In the Life: Ep. 2001, "Surviving the Past"

[Theme music continues under Announcer] [Announcer] "In The Life," is funded in part by, the H. van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Patricia Kind, in honor of her brother, Henry van Ameringen. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] And these funders. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In The Life," members, like you. [Music] [Narrator Triple Edwards] South Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Key West are leading gay tourist destinations. [Penn Bullock] In South Florida, if you're gay, it doesn't really matter. [Edwards] Yet on a legislative level, Florida remains one of the most homophobic states in the U.S. [Elizabeth Schwartz] The adoption application in the state of Florida, actually asks, "Are you homosexual?" [Edwards] Tonight on, "In The Life," [Edwards] Florida's past and present struggles to overcome discrimination. A look at the Gill families challenge to Florida's homosexual ban on adoption. And Liza with a Z speaks to the lady in question, Charles Busch. [Liza Minnelli] I've been labeled as a gay icon. Well no, [bleep] Sherlock. [Theme music] [President Barak Obama] Ah. The fact that we've got activists is important because it's a reminder that change, never comes, or at least, never begins, in Washington. [Nadine Smith] I was invited to the White House to be part of the Pride Reception. And just days earlier I had shared a panel with Martin Gill. [Smith] I had a picture of his children that was taken at the White House. [Smith] When I got the invitation, I said I'm gonna do everything I can to put that picture in the President's hands. [Smith] Can I give you this. [Obama] Sure. [Smith] These two young boys came to the White House Easter Egg roll. [Smith] Florida's adoption law may take them away from there, the only parents they've known. I really appreciate you, [Obama] I'll read this. I'll take a look at this. [Smith] I appreciate that. [Smith] I was able to put that picture and a note in the President's hand. And tell him that we need his voice to stop this family from being torn apart. [Music] [Smith] Florida stands alone, as the only state that requires that you take a heterosexuality oath in order to be able to adopt. [Schwartz] Florida is not one of the more welcoming states, ah, to the LGBT community. [Schwartz] Not only can you not get married in the State of Florida. Not only can you not have a civil union or a domestic partnership in the State of Florida. [Schwartz] The adoption application, [Schwartz] actually asks, "Are you homosexual? Yes or no?" [C.J. Ortuno, Executive Director Save Dade] In the Seventies, Miami-Dade County brought forth this human rights ordinance to protect on the basis of sexual orientation. [Local news reporter] Debate over the controversial ordinance drew the largest crowd of citizens ever seen at a metro commission public hearing. [Howard Simon, Director ACLU Florida] Miami-Dade County, what may have been the first, jurisdiction in the United States, to pass a human rights ordinance. [Local news reporter] The commission voted five to three in favor of the ordinance. Opponents shouted, [Simon] Then of course everybody knows the, ah, the story, [Music] [Anita Bryant] The war goes on to save our children, because the seed of sexual sickness that germinated in Dade County has already been transplanted. [Schwartz] Anita Bryant swept through Miami-Dade County and managed to get our local human rights ordinance [Schwartz] repealed and then she took our Act up to Tallahassee and got a ban on gay and lesbian individuals from adopting. [Schwartz] With no evidence, barely any debate and, and sadly that ban remains in place still today. [Schwartz] Anita Bryant's, Save Our Children campaign, [Smith] it was really a campaign implying, that all gay people are pedophiles. [Smith] That children are inherently at risk in the company of gay people. Florida was sort of ground zero for some of the most virulent, anti-gay, propaganda in the country. [Music] [Martin Gill] We're in a parking lot, come on. Let's go see the horses. [Child] Horsie. Horsie. [Gill] In December of 2004, we got a call from the Department of Children and Families. And they wanted to place two more young brothers with us. [Simon] I can tell you the story of Martin Gill in his case on many different levels. [Simon] There's a legalistic level. There's a public policy level. But here was a guy, and his partner, and the state knocks on their door and, and says to him, [Simon] "You've been such a good foster parent. We have these two terribly neglected brothers. Could you, just take them for a little while." She said one month. That's all I need [Gill] They arrived at our door with the social worker. [Gill] I immediately saw that it was going to be more work than, [Gill] perhaps we had thought. Because, since the older one walked in, he was four years old, and his