Original subtitles

Man: I've lived in Washington, D.C., for 20 years.

It's where I met Dean, playing pick-up basketball,

And made a life for myself.

But no matter how long you've been away from home

Or how much you've changed, the place where you were

Born and raised always stays somewhere deep inside.

For me, that place was Oil City,

A small town with small-town values

In the hills of western Pennsylvania.

I was the youngest in a big irish catholic family.

Mom was a nurse, and dad was

Custodian at the catholic school we all attended.

We didn't have much money, but life was good,

And I didn't have a care in the world.

As I got older, I started to feel different.

By the time I was a teen, I knew I was gay.

Terrified of losing my friends and maybe even my family,

I kept silent

And managed to get by.

As soon as I graduated high school,

I got out of town.

I went off to college,

Joined the Peace Corps, and found myself

Identifying with others who had been silenced.

I ended up in Washington, D.C.

When Dean and I fell in love and got married,

I decided to do what I wish

I could have done a long time ago --

Be open about who I was back in my hometown.

I put our wedding announcement in the Oil City paper,

The Derrick.

It didn't take long

For the letters to start pouring in.

Woman: "Editor: Common sense tells us

Marriage is between a man and a woman."

Man: "I am shaking with anger as I write this."

Woman: "I was sick to my stomach

When I saw and read the announcement..."

Man: "Homosexuality is immoral."

Man: "It would be better for you not to have been born.

Think about that."

The reactions to my wedding announcement

Were discouraging, but they didn't really surprise me.

Then I got a letter I didn't expect.

"Dear Mr. Wilson, I searched

"for your address in Washington, D.C.,

"after I saw your wedding announcement in the paper.

"I'm the mother of a 16-year-old boy

"who is being treated unjustly because he is gay.

"I was told you were born and raised in Oil City,

"so I feel a connection to you.

"Last night, my son, C.J., cried for three hours

"after being abused in public because of being gay.

"I'm so afraid for him.

"I don't know where else to turn.

"Please help if you can.

Sincerely, Kathy Springer."

Kathy's letter made me realize

That the controversy about our wedding announcement

Wasn't just about gay marriage.

It was about the very existence

Of openly gay people in Oil City.

Here it was, 25 years after my own fear of being found out

Forced me to live in silence, and it didn't seem

To be any easier to be gay in my hometown.

I wanted to go back to Oil City and see

If there was anything Dean and I could do to help.

Documenting people's stories

Seemed like a good place to start.

So I asked Dean to grab the camera.

♫ I dreamed of fires burning ♫

♫ low ♫

♫ in my head ♫

♫ on a map below ♫

♫ like an old friend ♫

♫ that I used to know ♫

♫ I've got seven hours ♫

♫ and 15 miles to go ♫

♫ instead ♫

♫ and ain't it good ♫

♫ to be back home? ♫

Young man: This was my school.

Every day when the bus stopped

And I walked through that door to my locker

Became eight hours of pure hell.

Wilson: What went on in there?

Well, kids would come by, hit me with my locker,

I'd fall on the ground,

My books would fly everywhere.

I was slammed into the lockers,

Hit with stuff, being yelled, "faggot."

Yep.

This hall was always lovely.

I'd have to walk through a crowd

of kids, and there would always definitely be

some tripping going on or shoving or pushing.

Grab my backpack and yanking me,

And stupid stuff.

What did you feel inside

When that kind of stuff was happening?

Terrified. Nobody cared.

None of the teachers cared.

None of the administrators cared.

They always gave a deaf ear

And a blind eye.

They'd watch everything, never say a word.

Wilson: I wanted to understand

What was behind the anti-gay sentiment in the area.

It seemed like talking with people

Who denounced our wedding announcement in the paper

Would be a logical place to start.

Only one couple agreed to be interviewed --

Pastor Mark Micklos and his wife, Diana.

If I grant two men the right to get married,

What's wrong with incest?

Or polygamy or -- and it would just,

Just expand, and I think that things --

I think at times we've seen that happen.

In plumbing, there's fittings,

and they're called male and female fittings.

And you could probably

plumb a house with all male fittings,

but it seems like the design is for male and female.

Not for two likes to be together.

It was hard to listen to what the Micklosses were saying,

But the fact that they invited us to their home

and we were talking seemed like an opening.

When I asked them why they had taken the trouble

to write about our wedding announcement,

they told me that their church had received an alert

that asked members to write in protest.

It was sent by the Pennsylvania arm

Of the American Family Association,

A conservative values organization

based in Mississippi.

How did they key in

on our little wedding announcement so fast?

It turns out that the AFA's chapter president,

Diane Gramley, lives right there in the area

and has a program on a local radio station.

Woman: Welcome to

"American Family Focus on Pennsylvania issues,"

A weekly program which discusses

some of the happenings that are of concern

to the family and those who hold

traditional values in Pennsylvania.

And now your host,

Diane Gramley, State Director of American Family Association

of Pennsylvania.

Gramley: The question comes down to:

should a lifestyle that will result in the destruction

Of traditional marriage and the natural family --

not even mentioning

the physical, mental, and psychological dangers

to those involved in this lifestyle --

be normalized and codified into the laws of the land?

