A 2020
docudrama miniseries,
Equal chronicles the beginning of the LGBT+ rights movement, starting in the early 1950s up to the famous Stonewall uprising from 1969. The miniseries highlights many instrumental figures in the movement and others who were precursors to its activism, including some who have long been mostly overlooked. Consisting of four episodes (
The Birth of a Movement,
Transgender Pioneers,
Black Is Beautiful, Gay is Good! and
Stonewall: From Liberation to Rebellion), premiering on October 22, 2020 from
HBO Max.
Tropes:
- Auto Erotica: Bayard Rustin was convicted on a "morals charge" for having sex with two men in a parked car.
- The Beard: Many gay men in the early 1950s were married to women. One activist from then says he knew more in this situation than the opposite, since it was good cover. Harry Hay, one of the gay rights' movement's founders, himself was married twice and had children. This was also the case for lesbians, with Lorraine Hansberry focused on.
- Butch Lesbian: Stormé DeLarverie, a lesbian with short hair who wore nice men's suits, is highlighted as being the probable spark of the Stonewall Uprising. After being arrested and manhandled by the police (who initially took her for a gay man, she angrily asked why other people didn't do something, causing them to fight back.
- Cast Full of Gay: As the series chronicles the early LGBT+ rights movement in the US, naturally it focuses on them. The majority among its characters are LGBT+, with several activists being highlighted.
- Chummy Commies: Harry Hay was a communist, and some of the other early gay rights activists were at least leftists, which is portrayed sympathetically. This was deemed a liability as the LGBT+ rights groups got more popular in the Cold War though, so they were voted out by a more conservative set.
- Closet Gay: Most gays and lesbians were closeted when the gay rights groups started in the early 1950s, because of the huge social stigma against them, along with legal persecution. They could be fired and disowned when found out, if not arrested. Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin however is noted as being unusual as he was quite openly gay. This made him (along with having previously been convicted on a "morals charge" for sex with other men) viewed as a liability to the movement, thus his role was often downplayed or kept firmly in the background. He was even temporarily banished from the movement for this. The hyper segregationist leader Senator Strom Thurmond attempted to use Rustin against them, but he remains an effective leader nonetheless.
- Dirty Cop: Police were paid by the Genovese crime family who owned some gay bars like Stonewall to only arrest a few people and let them remain open in exchange for bribes.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The absurdly harsh laws against gay sex are described, for instance ranging up to a life sentence, permanent confinement in a mental institution and castration depending on the state.
- Drag Queen: Many are featured, including with a gay ball staged in 1965. Harry Hay says in the 1920s being feminine, including by doing drag, was more common in gay circles than not.
- Gayngst-Induced Suicide: It's mentioned that some gay men Forced Out of the Closet by the police killed themselves as this would usually ruin them.
- Good Shepherd: Early gay rights activists enlisted sympathetic clergy to support them, not only forming a committee but publicly attacking police harassment.
- Heteronormative Crusader: The majority attitude was homophobic/transphobic in the US when the LGBT+ rights groups began. LGBT+ people were viewed as deviants, social threats, criminals or at best mentally ill across society. They were disowned, fired, blackballed, arrested and sent to mental institutions commonly. The worst cases however were beatings and even murders committed with impunity by homophobes who targeted gays. Police either didn't help or in a few cases had killed gays themselves.
- Homophobic Hate Crime: Being gay-bashed was a constant threat in the early 1950s. The police were at the time no help whatsoever, very often targeting gay men to arrest and ruin them. Some homophobes even went so far as to murder gays, as did some cops.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Many of the lesbians shown have a feminine style indistinguishable from the norm in the 50's and 60's. Lorraine Hansberry is a famous example shown, with the lesbians she befriended or had relationships having the same style.
- Out of the Closet, Into the Fire: The police routinely printed the names of gay men whom they arrested, ruining them by doing so as they'd often be fired, evicted or also disowned by their families, and this sometimes caused their suicides.
- Police Brutality: The police were highly prone to beating up LGBT+ people when raiding their bars and other hangouts, even threatening them with death when asked for identification. Abuse by the police inspired some to riot and protest however, for instance with the famous Stonewall Uprising. The most extreme examples were cops who murdered gays with impunity.
- Red Scare: Homophobic hysteria came up along with the anti-communist paranoia when the second Red Scare enveloped the US in the early 1950s. President Truman ordered that all LGBT+ people in federal service be fired as alleged security threats, in the so-called Lavendar Scare. Only a few like Frank Kameny ever fought back and appealed their dismissals.
- Straight Gay: Many of the gay men who are shown in the series had the same conventional looks as the straight guys from the 50's and 60's (at least publicly for cover).
- Trans Equals Gay: The confusion of being transgender with gay is discussed in Transgender Pioneers, which trans people interviewed refute, explaining the difference.
- Trans Tribulations: The hardships of trans and gender nonconforming people are shown in Transgender Pioneers. So-called "masquerade" laws dictated that people couldn't wear any clothing not associated traditionally with their assigned sex. Many trans and gender nonconforming people were arrested on charges of violating them, being harassed frequently as a result, while living as their gender through things such as marrying opened them to charges as well. Trans people were in danger of transphobic hate crimes as well if discovered, with murders included. Many had to keep their gender status a secret for fear or legal or extralegal consequences. Even laws which weren't aimed at gender nonconformity specifically got used this way such as one which prohibited traveling when disguised on public roads invoked to arrest trans people wearing clothing matching their gender. A few of the brave souls who defied this though are shown, paving the way for greater rights, including in a protest/riot that predated the infamous Stonewall uprising, but is far less known.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: Gay bars are discussed as having existed as havens for LGBT+ people, though the police frequently would raid them. Naturally the famous uprising at the Stonewall Inn, along with less known protests/riots at other LGBT+ establishments or hangouts are showcased.