head was completely covered with ringworm to the point that his hair was no longer growing on top. Next thing she hands me the baby. [Gill] And she said he has a fever. [Gill] And he has a really bad ear infection, but don't worry. [Gill] He's got medication in the bag. And with that she was off. A few minutes later, I looked in the bag and started looking at the medication, and reading the, holding the baby, and reading the med, the medication, and I realized that it hadn't been opened yet. And one was amoxicillin, but it had gone completely bad. [Gill] She had said that it was a neglect case, but I, I couldn't imagine, this baby, being sick, and no one taking out the time to give him the medication. That just broke my heart. A month or two, turns into five years. The infant, of these two brothers, this is the only home he has ever known. Both of these kids, are now thriving. [Simon] They've done a marvelous job as foster parents. [Simon] So after five years, the State arrives in their home and says, um, "You've done an excellent job. "But of course, you know we have to remove these kids from your home and break up your family. "Because you're gay." At that point, my heart was breaking. My partner is African-American. He, his reaction, straight to the, the, ah, caseworkers face he said, "Oh, hell no, this is not gonna happen." [Music] [Gill] We're plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit, against the State of Florida. To get rid of the ban on adoption by gay parents. [Simon] The Martin Gill case is the only case in which we have a full trial on the evidence. [Gill] And we brought the leading experts from around the world to a courtroom here in, in Miami as did the State. Turns out that the state's leading expert was Rekers. [Schwartz] George Rekers is a, a self-proclaimed expert, [Schwartz] and I say self-proclaimed because no one else recognizes him as an expert, on the issue, of, of gay people being dangerous to children. The crucial thing to understand about Rekers, is that, [Bullock] he's been responsible for the research that claims that gay people can't make good parents. That's why I was happy to find him with the rent boy. [Music] [Brandon K. Thorp, ITL Freelance Writer] You know I did not believe the scoop when we first got it. Um. Penn was at his computer, and, [Thorp] he said something like, "Oh, this is interesting." [Bullock] My source was a friend, of the rent boy. And he had discovered an email, between Rekers and him. [Thorp] And we checked and we saw that, ah, George Rekers and the, ah, rent boy were, were friends on Facebook, and that seemed strange. [Bullock] My source was able to get me their flight information. [Bullock] And so, my boyfriend had the great idea of going to the airport, meeting them there and taking a paparazzi shot. [Bullock] And, that's how that picture that went around the world was born. [Bullock] There were nude massages in Europe. There was, [Bullock] There was something short of sex. There was sort of this, puritanical massage where Rekers would get aroused but wouldn't get off. [Smith] George Rekers has become quite toxic. [Smith] The good news is, [Smith] that people are taking a closer look, at these, ah, junk scientists that get brought in to try and prop up these long discredited homophobic ideas. What's also striking is that he testified in Arkansas in 2004. His, testimony's thrown out. That doesn't deter our Attorney General Bill McCollum, from hiring him in 2008, to do exactly the same thing, for a hundred twenty thousand dollars. A bunch of taxpayer money was wasted on it. And it kind of revealed that our political class here in Florida, is homophobic and tied in with this pseudo academic world, where gay people are considered deviants. [Courtenay Strickland, ACLU Florida] Well, politically, Florida is a very complex state. [Strickland] The Panhandle of our state looks very much like the Bible Belt. [Strickland] South Florida, in many senses, it could look something like the Northeast. [Strickland] And then of course there is the I-4 corridor in Central, Florida. [Strickland] Um, where a lot of the decisions end up being made because of the high number of swing voters. [Michael Kenney, Florida Together] Especially down here in Southeast Florida. [Kenney] There's a comfort level and people just can't believe that, that our rights would be, be taken away. [Kenney] They don't see the discrimination, you know, they don't have the fear, [Kenney] that they're going to get thrown out of their apartment by the crazy landlord. But for a segment of our population, particularly in the State of Florida those are very real and valid concerns. Florida's a massive state. When you're standing in our capital in Tallahassee, you're about as close to Chicago, Illinois, as you are to Key West, Florida. It's a huge state and there are parts of our state that are as progressive as any other place you'll find, in, in the