In the Life: Ep. 1110, "Hands-on Heroes"

this month on in the life we're highlighting Heroes of the gay and lesbian Community just ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Los Angeles gay activist Phil Wilson has one mission to mobilize the African-American Community against the spread of AIDS AIDS is a disease of poverty it's a disease of the most vulnerable Among Us the recent sex scandal in the Catholic church has spawned a dangerous game of blame the gays we find out who's taking a stand when it comes to this serious case of scapegoating I think it's a mistake to confuse the issue of homos you know homosexuality uh or gay priest with the issue of pedophilia they're not the same issue also once again we'll salute Father Michael judge a gay priest whose heroics became world-renowned on September 11th and all of a sudden his uh fire department beepers went off and he was out the door and that was the last I saw in real tooreal filmmaker and Minister Mackie alustin embarks on a spiritual journey in his new film questioning Faith Confessions of a seminarian in Princess Anne Maryland these two friends of fowl are saving the animal world one chicken at a time people arrive at an understanding of animal activism in very different ways um for us it was just a logical widening of other human rights plus Andy hum goes out and about and our resident commentator Harvey firestein gives us something to talk about in outakes all of this and More in Our Hero's edition of In the life in the life is funded in part by the H van anaran Foundation additional support provided by the Ford Foundation the Gil Foundation The Pride Foundation the Ted Snowden Foundation the auto has charitable trust the Collingwood Foundation the Reed Williams foundation and the annual support of in the Life members like you welcome to the show I'm Katherine Linton on this edition of In The Life we're going to introduce you to a few Heroes people who have committed their lives to making a difference not for Glory or financial gain but because it's part of who they are they're not only a credit to the gay community but to everyone everywhere our first hero is Phil Wilson a man whose mission is getting the African-American community in which AIDS is at an all-time high to face the facts it's been a hard-fought battle in a community facing racism poverty and poor Access to Health Care Phil solution get out there and teach people that their lives are worth saving that's why he founded the African-American AIDS policy and Training Institute in Los Angeles there's a huge AIDS crisis for the africanamerican community 62% of all women with AIDS are black 40% of all men with AIDS are black now when you have prevalence rates and incidence rates among young black men that are going through the roof uh yeah there's a crisis going on uh and we need to do something about it and the we know is both the gay community and know the African-American Community we all need to do something about it in 1999 Phil Wilson mobilized a group of colleagues to look at the epidemic in a systematic way and the African-American AIDS policy and Training Institute was formed the Institute is the only black HIV AIDS think tank in the country we train people in the basic science of AIDS we train people in organizational development we train people in prevention in policy we disseminate information through a number of ways through a newsletter through a website uh through events from what we call a uniquely and unapologetically uh black point of view the motto of the organization is our people our problem our solution and what that means is that we do things for us by us we believe that within the black community you know nothing's going to happen unless we start to take action and responsibility for that the Institute is located in one of the hardest hit parts of Los Angeles the Pico Union District the epicenter of the epidemic we have people who are Korean uh we have Latinos we have African-Americans also this is one of the places from which folks who were incarcerated are released there's also sex workers who work here and um there is a large number of substance use going on around here as well despite the AIDS crisis in the African-American Community many activists believe that black organizations have been slow to develop an infrastructure dedicated to fighting the epidemic if there weren't gay AIDS organizations we would not have been as effective as we were in the gay community in fighting the disease you know and so you think we would have learned that if you want to deal with the disease among women or you want to deal with the disease among ethnic minorities that there have to be in strong indigenous organizations to deal with those diseases in those communities and I don't think that there's a commitment uh to doing that and that's race driven I think that there are always things that white organizations can bring into the black community but I think ultimately for Effective work to happen black organizations need to be intimately involved in that process while there is a call for black organizations to take action many are hesitant to add AIDS programming to their agendas because they are already dealing with a host of other issues the crisis in the African-American Community around HIV and AIDS is from a number of things now part of it is still rooted in the history and the perception that aids was you know a gay disease part of it is rooted