In February 2012, the Maryland legislature passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. At the time, only seven other states allowed same-sex couples to wed, and the backlash was immediate.
Opponents gathered more than twice the number of signatures needed to launch a referendum. The measure, Question 6, was a divisive and hotly contested issue, culminating in a landmark election: Maryland voters approved same-sex marriage equality by 52 percent. It was the first time marriage equality was passed by popular vote.
The documentary “The New Black” follows the battle for marriage equality that surrounded Question 6. But it goes beyond that election to examine the intersection of race, religion and lesbian/gay/bisexual/transger identity that colors the discussion of gay rights in many parts of America.
“Through Maryland, I tell a larger story,” director Yoruba Richen said.
A free screening of “The New Black” will kick off the Four Corners Pride Festival, a five-day event put on by Four Corners Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Diversity. The festival continues through Sunday with a cocktail reception, dance party, river float, picnic and more. The free screening is presented by Durango Community Cinema.
A panel discussion with community members will follow the screening. Barbara Balaguer, chairwoman of the 4cGLAD board, said she hopes the film will provoke discussions about civil rights, the history of activism in America and how religion is playing into gay-rights issues.
“This film is really a jumping off point in terms of finding that balance between religion and human rights,” she said. “I think the film is really meant to shed some light on that ... It isn’t a very cut-and-dried, black-and-white issue by any means.”
Though the bulk of “The New Black” was shot in 2012 in Maryland, the origins of the film reach back to November 2008, on the night of the presidential election. Richen was in California, where she was celebrating the election of America’s first black president while simultaneously grieving over the passage of California’s Proposition 8, a ballot measure that made same-sex marriage illegal.
“It was a crowning achievement for civil rights and then a huge defeat for the LGBT community,” she said.
In the aftermath of the election, it was reported African-Americans backed Prop 8 by 70 percent. Though these numbers later turned out to be false, Richen said, it did little to counter the narrative that blacks were to blame for the loss of marriage equality while gays had helped elect Obama.
“That was the beginning of my journey,” she said. “I wanted to look at why this narrative took hold.”
Richen filmed for two years before her path took her to Maryland, where she found strong characters in African-American LGBT activists, a significant black population in the state and a heated battle over Question 6.
“Maryland had all the aspects I was looking for,” she said.
She documented activists, families and religious groups on both sides of the referendum, following the political battle and examining the Christan right’s role in influencing churches – which have long been pillars in black communities – in political issues. In doing so, the film chronicles the historic election and, on a larger scale, the African-American community’s struggle with the gay rights issue.
“It ended up being a film about activism and how movements work,” Richen said. “What I would love for people to leave with is a greater understanding of the intersection of these identities and these politics.”
Since its release, “The New Black” has been screened at churches, universities and to gay-rights groups, and it premiered on PBS’ Independent Lens on Sunday. The film is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer with a national tour. All this comes as a flurry of states have legalized same-sex marriage, pushing the issue to the forefront.
Richen said she is glad to have been there to capture an early chapter in the movement.
“Hopefully, people will look at it in 10 or 15 years and see how it started,” she said.
kklingsporn@durangoherald.com
If you go
A free screening of “The New Black” will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio. The documentary, which kicks off the Four Corners Pride Festival, will be followed by a community discussion.