country. [Music] [Rudy Molinet, ITL Key Wester] The first openly gay mayor in the United States, was a guy named, Richard Heyman. [Molinet] I call Key West a small town with an open mind. And that's where we are. So we have an openly gay, Police Chief. [Molinet] We have an openly gay, [Molinet] County Commissioner. We have led the way, I think in many ways, to make it comfortable for LGBT folk to serve publicly. [Chief Donie J. Lee Jr.] I'm from Key West. I was born and raised here. Five generations of my family have been in Key West. I think it all starts at the top. And I think that it's very important that whoever's a CEO, a head of whatever organization, is very clear, that, um, there will be no discrimination. [Heather Carruthers, County Commissioner] Key west today, is really, it's very well integrated. The City of Key West and the County of Monroe, [Carruthers] ah, both have human rights ordinances. We have domestic partnership benefits. [Carruthers] So in terms of the day-to-day, [Carruthers] ah, living for most people here, it's not an issue. [Carruthers] Where it does get to be an issue is when we want to do things like adopt children. And that's one of the things that we're really fighting against, right now. [Schwartz] This is the map of the State of Florida that you can get on Equality Florida's website. And it's pretty amazing where some of the pockets are because you'd think that everything would be clustered down here in the south. [Schwartz] But there are some other incredible, I mean, look at Gainesville. [Schwartz] Gainesville has a safe schools policy banning harassment and discrimination. [Schwartz] And they have a human rights ordinance which not only bans discrimination, based on sexual orientation, [Schwartz] but also based on gender identity. [Mayor Craig Lowe] I've lived in Gainesville for 28 years. [Lowe] Gainesville is, is a place where a few people can get involved to make a real difference. And that's been very much the case in the advancement of LGBT rights. [Alexia Vandeventer, Activist] I actually began my transition here. Gainesville has a lot of resources for transgender people and also for the larger LGB community. [Jalise Burt, Student] I think the University of Florida is really welcoming. A lot of people, that I know that have moved to Gainesville, to come to school, [Burt] felt like it was going to be a really welcoming place. [Burt] And that's definitely true. Like I'm out around campus, and I can walk around, hold hands with my girlfriend, and it's absolutely no problem, I never have gotten a comment or anything about it. [Lowe] And we did pass an ordinance in 2008 that added gender identity to our anti-discrimination ordinance. [Lowe] But that brought in a large number of religious political extremists. [Corey Brown, UF graduate] Had little kids out there protesting with them, holding signs of, "fags are going to hell." There were people all over the place that were, [Brown] trying to put up signs around local bathrooms, saying, you know, "Men are free to use this women's restroom. Be careful. You can get raped." [Lowe] And it did trigger a referendum effort which was a charter amendment that said, City of Gainesville, [Lowe] could not pass any equal opportunity protections that were not in Florida state law. It's a bunch of outside interference from the rural areas outside of Gainesville which are far more conservative than the city of Gainesville itself. [Vandeventer] They wanted to try and take down Craig Lowe, who was a representative, of progress that Gainesville, was making. [Mallory Wells] I was, frankly shocked at some of the stuff that we saw. The, "No homo Mayor," sign set outside of a local church [Wells] The local pastor of the church that posted the sign released a YouTube video. [Pastor] Gay, fag, whatever you want to call him. I don't care. Bottom line is we cannot afford a homo mayor. [Wells] I was shocked. You'd like to think that in 2010 were sort of past that type of scapegoating. Craig Lowe decided that no, that's what, not what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to talk about what I'm going to do for Gainesville. Strong neighborhood protections and programs to help stimulate our local economy. [Lowe] And I believe that we were successful in doing that because you can't run a city on negativity. [Music] [Vandeventer] The actual city of Gainesville itself proved that they support equality, And outside interference is not going to stop that. They did it with Craig Lowe, and [Vanderventer] extended protections to lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered people. [Strickland] What we're seeing is that a number of municipalities in Florida cities and counties are proactively passing, good policies. Policies that provide protections for LGBT individuals. [Strickland] But all of this is taking place on sort of an ad hoc basis, a community here a community there. [Bullock] I think the paradox