http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/07/17/out-at-work-available-on-dvd/by aflcioblogger, Jul 17, 2009
Seventeen years ago, a couple of New York City filmmakers, Kelli Anderson and Tami Gold, made their way to AFSCME’s District Council 37 in Manhattan to videotape a conference on lesbian and gay rights in the workplace for a monthly show they produced on public access television called “Labor at the Crossroads.”
As it turned out, this was the beginning of “Out at Work,” a compelling documentary about life on the job in the United States. After it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—an extraordinary event in itself—Variety would praise it for its “inspiring human dimension.” And some 40 million people would eventually see a version of it on HBO.
Both versions of “Out at Work”—the original documentary film and the HBO presentation—are now available for the first time on DVD from Transit Media Communications at 1-800-343-5540. Mention it if you’re a union member and ask about their discount.
The original idea of “Out at Work” was simple enough. It told about three workers who had little in common except that each was LGBT and confronting colossal challenges connected with discrimination on the job. What’s more, each had an extraordinary story filled with grief, courage, confusion and moral grace.
* Cheryl Summerville, a cook at a Cracker Barrel restaurant outside Bremen, Ga., was fired for being a lesbian. Lest their be any doubt about the reason, her termination paper included this line: “Reason for termination: Employee is gay.”
Summerville learned from the American Civil Liberties Union that such discrimination was legal in Georgia (as it still is to this day in 29 states) and she had no recourse. But this eventually led both Summerville and her partner, Sandy Riley, to transform their lives and become activists in the LGBT movement in Georgia.
FULL story at link.
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