in homophobia in Black communities the black institutions are still dealing with violence and other health issues and unemployment issues and underemployment and infant mortality and civil rights issues all of those things are still on the plate and so people have to juggle how they spend their time and and the resources uh that they have uh and there and there's denial across the board now there's denial AIDS is a very frightening thing and if people can not deal with it often they will choose not to deal with it the institute's mission is to organize other black groups including civil rights organizations churches sororities and fraternities and assist them in developing HIV and AIDS education and treatment programs that can be incorporated into what they already do this Candlelight vigil and March held in the watt section of Los Angeles is an example of the the institute's collaboration with faith-based civil rights and service organizations people ask me what kind of motivated me to become an activist to the degree that that I am and part of it is race and part of it is class and part of it is know age and geography I grew up in Chicago in the late 50s and throughout the 60s and that was a time of lots of activities I was a young boy doing the Martin Luther King marches in Chicago and my parents were actively engaged I saw things that did not seem to me to be right in 1980 I just come out my partner and I went to the doctor and our doctors talked to us about this thing that he had seen and it involved gay men somehow and it involved swollen lyt nodes but he didn't know anything and and my partner or I said that our lymph nose had been swollen for some time and so the doctor took uh a biopsy and discovered that our lymph noes were abnormal but he didn't know what that meant shortly after that we moved to Los Angeles and it became pretty obvious what was happening our friends were getting sick and our friends were dying if you were a person of conscience you had to get involved and so we got involved in the beginning days because we felt we needed to know we felt that it was going to be about us in the early 80s AIDS was considered to be a gay white male disease now with the current staggering numbers of African-Americans stricken with HIV and AIDS there are concerns that racism has played a role in the epidemic racism particularly is a player in the hivas pandemic because race drives so many things in this country there was a study that was released recently that showed if you are black the quality of your HIV Health Care is less than if you are white and and that crosses class lines and geography uh and and insurance and employment and health status in an effort to study the effects of HIV and AIDS as it affects communities of color The Institute established Crossroads Medical a Brooklyn new york-based model program Dr Diana Williamson is its medical director I wouldn't say that traditional white organizations have failed African American communities I would say that um the majority population which is the traditional white population in general doesn't understand African-American communities and many times they think that they do and that the increasing numbers um show that the government pharmaceutical companies and traditional uh White organizations have not understood there is a major epidemic of HIV but there's an epidemic within the epidemic and that's an epidemic related to poverty and the poverty is more important than the risk factors in terms of the body fluids and people who are poor do things that they would not ordinarily do if they weren't hungry and if they weren't homeless and that the social structure in the United States allows people who are poor to continue to have the burden of disease that we don't see in other social economic status uh classes and that is the root of it it's not African-Americans don't wear condoms it's poor people in general don't wear condoms AIDS is a disease of poverty it's a disease of the most vulnerable Among Us you know and and as a result of that you know race is an issue and poverty is an issue and class is an issue and gender is an issue um and on the flip side of that it seems that there is a belief in parts of the gay community that this is no longer a gay issue uh and for me that's problematic on two fronts it's problematic because clearly it is still a gay issue minimum L is an issue among gay men of color you know and so either we're making a decision that gaying of color don't count which is a concern that I have but secondly it's an issue for the gay community because in the early 80s and the mid 80s and the early '90s we said that we were going to be involved in fighting this thing until it was over and I remember posters that said until there's a cure well there's not a cure yet and it's not over and we have know a commitment a promise uh that we have to keep for an activist fighting the AIDS crisis is not only challenging it's life consuming and for Phil this battle is deeply personal part of the challenge in doing this work is trying to have a life so being at home is really important also at home involves you know spending time with my nephews my uncles being gay and having AIDS that's not an issue for me because you know we family and we stick together we love each other no matter what you know and I keep my uncle healthy and you know he keeps me healthy we keep each other going and I'm convinced that particularly in