of Florida is that there is this enclave in South Florida and other, in other places. [Bullock] But then the legislature as a whole is very homophobic. [Smith] Part of it is redistricting. Over the life of Equality Florida, we have shifted public opinion dramatically in our favor. As a matter of fact, Floridians are with us on repealing the adoption ban. But it's not translating in Tallahassee, because districts are drawn in a way, that protect incumbents. And right now that means protecting, conservative republicans. [Smith] In fact, I had the experience of walking into a legislators office. [Smith] The moment I said I'm here to talk to you about the adoption ban. He said you don't have to convince me, that this is a terrible, terrible law. [Smith] He said my daughter's best friend is raised by two moms. They're our neighbors. [Smith] They're great parents, and this law is terrible. But, you have to understand, my district is one of the most conservative districts in this state. And, to come out publicly against this ban. I wouldn't survive my primary. If you get it to the floor, he said, I'll vote against it. [Gill] As a parent, you really have to look out for your own kids first. We were awarded the adoption in November of 2008. [Gill] Unfortunately, the State chose to appeal that decision. But, ah, it gives me a certain amount of pride in knowing that, ah, this case will probably, do away with the ban. Ah, we're about halfway through now. We've got a long way to go. [Simon] I really feel strongly, [Simon] that, um, that we're going to win the decision. If we do prevail. [Simon] The issue is. Are we going to be prepared enough and resourced enough, to be able to withstand, the ferocious response, to our victory. [Simon] We saw what happened in California. [Simon] We saw it happened in other states. The issue is preserving the legal victory that I know in my heart that we're going to win. [Smith] The lawsuit, that has the potential to end Florida's, [Smith] adoption ban, may also spark a ballot campaign to put that ban right back into our constitution. Twenty ten, is going to be one of the most important elections in Florida's history. Every single statewide office, is changing hands. Everything is up for grabs. The ability in the midterms for our community and fair-minded Floridians to have an incredible impact has never been higher. [Music] [Music] [Charles Busch] You grew up in a way that was so chronicled. [Busch] Everybody has a big fat opinion about your life, and your mother's life and yet, you know, [Edwards] Liza Minnelli, legendary star of stage and screen and a gay icon. [Edwards] Recently came to "In The Life" to chat with her friend, actor and playwright, Charles Busch. I, and I was watching "Cabaret" again for about the two hundred and fiftieth time, [Busch] and I was just so taken with just how completely contemporary it is. Didn't I read that that your father actually, [Busch] was the one who came up with the idea of the Sally Bowles hair, haircut? [Minnelli] Oh God, he was such an influence in that movie. I cannot tell you. [Busch] Really. Would, would he tell you something than you would, then you would share it with with Fosse? [Minnelli] Well, it couldn't work quite like that. You can't really say, "My dad said..." Nuh-uh. [Busch] Now, you'd already had worked with Kander and Ebb 'cause you'd done "Flora the Red Menace." [Minnelli] Yes. And "Liza with a Z." We'd started to work on that already. [Busch] Fred Ebb is enormous, was enormous mentor to you. What were some of the things that, that Fred Ebb gave you as a mentor. [Minnelli] He said, First of all, you're not gonna sing anything that your mother sang. Hmm. [Minnelli] We have to write a song, that is completely yours. [Minnelli] And they wrote "Liza with a Z." [Minnelli singing in a recording] It's Liza with a Z, not Lisa with an S, 'cause Lisa with an S goes sss not zzz. It's Z instead of S... [song fades out] [Minnelli] You see, I've always been able to recognize the talented people, that taught me. 'Cause I can't remember you first met them and they weren't Kander and Ebb yet. No! [Busch] I mean, they were just as fresh as you were. [Minnelli] Fred and Johnny. [Minnelli] And they wrote "Liza with a Z," and that gave me my identity, you know. So, off we went. [Busch] Another person that was so important in your life, was, was the great designer, Halston. How'd you meet him? [Minnelli] I met him through my godmother, Kate Thompson. Oh. [Minnelli] She introduced me to him, because she said "put this on." [Minnelli] And I did and it looked great, and she said "that suits you." [Minnelli] "Come." And she took me to Bloomingdales. Or, or as she called it, "Bloomingballs." [Laughter] I'm not disrespecting, Bloomingdales whatsoever. I can't tell you how many wonderful names because I lived there practically. So we went off and she showed me these marvelous, outfits and they suited me. [Busch] Hmm. [Minnelli] So