July 2011 - This month on IN THE LIFE: the intersection of art and social change. Four stories honoring how art has inspired the LGBT Movement and its allies, in the fight for full equality.
Featuring Broadway Impact, the organization made up of Broadway professionals and stars, raising their voices for marriage equality in New York. Working side by side with the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Marry and All Out, they helped organize the push to pass marriage equality in New York.
"The thing that I think is special about Broadway Impact is that it is an organization that's really devoted to empowering the artists in the Broadway community, and I don't mean empowering them to take care of themselves, but empowering them to be able to take care of all of us," Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, The Public Theater.
Further examples of art impacting social change in this episode include a preview of Crayton Robey's documentary Making the Boys, currently in theaters nationwide, which examines The Boys in the Band and its place in gay history plus Alix Smith's portraiture of gay and lesbian couples which seeks to expand the public perception of gay and lesbian families.
Closing the episode is the 15th Annual Webby Award nominated video Censoring Wojnarowicz, originally released online, that looks at the controversy surrounding the removal of David Wojnarowicz's video installation, A Fire in My Belly, from the National Portrait Gallery's Hide/Seek show at the Smithsonian. The video, representing the artist's anger as he faced death from AIDS, ignited outrage among conservative lawmakers and religious leaders.
"We have freedom of speech in this country and I'm profoundly disappointed," Jonathan D. Katz, Co-curator, HIDE/SEEK.
###
The Art of Change begins airing on public television stations across the country July 5, 2011 and is now available for free video streaming and downloadable podcasts from the In The Life Media website. To find out when it will air in your local area, to stream or download it, go to www.ITLMedia.org .
Produced by In The Life Media, IN THE LIFE is the longest running television show documenting the gay experience. IN THE LIFE is
a three-time Emmy Award nominee, a Lambda Legal Liberty Award honoree, and the recipient of the Courage Award from the New York
City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, the Seigenthaler Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association
for excellence in network television and a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism-Newsmagazine.
In The Life Media produces change through innovative media that exposes social injustice by chronicling lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender life. Produced by In The Life Media, IN THE LIFE is the longest running television show documenting the gay
experience. IN THE LIFE is a two-time Emmy Award nominee, a Lambda Legal Liberty Award honoree, a Seigenthaler Award
recipient from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for excellence in network television and a
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism-Newsmagazine.
ABOUT AMERICAN PUBLIC TELEVISION:
IN THE LIFE is distributed by American Public Television. APT has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America's public television stations since 1961. In 2009, APT distributed 56 of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramatic series, how-to programs, children's series and classic movies. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. In 2006, APT launched Create® - the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. APT is also a partner in the WORLDT channel expansion project including its web presence at WORLDcompass.org . For more information about APT's programs and services, visit APTonline.org . For more information on Create, visit CreateTV.com .
###
Contact: ELEANOR MOONIER COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
184 FIFTH AVENUE, 4TH FLOOR | NEW YORK, NY 10010
T: 212.255.6012 EXT 321 | F: 212.255.6097
EMOONIER@ITLMEDIA.ORG | WWW.ITLMEDIA.ORG