dressing HIV and AIDS with young people we're not going to get there just by a 101 stuff and teaching about prevention and teaching about treatment I think we're going to get there at least with black youth and finding ways to get at young people to think about their lives which will influence the choices that they make and will determine whether or not they put themselves at risk or not I travel with him uh we did a thing in South Africa and uh you know there's a lot of AIDS going on in South Africa we did the March and you know we did all the um the things uh dealing with the conference and stuff so you know it's constantly process goes on and on well I've been extremely privileged in that people talk to me and they think think that the work that we do here has touched their lives and so I I have people who write me or call me and say I saw you do know a speech or I saw something you wrote I speak with people regularly who have decided to reconcile relationships with their families you know I've Speak I've spoken to people who say that they reclaimed their churches I mean that is like really remarkable thing to have happened to you um and I'm grateful for that another way the African-American AIDS policy and Training Institute reaches the community is through peer Educators who provide patients with important HIV information they also develop individualized treatment plans and assist patients in advocating for Better Health Care coming up later in the show we'll meet two women who have found the answer to the age-old question why did the chicken cross the road this is the gentleman he loves the ladies and on real toore will be director Macky Austin in preview his new documentary questioning faith I can't explain why God would let so much so many terrible things take place but watching people walk through their lives and be present for each other somehow provided a solution plus will pay tribute to the beloved father Michael judge a gay Catholic priest who will go down in history as one of the heroes of 911 I came out on one of the talk shows in June of '93 and I started to tour and the first place I went was Kansas City Missouri and I did a CLP called um I think it was called Stanford's Comedy House and this guy named Fred Phelps decided he wanted to pick at me now for those of you who don't know who Fred is he's this guy that has the godhatesfags.com website and he goes to people's funerals who died of AIDS and pickets them he's an awful person and he's 5 minutes away from his own trial and I had no idea how it would make me feel having all these people in front of the club picking me and it really scared me because I was beat up a lot as a kid for being gay and it brought back a lot of really uncomfortable memories but across the street were these kids picketing the pickers carrying signs with covers of videos of movies that I had done and they asked for autographs and were so so sweet and so supportive and it was just so touching and then I walked into the club got ready to do my show and before I went on I got a standing ovation before I said a word I had no idea the power of coming out I'm Jason Stewart and you're watching in the live here's our resident manab about town Andy hum without and about from Penguins to pridefest from glitter to gadabouts July is the month to get out and get gay I'm Andy hum and it's time to go out and about first a news update in June of 2001 the bruised and broken body of transgendered Native American teen Fred Martinez Jr was found in a ravine outside Cortez Colorado Martinez had been savagely beaten with a rock and left to Die the murderer then 18-year-old Shawn Murphy reportedly bragged to his friends that he'd quote beaten up a after his arrest he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder to avoid a trial and possible death sentence in may he petitioned to withdraw his guilty plea but then decided to accept his sentence which was due in early June despite numerous hate related murders ERS in Colorado the state has no hate crimes law on its books Martinez's murder has added fresh impetus to pass legislation protecting every citizen though the recovery period has ended at Ground Zero gay and lesbian Partners who lost loved ones still struggle to rebuild their lives often without the relief funds that are readily available to heterosexual married couples the latest news for surviving same-sex Partners is that they will be eligible for money from the September 11th victim compensation fund if there is no objection from the blood relatives of the deceased if the next of kin does object those funds could go to the relatives instead of the domestic partner Left Behind cases involving heterosexual domestic Partners will be reviewed in the same way the international gay and lesbian Human Rights Commission or Eagle herk is a San Francisco based group that aims to end human rights violations against lesbian gay bisexual and transgendered people worldwide at recent events in the Bay Area and New York activists from Columbia Egypt and China were honored with Eagle herk's felipa Award for their outstanding advocacy and courage from same-sex conjugal visit rights to censorship the honores have waged inspiring battles in the fight against violence discrimination and Prejudice in their home countries they're here they're queer and they just might be headed your way Mike Glatz and Benji nickim are the brain Powers behind young gay America a web-based traveling