Those involved in this lifestyle are sinners,

and they need to accept the saving grace

of Jesus Christ, just like you and me.

Wilson: Back when I was growing up,

People didn't talk about lifestyle so openly.

And at my house,

sexuality or being gay wasn't discussed at all.

Even though right on our street,

just two doors down from our house,

we had a neighbor with a rainbow flag on her door.

Woman: I've lived in this community

since I was 17 years old, and I've always been open.

I mean, I never wore my sexuality on a sleeve,

but people always knew who I was.

Nobody was ever negative to me, except one occasion.

I was hired at this firm,

and I worked there about six months,

and then the president of the company,

after the Christmas party -- and I took my partner --

came in a few days later and fired me.

Said he couldn't have the likes

of somebody like me working for the company.

Okay.

Be good, you guys.

Come here. Come on.

This is my house

where my stepdad sells smelly birds.

Wilson: "choo-kers?" chukars or something like that? Chukars.

Chukars, quails, and pheasants.

Probably stinks.

Yeah, it stinks.

Okay, the smell is a little too much.

Okay, it's a little too real.

That is not a place for --

Bills: The first day we came back from Christmas vacation,

this kid, Richie,,

who everybody's known he was gay since, like,

the day he was born, came back to school.

And I went into my history class,

last period of the day,

and some kid stood up and came over to him --

'cause he was standing by the door

'cause he didn't have a seat or anything yet --

and some kid was like, "hey, are you a faggot?"

And I stood up, and I got in his face,

and I was like, "why you got to call him that?

"What did he do to you?

"he's just standing there, hasn't said a word to anybody.

Leave him alone."

And he's like, "What? So are you a hard-ass homo then?"

He's like, "You think you can take me?"

And I was like, "Dude, I might be a faggot,

but I'm more of a man than you'll be."

And he's like, "So you're admitting it?"

And I was like, "I am admitting

"that if you say another word to me like that again,

I am going to take your teeth out."

There was a lot he didn't even tell me,

you know, at first,

because he'd come home,

and he'd be real quiet, and he'd go to his room,

and he wouldn't come out for hours.

I said, "You know, c.J.,

"there is nothing you could possibly be in this world

that would ever make me stop loving you."

So then, finally, one day, he says,

"I'm tired of denying who I am,

"and I'm tired of the abuse

"and the harassment that gays take,

"and I'm just coming out with it.

I don't care."

Wilson: Kathy had mentioned on the phone that c.J.

wanted to make videos himself, so we gave him a camera

and helped him get started by filming one of his friends.

Hamer: And if you want a close-up,

you go like that.

Oops. Or whatever.

And if you want far away, you go like that.

So you try it. Film something.

That's awesome.

I was hoping c.J. Would use his new camera

to shine some light

on what life was like for him as a gay teen.

For practice, I asked him to join us at a concert

I helped to organize featuring Namoli Brennet.

Namoli's a transgendered musician.

She's also from a small town and lives her life very openly.

Maybe it was the activist in me,

but I thought she might be an inspiration

for folks in Oil City.

♫ You don't know when you're gonna find me ♫

♫ You don't know when you're gonna take me ♫

♫ home ♫

♫ home ♫

Wilson: Oil City became a real boomtown back in 1859

when colonel Edwin Drake

drilled the first oil well in the United States.

The area had about 100 years of growth and prosperity,

but by the time I came along, the wells had dried up,

and jobs and people were moving out.

It had become the sort of rust belt town

that time seemed to be leaving behind,

Where things didn't change much

and outsiders were viewed with suspicion.

Like many small towns,

Oil City is trying to make a comeback.

If it can figure out

how to use its small-town spirt

to make everyone feel welcome there,

it just might happen.

Brennet: ♫ I can be ♫

♫ myself ♫

♫ and no one else ♫

♫ goes home ♫

Thanks, everybody.

Wilson: The biggest event of the year in Oil City

is the oil heritage parade.

Most people come out to watch their kids March

or their friends ride around silly floats.

Even in the pouring rain.

So I wasn't expecting to see an anti-gay marriage protest

led by none other than Diane Gramley

of the American Family Association.

She'd already refused several requests

to be formally interviewed,

so I tried a more direct approach.

Hi, Diane. How are you?

Fine, and you?

I'm not going to be part of your documentary.

Yeah, we just wanted to know why

You're so actively seeking

to discriminate against gay and lesbian people.

We talked about it on the phone.

Well, why do you think that they don't deserve

to live freely in society as you do?

They have every right to live freely,

and they are living freely in society.

I would like to know why you encourage children

to participate in a dangerous lifestyle.

Hey, Joe, how you doing?

Good, and you? Nice to see you.

Good seeing you. Yeah.

Gramley: There've been homosexuals throughout society,

but they have not attempted

to redefine marriage and family as they are today.

Everything else with gay people is okay, right?

They can teach school.

If they have a job, and they're doing their job,

they have every right to have that job.

And they could be out on the job and tell people

that they're gay when they're asked?

No, 'cause that's promoting a lifestyle.

Well, I know that.

Wilson: Things had become increasingly bad

at c.J.'s high school.

When he finally complained about the abuse he was receiving,

the assistant principal blamed him for the trouble

and called the State Police.