she introduced me, to Halston. [Minnelli] It was wonderful, and he was my dearest friend. [Crowd noises] [Edwards] Two weeks before their conversation, Charles had presented Liza with PFLAG's Straight for Equality and Entertainment award. [Applause] [Edwards] And Liza presented the audience with a song. [Minnelli singing] I never, kissed a man before. Now, isn't that a shame? I never kissed a man before, Before I knew his name. [Busch] When, when you were, uh, sixteen years old, [Busch] suddenly on your mother's TV show or on Jack Paar show or thrown into these big high-profile, situations, when you're raw, what were the various things going on in your head? I mean was it, it must been thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Wasn't it? [Minnelli] No. No? It wasn't terrifying. Because I was always able to recognize who to gravitate towards. [Minnelli] And that was the talented people. I was always able to, to know who to go to, to learn. [Minnelli] And it was an adventure. Where'd you get that kind of drive from the beginning just to, at sixteen years old, come to New York on your own. [Busch] And what were you thinking? That this would, [Busch] It's hard not to go back and remember what our thought process is when we were younger? [Busch] But can you try to recreate a little bit of that? Watching. I loved to watch. [Minnelli] I loved the thought process. I loved, you know ,journeying, through MGM. I had a bike, they gave me, and I was all over that studio. It was like my playground. [Busch] You, you, you were on the set of, [Busch] Ah, "Brigadoon," and, Oh, yeah! "American in Paris," would be too young to remember. Oh, I remember Do you remember when, when they shot the, the famous ballet sequence, [Minnelli] Sure. [Busch] ballet sequence? Oh yes, and I remember the smoke coming through the, you know, the funnels and the "American in Paris" ballet. Oh my God. [Minnelli] I watched everything and I loved it. Now. I don't know if you've heard, but, I've been labeled as a gay icon. [Cheers, applause] Well, no [bleeped] Sherlock! [Laughter] [Busch] I have this image, that, [Busch] if, if showbiz was a huge banquet. There's a special table, [Busch] where a very select group of, [Busch] extraordinary women are seated. And you're at that table. [Busch] And I guess, [Minnelli laughs] [Busch] we would say these are the gay icons and it's you and your mother, and and Bette Midler and Barbara Streisand. [Minnelli laughs] [Busch] I guess Cher is kind of, maybe sitting over here, maybe. [Laughs] [Busch] But you know this is like a table of extraordinary women. Did it take a while to sort of understand that or accept the idea that, that you have this big gay following? Why? [Laughs] In the 60s, you know your career spans a lot. Mm, hmm. I'll say. In the sixties, gay people weren't even out. So I think even the women, who in a certain sense, the women they loved weren't out. I've always thought of the audience. As my audience. [Minnelli] When those people walk into the theater, we're together for two hours. [Busch] Yes. So, I don't think, I think of it, of anybody as, anything. You know, you were one of the first celebrities to really throw yourself into, [Busch] to the AIDS activism. You lost some key people in your life to, to AIDS, and [Minnelli] Yes. [Busch] that's, is that what spurred you on? No, I don't think it was, a group of people I think it was, just the people I loved. [Minnelli] I thought of individuals, as opposed to, [Minnelli] a certain kind of person. Or what they did behind closed doors. [Minnelli] They're my friends. Their privacy, was in a funny kind of way, their privacy. And I grew up to respect privacy. We were taught that. [Minnelli] I think, that often gay people can identify with the outcast, and they survive, And they get through it all and they make it. Look. Look, how we've made it. All of us. I know from survival. Believe me. Ha, ha, ha, ha. [Audience laughs] I just had my knee replaced. And just standing here, is surviving. [Minnelli and audience laugh] [Applause, cheers] [Minnelli] I love you! Good night! [Applause] [Edwards] Thank you for watching, In The Life." To learn more about the issues in tonight's program, or to tell us your thoughts about the show. [Edwards] Text ITL to six nine eight six six on your mobile phone. [Edwards] Or visit itlmedia.org. You can also download and share episodes. Watch exclusive webcasts. [Edwards] Extended interviews. And sign up for, "In The Life," air date alerts. [Music, continues through closing credits] [Announcer] "In The Life," is funded in part by the H. van Ameringen Foundation. [Announcer] Patricia Kind, in honor of her brother Henry van Ameringen. [Announcer] Arcus Foundation. [Announcer] The Estate of Richard W. Weiland. [Announcer] And these funders. [Announcer] And by the annual support of, "In The Life," members, like you. 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