Outreach organization what we do is drive around North America interviewing G lesbian transgendered intersex bisexual whatever youth in the aims of reducing isolation and sort of weaving a threat of communication Across America we thought also we could bring resources to places that can't get them because we could connect with groups in DC in New York La San Francisco kids can read about Mike and Benji's exploits online and email in their own stories we've noticed that gay youth actually really legitimately are happy everywhere like even in a place like Helena even in a place like Boise it's amazing it's just they're everywhere it's like a critical mass we've reached safic seagulls same-sex saltwater specimens what new wonders could the New York Aquarium on Coney Island possibly have in store how about gay Penguins meet Cass and wendle two gay birds of a feather that flock together I sort of figured out that they might both be males and then we did a blood test a couple of years ago which confirmed that Cass seems to be the more dominant of the couple Wendell is is a little more nervous bird on average most of these birds are monogamous most of the couples have been together for 10 or so years so the next time you're bird watching pay close attention to our tuxedo friends you may find you have more in common with them than you think it happens just in animals just like it does in the human animal the City of Brotherly Love was the place to be for pridefest America's 10th Annual cont Fab this past April Pride frest America has grown into uh the largest annual glbt forum for our International Community this year we have over 60 programs and 80 Regional National and international organizations symposia panels parties and street fairs were the order of the day during the week-long meeting of the minds that brought together some of the world's top gay and lesbian movers and shakers like real world star Chris Beckman and MTV pry Brian Gren the um African-American civil rights movement was an American Civil Rights Movement feminism was an international Civil Rights Movement we are an international civil rights movement and and we are at the epicenter of that movement right now it's important that we have an annual Forum where we get together in all of our component parts and look at where we've been where we're at and perhaps where we should be going to kick off our cultural Roundup it's off to New York's Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue that was the venue for a recent concert featuring contemporary composers whose lives have been affected by HIV and AIDS sponsored by the estate project tonight's event was part of the state project music archive which is our effort to preserve and promote the work of composers living with AIDS or lost to AIDS we've reached out to composers living with HIV and AIDS trying to help them in very practical ways about their career to uh offset the effects that the disease may have brought in their lives I actually didn't start composing professionally until I came out about the virus my sister said what do you want to do and I said I want to write music the estate giving me organizational uh assistance and the kind of inspiration that I needed and so it this is an amazing amazing kind of thing I think it's fantastic that these concerts are taking place to draw attention not only to composers who have passed away but to celebrate musicians living with HIV and still being vitally creative and it's not just music the estate project also works to preserve and promote all manner of creative Endeavor to quote Ned RoR there's no such thing as gay music there's only gay composers and that's our Focus if you treat GoGo dancing like an art you get treated like an art Philippine born in La breed performance artist Noel alumit is quickly emerging as a voice to be reckoned with his One Man shows the rice room scenes from a bar about desire survival sex fate and joy and master of the Miss Universe about a gay man's search for beauty in an un beauutiful world have seduced audiences across the country my first show explore gay asian life my second show is a little more personal and now Noel's gone literary letters to Montgomery Clift is the coming of age of a young gay filipino old boy um during the 1970s and his family was um abducted by the Marcus regime um in the Philippines he sent to the United States to live a life one of the ways that he can deal with the fact that his parents are gone is by holding on to and obsessing over the wonderful film actor Montgomery Clift this book is about endurance this book is about coming out this book is about going home and what home means to people log on to inthe tv.org to find links to many of the organizations we profiled this month I'm Andy hum and you've been out and about still to come on this edition of In The Life documentarian ad Minister Macky alustin explores the world of religion and his new film questioning Faith whatever we believe whether we don't believe in a God or do or believe in something else something is going to hit us something in life is going to take place that's going to make us question what we believe we'll meet two mother hens who have created a sanctuary where Wayward chickens can come home to roost and Harvey firin lets off some steam and out takes all this and more as in the Life continues I'm Judy Shephard and you are watching in the life homosexuality and Catholicism it's a subject