Kathy decided to take c.J. out of school

and go to the school board for answers.

All: One nation under God,

Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Woman: Any other business to enter?

My name's -- oh, I'm sorry.

Please state your name for the record.

My name is Kathy Springer.

Have you implemented,

or are you going to implement

a change in how discrimination is handled

in this school district?

I recently had to pull my son out

because of discrimination and how it was handled.

Are you -- is there a better way of handling things?

Man: Ma'am, do me a favor. Will you give me a call?

Okay? This isn't the time to --

I just, as a taxpayer, wanted to know if --

you know, should I decide to send my son back?

Are there going to be any changes?

That's all.

There have been discussions taking place,

and there have been issues

not only with myself and Mr. Richmond,

Mr. Forrester, and the other principals,

so I don't know if that's --

But, please, feel free to give me a call, okay?

It was like, "oh, god,

give her her five minutes and get her out of here."

I really don't see that they've seen us as a threat or anything.

We were just an annoyance.

Mm-hmm.

Wilson: Shortly after kathy's appearance,

the school board did propose a plan

for inclusive anti-discrimination training.

But there was suddenly an unusual amount

of opposition from the community,

especially from an African-American Pastor

who wanted the training to focus only on race

and not even mention sexual orientation.

A Derrick reporter discovered

the reason for the racial outcry.

Diane Gramley had sent out another action alert.

This one accused the school district

of trying to hijack civil rights to promote homosexuality.

The diversity training never happened.

I have to admit, in this environment,

it was a clever strategy

to pit one minority group against another.

I'll tell you what we're doing.

We got married a couple years ago,

and we put our wedding announcement in the paper,

and it turned into this, like, controversy or whatever.

I got beat up about a month ago.

What? Oh, yeah.

I never thought people were racist or anything.

I'm Arab, and this girl wouldn't stop talking crap,

and I faced her in lunch, and she ploughed me down.

There was blood all over me.

I didn't have a chance.

This place is rough.

If you are not a man

with white skin

and who likes to do the missionary position,

it's over.

Wilson: Although gay people are everywhere,

we're not always visible.

Roxanne and some of her friends

wanted to change that in Oil City.

They put together a volunteer group to participate

in community activities like town cleanup day.

What are you guys up to today?

Man: Everybody that's driving by thinks

that we're on work release and that's why we're out here.

Wilson: Would you mind saying

a little bit of a word right now?

Just being out in the community doing something,

just helping.

It's kind of a nasty day, but we did it anyway.

Hey, Greg.

What?

Can you say a little bit

about what you're doing today?

Wilson: Cleanup day was supposed to be a community-wide event,

but we only saw one other volunteer

who wasn't part of Roxanne's group.

So I asked her,

"If there were a visible gay and lesbian group in Oil City

would anyone in the community object?"

I guess you're going to have radicals everywhere,

and they'll find a way to articulate what bothers them.

But how can you target people who are doing something good?

You know?

Brennet: ♫ Ain't it good to be back home? ♫

Me being me? Yeah..

I definitely want to see that.

Oh, no.

C.J., is there anything on there

you don't want me to see?

Is this on?

Hello out there.

Okay.

Boy: That hurt?

♫ I'm feeling so unique ♫

♫ I'm feeling really funky ♫

♫ I kind of like this beat ♫

♫ could this be a dream? ♫

♫ Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference ♫

♫ I made ♫

♫ too many hazy nights ♫

♫ too many lonely days ♫

Stop, c.J.

♫ set me free ♫

♫ set me free ♫

♫ come on and set me free ♫

♫ I got to set me free ♫

Jesus Christ!

I think I got spina bifida. Cut.

I know.

Boy: He went "Oops."

Wilson: How do you feel, as a parent,

that the cyber school is the option --

that I had to turn to?

I don't like the idea, no.

My son, I wanted him to be able to be involved

with all the other school activities,

the camaraderie, you know, everything,

the prom, the whole schmear, you know.

And I feel that he was gypped.

He doesn't have that interaction

That I think he needs.

Wilson: I was hoping that the camera

would help c.J.'s education.

I asked him to film something

a little more intellectual next time.

Hitchcock: You know, one thing about living in a small town

is that the gene pool is so limited.

You know, trying to meet somebody is really hard.

Wilson: So who's this special lady that's in your life?

Her name is linda.

Where's she at??

I'll never forget how excited you were

when I talked to you on the phone,

and you said, "oh, I met somebody."

Henderson: Well, the cool part about it

is everybody's saying the same thing about me.

People asking me what in the world's going on

'cause I'm running around smiling a lot.

You know, all of the sudden,

I've been telling people I have a family now.

Hitchcock: In some ways, she's the total opposite of me.

You know, I can be aggressive and antagonistic,

and she's just kind of quiet and the peacemaker,

and she's just calm.

And she's very gifted. She's great with people.

She is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Henderson: ♫ I was with George Washington ♫

♫ one night at valley forge ♫

♫ "why do the soldiers freeze here like they do?" ♫

♫ he said, "men will suffer, fight ♫

♫ "even die for what is right ♫

♫ "even though they know ♫

♫ they're only passing through" ♫

♫ passing through ♫

♫ passing through ♫

♫ sometimes happy, sometimes blue ♫

♫ glad that I ran into you ♫

♫ I've some little time ♫

♫ now I'm just passing through ♫

Wilson: Whoo.

