tale

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:01:00 +0000

Directed by Nancy Nicol

Intervention Video

In the wake of a failing U.S. economy and two unwarranted wars, former president Bush set out to condemn the gay community as he called for a constitutional amendment to reduce gay rights. Facing reelection, the president’s call to enshrine a heterosexual definition of marriage into the Constitution effectively diverted attention away from his failures and used the gay community as a convenient scapegoat. But Bush’s move did more than spark nationwide debate. The anti-gay initiative spurred the country’s largest gay rights movement yet.

The film One Summer in New Paltz is set in this context. The documentary centers on the small town of New Paltz, New York in the summer of 2004 when Mayor Jason West courageously defied Bush’s prohibition of same sex marriage. In an effort to advocate equal rights and avert a chilling effect on the gay rights movement, the young mayor followed in the footsteps of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom by performing same-sex marriages on the steps of his town’s village hall.

As the news spread throughout the region, thousands of same-sex couples inundated the town with hopes to get married. Whether it was for love or for justice, citizens across the country began to rally for equal rights. Although Mayor West faced criminal charges and threats of removal from office, the town continued the struggle as they organized behind the gay rights cause. Ignited and empowered, interfaith leaders and same-sex marriage supporters began to perform same-sex marriages despite the risks.

The film goes on to chronicle subsequent gay rights rallies across the state and demonstrates how citizens took a proactive approach to gay rights in the Nyack Ten legal suit against the state of New York. The film also examines the patriarchal and racist dogmas underlying much of the anti-gay marriage discourse as it documents the first day of legal same-sex marriages in Boston, Massachusetts in May 2004.

Nancy Nicol’s forthright documentary is not only revealing; it is inspiring. The film delineates how local activism and civil disobedience same-sex marriages spurred a nationwide mobilization for equal rights. One Summer in New Paltz skillfully unearths how a national movement was cultivated from the seeds of grassroots activism and solidarity.

Nicol explores the relationship of same-sex marriage, gay/straight alliances, civic engagement, race and the family. The raw footage of protests and thought-provoking interviews offer spectators an intimate window into the ground level of the burgeoning gay rights movement. Additionally, the film conveys how the courage and determination of a few can give rise to the mobilization of many.

One Summer in New Paltz offers a vibrant portrait of a small town that served as a catalyst for a national gay rights movement for marriage equality. For those who desire a closer look at how it all began, this film is worth watching.

Written by: Sofia Marin, March 5th 2010