we first covered in 1995 and one that's back in the news in connection with the sex abuse Scandal rocking the very foundations of the Catholic cic Church here's in the Liv's Jonathan kart with more experts on sexual offenders warned that the recent scandal in the Catholic church has caused two very different issues to become erroneously linked homosexuality and sexual abuse they state that homosexuals are no more likely than heterosexuals to become pedophiles I think it's a mistake to confuse the issue of homos you know homosexuality uh or gay priests with the issue of pedophilia they're not the same issue homosexuality is not pedophilia people who have sex with children are not gay they are pedophiles despite these findings some church officials including the vatican's press secretary and the president of the US Bishop's conference have put the blame for the sex abuse Scandal on gay priests in a homy in New York St Patrick's Cathedral monsenor Eugene Clark even argued that it was a quote grave mistake end quote to allow gays in the priesthood there was um a response to mon senior Clark's uh remarks a public response uh at St Patrick's Cathedral I was there myself and the simple message was um that the church should not be scapegoating the gay community for the abuse we are calling for repudiation of those statements uh those inaccurate and harmful statements uh the hierarchy well knows that gay priests are not the problem the issue is whether or not a person can keep a vow of celibacy not the issue what is the sexual orientation of the person so there are obviously people who believe that gay people cannot keep their vows I don't think that they are correct I don't think that a person's sexual orientation will give gives you any indication of whether or not a person can or cannot keep their vows the Vatican has already announced that there will be special visits to all of the seminaries in the United States and I fear that there will be a very strong attempt to weed out any gay candidates for the priesthood I think they're also may be an attempt to um pressure uh gay priests lost in the debate about gays in the priesthood is an acknowledgement of the good work that the majority of gay priests do for their congregations priests like the late Father Michael judge who died a hero in the line of duty on September 11th clearly this was a man who was who was a wonderful priest um everyone agreed on that he had hundreds of friends um but the fact that he was gay um certainly uh informed his work it it it it helped him gain a sense of empathy for the people on the margins of society remembering priests like Father Michael judge may help Focus the Catholic faithful on the real issues involving priests and sex abuse I don't believe the problem is is is you know homosexuality in the priesthood the problem is is really uh a breakdown in the trust between the church officials and their parishioners that's a bigger problem for them my hope is that uh the many uh clergy both gay and straight who realize that the issue of homosexuality is simply a diversion from the real issue of sexual abuse and the real issue of authority in the church and how it is how it is arrived at I I hope that those priests will will speak loudly and clearly in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks much has been said about the life and untimely death of Father Michael judge tonight we pay tribute once again to the celebrated hero who was a brave fire chaplain a compassionate priest and a steadfast friend to the gay and lesbian Community a picture was the world's introduction to Father Michael judge a snapshot of a man killed in the line of duty beuty moments after the attack on the World Trade Center in an instant his lifeless body blanketed in the dust in debris of Destruction Father Michael became a national hero but as the weeks and months since the terror attack slip away a more complex portrait of Father Michael is coming to light like all of us he was a complicated person but Above All Else he was a priest Michael's character was defined very much by his priesthood and being a Franciscan Father Brian Carol is a fellow frier at St Francis of aisi church in Manhattan the two of them shared a friendship that lasted more than 20 years Michael was a a really dear friend of mine and not only a dear friend but uh I'd consider him a role model we walking down the street and he would hand out money to anybody and by the time we got to a restaurant we didn't have anything to uh spend we couldn't get dinner we'd end up getting a cup of coffee because he would have given everything away as fire chaplain Father Michael also devoted much of his life ministering to New York City's Fire Department his church is directly across the street from one of the firehouses he always had the right thing to say he always put you at ease if you had a problem you could talk to him and uh he just made our life easier you know I don't know how we're going to replace him many of his friends and colleagues have called him a bridge between communities Father Michael also reached across denominations and forged a strong friendship with Reverend Fanny Ericson of New York's Riverside Church I would say he was deep brilliant worried a lot but he was Brave he had a bit of the leprechaun in him and he really understood what Ministry was about since his death we have learned this man's Ministry went far beyond religion and the fire department it