Beautiful voice.

Thank you.

Did you look at a lot of cars,

or is this, you know, just kind of came up?

Yeah, like I got a couple grand to throw around

on a nice, fancy-schmancy car.

$150. That was it.

It wasn't even into the 200s.

Still have to get a new exhaust, battery, tires,

the title transferred, my license,

and then I'll be on the road.

I don't think I'll probably ever be able

to, like, walk down through the streets

of anywhere around here.

I used to have, like, a reputation and stuff

as a bad-ass and all this stuff,

but right now, my life consists

of being around my animals and my garage

with my mommy.

What are you thinking about?

What am I thinking about?

When you're sitting here in your car.

Nothing, really.

Eventually, once in a while, wondering

if this thing will actually ever leave this garage.

Hey. How are you?

Wilson: I wasn't sure if we would hear

from Pastor Micklos again,

but when he called to invite us to lunch with his family,

I thought I'd see where it would lead.

When you contacted me or I contacted you

or however it occurred,

one of the things that I prayed

was that you would see Christ in us.

I just don't see my life through a Christian framework.

That's just not how I want to view the world, you know.

But can we, at some point though,

get to a point where we respect that

and respect each other?

Well, no.

I mean, I can respect your Christian beliefs,

but if

some of those beliefs

are aimed at limiting

other people's full participation in society,

No, I can't respect that.

I have to struggle against that.

I can respect the Mark Micklos that I know

in hopes that he reaches

a higher point of enlightenment,

and that I would be his friend,

you know, through that process.

And that's where we're at.

Yeah.

Bills: What was your first thought

when I first came out?

My first reaction was probably...

I was probably shocked.

Why?

Just because --

You think I was putting on a front?

No. I just didn't really think you'd come out.

Laura?

Yes?

Your turn.

You have to ask me a question.

How did you feel when Richie first came out?

I was happy for him and stuff.

You know, I was happy for you, too,

'cause you finally came out.

Like, 'cause, you know, if you're gay,

you've always been gay, but you finally came out,

so I don't know, I was just happy for you.

I could never

deny who I am.

I couldn't deny it.

I was trying to find ways around it,

but people kept directing the question,

"are you gay?" to my face.

I didn't know what to say, but I couldn't deny who I was,

so I ended up having --

I ended up saying that, "you know what, yeah.

So what is it to you? Big deal."

And I guess it was a big deal to everybody.

I know that everybody cared because at that day,

everybody began to hate.

I was no longer anybody that anyone liked.

Everybody hated c.J. Bills.

Henderson: It's actually rather phenomenal,

and sometimes a little scary, that so much has happened

in such a short amount of time.

Wilson: Roxanne and linda had decided

to buy and renovate the Latonia,

a historic theater

that had seen better days.

They wanted to help

revitalize downtown Oil City by creating

a space for special events.

Hitchcock: I came in for a massage

One day, and my massage therapist said,

"you know, the original chandelier is here --

You gotta go see it."

She loaned me this tiny, little itty-bitty flashlight,

and I snuck up, and the door was unlocked.

The room was dark, and I came in,

and my little heart just went pitter-patter.

I could not believe something like that was here in Oil City.

It just seemed almost criminal to me that it was,

you know, just, just sitting.

Hitchcock: The building wasn't even really

on the market -- we just called up the guy,

said, "how much do you want for it?"

He told us, and we said, "okay."

let's sign papers,

And we just kind of went from there.

Henderson: Once it's ready,

there's got to be a grand opening.

Hitchcock: Yeah, 'cause I don't think that chandelier

Has been lit up in probably 50 years.

Wilson: Wow.

Wilson: Since C.J. told me that he was sticking

pretty close to home to avoid being hassled,

I hadn't seen him in a while.

His high school's homecoming

was his first time out of the house in months.

Here comes c.J. Over there.

He's walking by -- let's go.

What's up, guys?

Hey, what's up, dude? How you doing?

What's going on? So how you been?

Pretty peachy.

Yeah?

Place good?

I like your earrings.

Thank you.

Gotta make sure I look cute

when I go out in public.

Where'd the guys go?

They didn't want to be on camera, huh?

I don't know. They drifted somewhere.

Wilson: It was great

to see C.J. out of the house.

But I didn't want to make him nervous around his friends.

I told him I'd catch up with him later.

Bills: When I was leaving the game,

there was a whole group of skater kids outside,

Like, "are you still gay?"

I went, "I ain't a faggot. What you talking about?"

And they were like, "oh, okay."

And they just watched me walk away and stuff,

And I was like, oh, god -- damn.

Wilson: You know, once you kind of come out,

I mean, it's hard to, like --

Go back in?

Yeah.

Noticed.

Yeah.

I actually had people talk to me

on Friday.

I never -- that hasn't happened

since last year.

Wilson: Yeah, we noticed a lot of people

came up and kind of greeted you, gave you a hug.

Mm-hmm.

And that's because they think

you're not what they thought you were?

Mm-mm, cover it up.

At least until I get away from here.

Springer: You shouldn't have to live in denial, you know?

But I know there's been times

Where he wished he would have just

kept his mouth shut, and nobody would know, and --

Bills: Oh, every time I go into public,

I wish I wouldn't ever opened my mouth.

Every single day.

It's hell.

It's not like D.C. Or New York,

where everybody's liberal.

I get threatened to get killed.

That ain't fun.

Hi.

Wilson: I'm here tonight to say that I'm deeply concerned

at the charges of harassment, violence, and discrimination

that have ruled the Franklin school district

for the past year and a half.

Gay students and students of color at the high school

have been the primary targets of these activities.

Their ability to speak for themselves

is greatly hampered by fears

of backlash if they do so publicly.

Death threats have been issued

against students in this school district

and it just pains me

that no action has actually been taken.

So thank you for accepting these comments

in the public record -- I appreciate it,

and I look forward to your response.

Woman: Thank you.

Any other visitors at this time?

Wilson: It was obvious that the school board

wasn't concerned about C.J. or any gay student.

But the problem wasn't just with the school.

Man: It can happen to your town.

AFA presents a look at how

a handful of homosexual activists changed the very

moral fiber of the city.

They are taking over...

Wilson: This video is being promoted

by a local Christian radio station

to counter increasingly visible

gay people in Oil City.

As Christian people.

Announcer: Learn the strategies used

by gay activists and don't let this

happen to your city.

Man: If it's not happened

in your town, get ready,

'cause it is going to happen.

Announcer: Purchase your copy

or a five-pack to share with others today,

and spread the news.

They're coming to your town.

Is that too long?

Henderson: No, that's probably okay.

That's my chainsaw, by the way.

Mine disappeared.

I don't know where mine went.

Wilson: You each have your own chainsaw?

I used to.

Whose is bigger?

Hers would be bigger.

I bet I've cut more wood than she has, though.

Narrator: Roxanne can complain about a small gene pool,

But she found a really great mate.

When Linda caught wind of the AFA video

about gays coming to town,

she composed a poetic response.

Henderson: Why do you suppose

there are empty store fronts?S?

They're choking our town.

Why do you suppose there's a brain drain?

They're choking our town.

Why do you suppose there is no unique art?

They're choking our town.

It's time for a change.

Stop choking our town.

You like that?

Mm-hmm.

Woman: Hi, guys!

Come on in!

Wilson: Another case of anti-gay discrimination

had taken place several years earlier in Titusville,

a town just up the road from Oil City.

It involved a student named Tim Dahle.

I thought he and his family might be able

to help Kathy and C.J. figure out

how to get their school district to take them more seriously.

Bills: The whole thing started

from me standing up for one kid.

And no one ever,

ever once said a word to anybody.

They just stood there, my best friends,

people that I've known

since I was this big.

They just rolled their eyes.

Man: You call them your friends,

you trust them, and then

all of a sudden, they turn on you.

I've been there.

What really irritates me is the fact

that I used to go out of my way

to actually cause bodily harm to gay people.

Okay, we used to use it like a sport, you know?

I mean, it was stupid.

And then when you came out of the closet

and told me that you were gay, I thought,

"oh, no, no, no. You can't be."

And I got to thinking,

that gay kid's yours.

You going to disown him

because of his sexual orientation?

Or are you going to love him for who he is inside?

And I thought, "the hell with it.

I'm going to love him for who he is inside."

All right, and I tell you what, you try to shed 40 years

Of hatred overnight.

It's just not done.

It's something you got to learn how to live with,

deal with, and you got to be sincere.

I mean, he's my kid.

I'm not going to turn my back on him.

I won't -- I won't never turn my back on him.

I -- I gotta eat. See you guys.

Wilson: All right. Thanks, Ron.

Woman: I can't believe you got him on camera.

Shock of all shocks!

I never thought that would happen.

Wilson: It seemed like Kathy

really perked up when Diane told her

that their lawsuit had forced the school district

to implement diversity training

that included sexual orientation.

Diane: We were the first people

in all these years

to stand up to our school system.

And it was because what they were doing was wrong.

Yeah.

Springer: It breaks my heart.

I mean, I could just cry.

And that there are other kids out there

going through similar situations --

None of this should ever happen.

I don't know that I'll change the world,

but if I can even just educate a few people, like,

look, they weren't put on this earth to be tortured like this.

We're getting ready for the grand opening.

And all of a sudden,

Diane Gramley sent out a letter

warning everyone about how dangerous we are and --

we have this homosexual agenda.

And her brother goes to work with a guy

whose minister stood right in the pulpit

and said to boycott the Latonia.

What?

Where is that coming from?

Diane Gramley.

She's started an all-in, all-out

campaign against us.

And she's saying to people,

"don't do business with the Latonia"?

Yes.

Because it's run by a lesbian couple.

Yes -- we just wanted to have a business.

If all the city wants is churches,

then what do they need

an Art Deco theater for?

Wilson: As we were dealing with anti-gay attitudes

right there in the community,

the state of Pennsylvania

was considering expanding its anti-discrimination law

to include sexual orientation.

Kathy was invited to tell her story

about discrimination at C.J.'s school at a public hearing.

I'm not a public speaker.

But -- and I don't know what I'd say.

I just, I need to hear how it's going and --

Wilson: I've printed out a copy of the law,

so we can look at it. Okay, good, good.