extended into the gay and lesbian Community many gay newspapers and magazines have profiled Michael judge not only concerning his Outreach but also frankly discussing the Catholic priest's own sexuality trust me he'd probably be delighted to see him himself on the front cover of U The Advocate magazine along with all the other hunks that normally fill that page Brendan Fay one of the driving forces behind the gay Irish organization lavender and green would certainly know he and his partner were good friends of Father Michael judge I would say um being gay and being Catholic for many it's a tremendous conflict and I would say for Michael the challenge was not being gay in Catholic the challenge was being honest and acceptance one of Father Michael's riskiest moves also serves as one of his defining moments in March 2000 New York City's first all-inclusive St Patrick's Day Parade took place in Queens and openly embraced gays and lesbians Father Michael helped fund the event and to the Delight of organizers he showed up in his cassic marched in the parade and offered a prayer give us good health peace happiness to Joy the parade and a wonderful blessing for the day amen amen there was wonderful spirit in the parade um but to be honest there was also the booze the screams and as a a Franciscan as a priest he was the focus and target of some of the Boo and the screams that day he had a terrific sense of humor and he'd ah Jesus he'd said the height of Madness God help them you know on October 11th hundreds of people packed a small Chapel in Manhattan for a ceremony called a month mind an Irish tradition of remembering a loved one through stories told exactly 1 month after their death lavender and green organized the event which was filled with people gay and straight who knew Father Michael he was a very affable a very sociable sort of a man and uh he moved in all sorts of circles he always seemed to capture a little bit of you a little essence of you and um he was always one of those people when you sore made you smile many of those touched by Father Michael's death never even knew him including Tom Ryan an openly gay New York City firefighter I had I had heard that he was a gay priest and um I'm out gay firefighter president of firefight EMS and I never wanted to compromise his position with the church and and that and I regret that now that I didn't get to know him and he put himself at risk by revealing himself for example to uh people in the gay community when they needed to have their lives affirmed and speaking in the third person wouldn't do Michael would reveal himself to them and give them the gift of himself but on September 11th after the planes crashed into the Twin Towers Father Michael would give of himself one final time I said Mike there's been a disaster uh a plane just H the World Trade Center I saw and he jumped up uh from the couch and said oh my God and I said they're going to need you and all of a sudden his uh fire department beepers went off and he was out the door and that was the last I saw him so when I got the call um it was such uh it was so sad and in fact it was truly like I had lost lost a lover lost a friend and and we have he had a special gift given to him by by God you know he was uh the first one everyone who was killed down there was given a number and he was number one so we like to say that that was because he was there to lead everybody into heaven in 1950 a United States Senate report targeted homosexuals as a government security risk Untold numbers of suspected gay men and lesbians lost their jobs today just over 50 years later the Human Rights Campaign has identified well over 2,000 companies colleges and universities state and local governments and federal agencies that have written non-discrimination policies covering sexual orientation I'm Sam baren you're watching in the life in this edition of real toore we'll take a look at a compelling documentary called questioning Faith Confessions of a seminarian after the death of a close friend from AIDS award-winning filmmaker and out gay Minister Mackie Alon was devastated so he set out to explore life death and religion and through his journey he encountered people with a wide range of religious backgrounds each wrestling with their own faith in the face of tragedy or hardship questioning faith is about what happens to people's religious convictions when crisis strikes and it was born when uh I was at Seminary studying to become a minister I lost my close friend friend Alan Smith to AIDS just as he began his ministry we were at Seminary together and uh we're almost like Brothers two white gay Southern men who shared a sense of humor and who really believed that God wanted us to be ministers gay men yes and ministers too and uh when Allan died I think it made me question everything that I had believed today I think in making a film about it I thought this is something that everybody faces in life whatever we believe whether we don't believe in a God or do or believe in something else something's going to hit us something in life is going to take place that's going to make us question what we believe it was very important to me in questioning Faith to tell many stories not just my own story not just the story of my friend who I lost but to take the opportunity of being in Seminary and wrestling with faith myself to weave together many stories I wanted to tell a story about people's religious lives and I