Yeah, that would be good.

Where you see the underline,

it's trying to add "sexual orientation,

Gender identity, or expression."

You know, I don't understand

where they even get off not including

gay and lesbian.

You know, let's get, you know,

our heads out of our asses here.

Gramley: On June 13th, A homosexual special rights

Bill was introduced in Harrisburg.

This is Diane Gramley with the American Family Assocition

of Pennsylvania, with a call to action.

Advocates for the passage of these bills

deny they are special rights bills,

But in what other situation is a law specifically written

to include a group of people

simply because of the sexual activity in which they engage?

They have never been required to sit in the back of the bus

or drink from designated water fountains.

They've never been considered less than human,

as African Americans once were.

Homosexual activists are trying

to hijack the civil rights movement

by pulling the victim card

and trying to seek the normalization

of their destructive lifestyle.

Wilson: People like Diane

are using misinformation

to stir up irrational fears, to kind of

push people back into the closet.

It's not going to happen.

But when they stir up that fear,

that's what creates the problems.

That's what puts people like C.J. at risk.

At risk. Okay.

Because those messages

go out there and say, "Oh, those are

the people we're supposed to hate."

You know, can you imagine, I mean,

just seeing somebody at a party and saying,

"Oh, that's the faggot.

"Let's go, you know, punch him, literally

knock him out --"

Can I imagine that? Oh, yeah.

I-I can imagine that.

I mean, I was that type of a person at one time.

Now, that may be shocking to you.

But in my journey in life, I'm no longer like that,

And a big part of that

Is my Christianity, my faith in Christ.

You know, I truly believe that Jesus Christ

has changed my character, so that I don't do that,

nor do I want to do those things anymore.

I mean, those are wrong. It's wrong to do that.

It's wrong to violate...

You know, anybody.

I became a different person.

Do you think there will come a time, though, when we

don't disagree about

the place that gay, lesbian,

bisexual, and trans people have in the world?

Maybe aspects of it. I don't know.

I don't know.

You know...

I'd have to...

That would be a big -- that would be

a big change for me, you know?

Wilson: My interactions with Pastor Micklos

Were odd.

Ever since the wedding announcement,

I felt like I had been battling

against people who use religion

to deny gay people basic rights of visibility.

Pastor Micklos was open to looking at things

in a different way.

I'd never thought I'd become friends

with someone who didn't view me as his equal.

But his willingness to examine his own beliefs

was helping me to see that not all religious people

fell into the box that I often put them in.

Good afternoon, joe, how are you doing?

Wilson: Hi, Diane, how are you?

I wanted to introduce you to Kathy Springer and C.J.

Oh, okay, good, nice to meet you.

Thank you, it's nice to meet you.

Wilson: C.J. Is the young boy who was in Franklin high school

and was experiencing harassment and discrimination.

Okay, the one that was on your video?

Wilson: Yeah. What do you think of that?

Well, I need to get in here to the meeting, excuse me.

Woman: Diane Gramley

From the American Family Association

of Pennsylvania.

Gramley: Civil rights protections

have long been fought for

by disenfranchised groups of people.

African Americans led the fight for civil rights,

seeking the right to vote and to no longer

be required to sit at the back of the bus.

But a person's skin color or national origin

is unchangeable.

Wilson: Again, Gramley was trying to use race

as a wedge to divide.

But this time, she was dealing with legislators

who were experienced in civil rights law.

I was hoping they'd be more open to Kathy's testimony.

Springer: I'm sorry, I'm already nervous.

I'm not a public speaker.

At this time I'd like to tell you

about my son, C.J. Bills.

At the time, he was 15 years old

and attended a public school in Venango county.

There was an incident on a school bus one day.

He was on a field trip.

There were teachers monitoring

this whole trip.

Kids were throwing things

at him, calling him "faggot,"

"queer," "gay," asking if he wanted

to perform sex acts on them.

The teachers just turned their heads

and acted like it never happened.

We've had our house

threatened to be burned down.

We've gotten phone calls by these boys, saying,

"we want to see what color a faggot bleeds."

He was vulnerable, he was scared,

he didn't want to go to school.

His grades were dropping.

He was suicidal.

I, um, I just have one more thing

to say -- I hope it never comes to your family,

where one of your children are tortured

for being who they are.

Thank you.

Sometimes black people have a problem

with people who are different

comparing their experiences

with the black experience.

Because of your experience,

you're going to be able to help other young people

so that maybe tomorrow this doesn't happen.

God bless you for it.

Be who you are, no matter what.

Thank you very much.

Springer: Thank you.

Wilson: Diane and group, we actually wanted

to ask you how you respond

to the very personal testimonies of C.J. And Kathy.

Like I said at the beginning of my testimony,

I thought it was awful information.

And the Franklin school district should not have done to him

what they permitted to do.

So will you join us

in fighting discrimination -- No --

Against gay and lesbian people in Franklin?

Not, we're not going to --

We're not going to join you.

Why not? No.

Because of the roads that that will open.

Wilson: Kathy's testimony may not have influenced Gramley,

but it did have an impact on the legislators.

After the hearing,

one of the staff offered to help Kathy and C.J. Contact the ACLU

to press a legal case against their school district.