wanted to tell a story that included many different Expressions somehow permitting every viewer to believe what he or she believes and to engage from wherever he or she sits so for example in one film you have stories of Christians of Jews of Buddhists of Muslims of atheists we focused on for example Annie Ruth Powell Annie Powell is the Seminary Pastor she is facing uh cancer and we walk through the process of hysterectomy chemotherapy radiation with her and facing the end of her life I think I made questioning Faith both because I thought that the process of making the film would answer the questions in my own heart and in making the film I would provide something that would help other people who had found themselves in the same same situation that I was in that situation being um facing crisis and not knowing how to make sense of it it seems to me like everybody in the film contributed questions as I was trying to figure out my own answers I watched person after person somehow fight for life and continue to believe in life regardless of the language they put to that and sort of quietly I felt like I was is witnessing an answer without understanding it it's hard to explain because in the end of the film I really have to say this is mysterious I feel like uh God is present in my life but still I can't explain why God would let so much so many terrible things take place question I set out asking is the the age-old Timeless question that nobody has ever come up with an adequate response to so who am I to think that Mackie olon is in the matter of three and a half years going to finally crack the code and come up with the right answer and I knew that but at the same time people go through life with such strong religious convictions that I thought there must be something they've read or something they've figured out that I haven't gotten yet and maybe if I really focus hard I'll get it I think there is something that people have gotten that I hadn't gotten and I guess what I would say that is is a sense that you can't figure it out that you can't come to an answer intellectually but that you can in your heart and that you can in your gut and that you can reconcile yourself to the mystery of life being a filmmaker is attempting with all one's might to make something that might actually change lives move people in some kind of way uh and to me uh being a filmmaker is being a minister my father was a minister my grandfather was a minister and in my own way I too am a minister one thing I learned in the process of making this film is to be a minister you don't have to have unshakable faith it just means you engage certain questions and attempt to make a difference in people lives questioning Faith airs this month on Cinemax the film is also being screened across the country as part of an educational outreach program and now it's time for something completely different chickens people love chickens in fact we've often turned them into a source of entertainment remember fog horn Leghorn Henny Penney or the summer 2000 film chicken run but what happens in real life when a chicken on its way to a meat processing plant makes a break for it we went to princess and Maryland to find a new punch line to an old joke why did the chicken cross the road to get to the sanctuary on the other side morning comes early for the residents of Princess Anne Maryland both feathered and unfeathered partners Patrice and Miriam have founded the Eastern Shore chicken Sanctuary devoted to rescuing chickens who have literally fallen off the truck on their way to becoming the next McNugget or The Reluctant contributor to a breakfast omelet once Patrice and Miriam have saved one of these embattled birds their first order of business is to give their new foul friend a name this is Rosemary this is Amelia this is Johnny this is oneeyed Jack this is Wonder this is Fanny she's the star of the show he's named after Antonio gr Italian political theorist this is the gentleman he loves the ladies Patrice and Miriam had always planned on one day having some type of animal sanctuary but never dreamed they'd be saving chickens about uh few years ago we had just moved here and we were actually driving uh to the bank to set up our bank account turned a corner and saw a chicken in a ditch uh swung the truck around and I know I had that sick feeling in my stomach that says my life is going to change and I think you did too a little bit not so much not as much as and uh it was quite comedic trying to get that chicken Miriam was running back and forth across the road trying to pick up the chicken and then finally caught him we knew so little about chickens at that point Miriam ran to the feed store to ask them what would we need and to pick up some fencing material so we could fence off a little area for them and it all started from there what also started was an education in what goes on behind closed doors in meat processing and egg laying plants the more Patrice and Miriam learned the more dedicated they became to their Feathered Friends look at Fanny's beak you can see that the tip of it is blunt and that's because the hens that are in egg factories are all crowded together in these little cages they can't stand up all the way they can't stretch their wings they can't even all lay down at the same time um they have nothing to do all day so of course uh they pluck at each other's feathers they pluck at their own feathers that's why they cut off their beaks to keep them from pecking themselves to death and frustration people arrive at an understanding of animal activism in very different ways um for us it was just a logical widening of other human um human rights there are however a strong and growing number of of of lesbians in particular and also gay men in the animal Liberation movement and more and more we are doing what we can to articulate the connections um because we really do see it as one big struggle running a chicken Sanctuary just miles from one of the largest poultry processing plants in the country is certainly something to Crow about especially when the local economy is supported by chicken farmers and the industry is quick to refute charges of animal abuse companies are very aware of their obligation to treat animals in a Humane fashion so you know there can be abuses if there are they should not occur and companies are taking steps We Believe to make sure that such things do not occur local residents now know where to go whenever they find a chicken who has flown the coupe do you have a chicken for us yes I do we found them um the town of Snow Hill by a bank we're not sure you know how he got there but I'd imagine he fell off of the truck with the success of their Sanctuary Patrice and Miriam can safely say this is where the Chicken and the Egg both come first yeah let's have a look you ready okay put you right down near the water welcome to chicken can Heaven during the decade that in the life has been on the air the movement for Gay and Lesbian civil rights has made progress on a number of fronts according to the Human Rights Campaign only 12 companies offer domestic partnership benefits to their employees in 1990 today 4,34 employers are known to provide samesex partnership benefits including more than 117 state and local governments and 148 companies in the Fortune 500 this represents a 36,000 increase I'm Patricia Clarkson and you're watching in the life and in this episode's outakes Harvey Farin tells us exactly what's on his mind are we ready is everybody in place props that seems logical I was watch watching et's True Hollywood Story of The Brady Bunch so I guess I deserve what I got Florence Henderson Hawker of cooking grease and false teeth stickum was chatting about her TV hubby Robert Reed it seems many of The Brady Bunch episodes ended with the two of them in bed all lovey doy she shared that Mr Reed was so uncomfortable that she could see his little heart beaten like a frightened animal through his pajamas you see Robert Reed was gay she then said how fond she was of him and that although gay he was one of the good ones a good one what is that exactly a good one would be a a queer who did everything they could to pass for straight but failing to do so accepts his lower placement in society in stride in fact the less straight acting the less acceptability you deserve in other words a good one the opposite of me now I know that if I confronted did pal flowy she would tell me that I've got her all wrong that she likes gay people she's never missed an installment of in the Life in all 10 years and that she herself is actually a very nice heterosexual but is she a good one does she go out of her way to make sure that no one knows that she's straight does she publicly only refer to her husband as partner or friend or roomie does she avoid all public displays of affection with said mate that includes holding hands and furtive glances in restaurants Missy does she drive to another town to buy her magazines slipping them secretively from their brown paper wrappings before Arling the latest issues of Life TV Guide or the lady's Home Journal does she attend family gatherings unescorted thus sparing her relatives the embarrassment of having to confront her chosen lifestyle does she prove what a good sport she is by laughing loudly at heterosexual jokes does she whisper discreetly when at her local Blockbuster she can't find the latest Woody Allen movie it's in the heterosexual interest section Madam does she keep what goes on in her bedroom in her bedroom I'm getting nauseated just thinking about that one does she bow her head in shame and silence when attending church services knowing that the great gay goddess can D demns her lifestyle of sin good one though she may be will she remain Cooperative when Congress passes laws denying her equal status with homosexuals less property rights no marriage plus exclusion from government grants and programs not to mention banishment from the military will she remain silent when courts Grant charitable institutions the right to discriminate against her will she still bow respectfully when she's legally fired from a job and evicted from her home will she still be a good one when her children are ripped from her arms because she lives with her husband can we count on her good nature when she's beaten in the streets by strangers just for being heterosexual forget Florence Henderson do you know any heterosexual who would put up with that crap no then why do you I'm Katherine Linton for all of us at in the life thank you for watching and we'll see you next month in the life is funded in part by the H van amaran Foundation additional support provided by the Ford Foundation the Gil Foundation The Pride Foundation the Ted Snowden Foundation the autohaz charitable trust the Collingwood Foundation the Reed will foundation and the annual support of in the Life members like you