Springer: Prior to this, I figured, the ACLU --

What the heck?

All they can do is tell me no, you know.

Well, the next thing I know,

I got a return phone call.

And we had a great lawyer

From the ACLU.

Wilson: What do you think about the Latonia?

Boy: I'm glad that Roxanne got it,

because there was a guy that wanted to scrap

the whole place out piece by piece.

And look at that -- that picture

of that chandelier.

It's just, like, scary!

It could fall any second!

And plus, it's great!

Wilson: Just two days before the grand opening,

Roxanne and linda got a call from a neighboring

businessman about their "homosexual agenda"

at the Latonia.

What happened on that phone call you got?

Hitchcock: I said,

"if you want to listen to people like Diane Gramley,"

I said, "you're welcome to, but," I said,

"you know what?

"we're trying to do something

Wonderful for the community here."

And I said, "I want to know what Diane Gramley

Has done to promote the community."

Yeah.

"besides her witch hunts."

Yeah! I said, "she's always

on a witch hunt about something."

Did you say that?

Yes, I did.

Henderson: The negative messages sting so bad

that it takes, probably,

100 positive to keep you on track --

when it's that hateful.

Wilson: After Kathy and C.J.'s case

about discrimination at the high school

got attention in the community,

the local college brought in

a gay Christian performing arts group from Pittsburgh

to help people see things from a youth perspective.

Somehow, I managed to get

C.J. And Pastor Micklos to attend.

♫ my soul ♫

Woman: I hope that our performance

puts a face to gay christians

and puts a face

to gay people.

There's a lot of people that don't know things

about gay people, and they have the stereotypical

assumptions of gay people.

What you just said about stereotypes,

is that reversed at times, as well?

As far as gay people having

stereotypes about straight people?

Um...

Man: Yeah. I do it.

I stereotype straight people

as dressing badly and --

Thanks for coming

How did you guys meet?

We wrote a letter to the editor,

and they... captured us.

And we became friends.

Awesome.

But I'm sorry that part of the reason

you're not in school is because violence

was perpetrated against you.

Not good under any circumstances.

Bills: How did he come around

like that?

Wilson: I guess that he's been

thinking about it for a little bit.

Wow.

At times, we all get stereotyped, don't we?

Huh?

Sometimes we're not so bad as our first impressions are.

Woman: You know there are people

who don't care what this guy's spreading.

And even if they listen, they have seen you at work,

And they have seen everything you've done.

I know, but we got a double whammy against us.

You know that.

I know you do,

But you have to not let this

take away from what you've worked so hard for.

Please put on your face and say,

"you're not going to do this to us."

And make this just be as wonderful

an event as it can be,

and is going to be.

What are we going to say?

Latonia!

All: Latonia!

See? That's what we needed.

Man: I told joe that you and Roxanne

have been working sometimes 18-hour days getting this done.

I can't imagine, because there's many weeks

that I don't work 18 hours.

But it hasn't been us by ourselves.

We've had a lot of people helping,

and if you're looking now, there's an army up there,

helping us get the room ready.

For KQW 96.3 at the Latonia,

I'm Sam Gordon.

Gordon: Why are you doing it?

Woman: Because I love Rox and Linda

so much.

That's the only reason why!

Joy!

I'm probably going to cry.

It's -- I -- people are coming through

to let us know.

♫ oh, oh, oh, and I'm ♫

♫ wrong, yeah ♫

♫ but I'm still the toughest one ♫

Littler: Listen to this.

"The Latonia's very bold

"and features one of the biggest

chandeliers in the United States!"

That baby is what I call something!

Wilson: Roxanne and Linda could count on the support

of their close friends.

But the challenge in small towns

like Oil City is getting regular people

to show their support when it could really make a difference.

It remained to be seen whether the community at large

would show up for the Latonia's grand opening.

Okay.

Wilson: Clutch all the way to the floor,

left foot. That one?

Yeah, but with your left foot.

And don't let it up.

Or you'll go right through that garage door.

Now keep it down and put it in reverse,

which is way, way, way back.

That way?

Over, yeah.

Oh, this is a whole new experience of the world here.

♫ hey, hey ♫

I'm not used to change.

♫ remember when we used to play ♫

♫ out in your backyard almost every day? ♫

This is awesome!

And he trusts me.

That's sweet!

♫ hey, hey ♫

♫ remember when we used to ♫

Wilson: After two years,

Kathy and C.J., with the help of the ACLU,

finally reached a settlement with the school district

that included a promise

of comprehensive anti-discrimination training.

C.J. And I drove over to the high school

To meet Kathy and the ACLU lawyer.

They were observing the training

to make sure it included

sexual orientation.

We had to drive my car, because C.J.'s

$150 special had already been scrapped.

And when you stop, clutch in, if you're in gear.

Clutch down, all the way to the floor.

All right.

Clutch, man!

Every time you stop, you gotta use the clutch.

So, how'd everything go?

I wish they would have had

this in-service training program two years ago.

Maybe we could have avoided

all of these problems.

I thought it was very good.

I was very pleased. I was very pleased.

My hands are going to freeze off.

Let's go to the restaurant.

Okay, dude, let me hear your comments.

What do you think about that? That's awesome.

I want to find out if he has, like,

more programs set up,

like, same thing as this, or different ones, or...

Springer: It's taken us two years,

but it's a step that I never thought

would happen.

Wilson: And quite a journey

for you, I'll say.

Yeah, I'm just a little old back-hills mom.

Yeah.

I -- I --

I'll keep being that voice.

Even if my son moves away from this area,

which he'd like very much to do,

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm still going to be here,

still going to stand up against the bigots

until they wake up and...

see the world for what it is.

Welcome to the Latonia.

Thank you.

Woman: The spirit of the building

is alive again, you know?

It just is.

I think this is just another piece

that's going to come alive and, and add

to all the other things that are happening here.

Woman: Oh, I'm excited

about the vision and the energy

that people have here to bring this alive.

It's exciting.

The chandelier is gorgeous. Yeah.

I can't wait to see it lit up.

Henderson: Thank you all for coming

this evening..

This is a fantastic night.

When you start on a large project like this,

you need to celebrate

some mile markers.

But what's exciting

to me is watching what's happening

throughout Oil City.

It means a lot to me to see all these faces,

to see all these people who are behind this project.

And it hasn't always been easy.

and, uh, I think I'm going to

Have to turn it over to Rox right now.

My partner, Roxanne.

Okay, Roxy, are we ready?

Hitchcock: Okay.

All right, One...

Two...Three.

Henderson: We actually had imagined that moment from --

For a long time.

Hitchcock: Just seeing the community's reaction to that

just made it all worthwhile.

That was cool!

Hitchcock: We love this old building.

We're fixing it up.

We want to turn it into something viable

and economically reasonable for Oil City,

but in the same token, we're giving something

back to the city.

It's all about being able to be ourselves

without somebody questioning every

motive we might have.

Yeah, what they call an agenda,

we call our lives.

Right! Right!

♫ Everything feels like enough ♫

Man, on P.A.: We come against

The strongholds of sin in this city

In the name of Jesus,

And we tear those strongholds down

In the name of Jesus.

Father, I thank you that there is

An army of believers,

Ready to take this city for Jesus Christ.

♫ I want to see Jesus lifted high ♫

♫ a banner that flies across this land ♫

♫ that all men will see the truth and know ♫

♫ he is the way... ♫

Wilson: Diane?

Diane?

I just wanted to ask you one more thing, Diane.

Wilson: It had taken me a long time to get there,

but in that moment, as Diane was treating me

like I didn't exist,

I finally started to see

that battling with her wasn't a useful way

to help make change in my small hometown.

Change was starting to happen, not through confrontation,

but because of people who decided

not to leave, like I did so many years ago.

People who had the courage to start living their lives

just a little more openly.

And because other people in the community

were willing to meet them halfway.

You know, there have been times

when I'm, like, "How can they think that?"

You know?

Sure. And, um, you know, I'm in a different place

with that now -- I mean, I really respect

how you see the world

and how it's made you into the people

that, um, opened us up in the way you have, so...

you know, a lot of times, we're afraid of the unknown.

and you were the unknown quotient.

You could talk about the issues,

but the reality is that there are people behind there

that we need to be sensitive to

and try to look at their perspective

and where they're at, and, I mean,

the benefit of the whole thing, I think,

is that we, we have a friendship.

You know?

Hopefully, we're growing as human beings,

you know, through it all.

Bills: I'll get that.

Do you see my cold air intake?

Are you seeing them fuses?

Wilson: I can't say I'm much

of a car person, but it looks nice.

Bills: $4,388.68.

Oh, yeah, I remember every dime.

Where'd you get that kind of loot?

Off of that there, what do you call it,

ACLU thing.

Good, you made it.

Yeah, you know it!

Can we go for a ride?

If you want to.

You take it easy.

It's like it ain't gonna go...

♫ today is fit for rent ♫

♫ I'm feelin' so unique ♫

♫ I'm feelin' really funky ♫

♫ I kind of like this breeze ♫

♫ couldn't speak ♫

♫ or dream ♫

♫ or am I aware ♫

♫ sometimes it's hard to tell ♫

♫ the difference I made that said ♫

It rides like a cadillac.

♫ smany lonely days ♫

♫ but today is ♫

Bills: I went from being a jock,

an athlete, a basketball player,

baseball player.

Then it turned around to, I was a queer,

I was a faggot, I was no longer

the guy that dislocated your shoulder

in football practice -- I was just a sissy,

because of what I think looks hot.

And whatever I think looks good

just automatically makes me into a little fairy.

But it doesn't.

Because I'm still me, and I'll always

remain me.

I'm not going to change.

♫ set me free ♫

♫ set me ♫ ♫ set me free ♫

♫ set me free ♫ ♫ come on and set me free ♫

♫ I gotta set me free ♫

♫ set me free ♫

♫ set me ♫

♫ set me free ♫

♫ come on and set me free ♫

♫ I've gotta set me free ♫

♫ free, free, free, free ♫

♫ free, free, free, free ♫

♫ free, free, free, free ♫

♫ free, free, free ♫

♫ I finally know who I am ♫

♫ I finally made my own plan ♫

♫ I finally understand ♫

♫ I own my freedom in my hand ♫