How can architects be better advocates for a better world? The Reimagining Justice Film Festival will create the opportunity to encounter revolutionary ideas through investigating the history and lived experiences of people as we watch documentaries relating to Justice Reform, Environmental Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. For the 2024 festival, film screenings occur every Thursday in May. The fifth event on May 30 will feature the documentary Rights and Reactions: Lesbian & Gay Rights on Trial by Phil Zwickler and Jane Lippman, followed by a discussion with Stephen Petrus and Andy Humm.
About the Film
"In 1971, New York City was the first jurisdiction in the world to propose protecting people from discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation." But while many American cities passed such human rights laws in the 1970s and early 1980s, New York's City Council resisted as the gay and lesbian community and its supporters squared off year after year with opponents, mostly from the City's conservative Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant fundamentalist communities.
In 1986, five years into the AIDS epidemic, the leadership of the Council changed and the bill, Intro 2, looked as if it would finally pass. Filmmakers Phil Zwickler and Jane Lippman capture the heat of that debate inside City Hall and in the streets of New York featuring gay and lesbian activists, religious leaders on both sides, legal experts, union leaders, people with AIDS, talk radio hosts, and politicians from Ed Koch and David Dinkins to feisty Council Members Miriam Friedlander and Noach Dear.
The bill did pass the City Council by a vote of 21-14 on March 21, 1986 and was signed into law on April 2. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (defined as "heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality) in jobs, housing and public accommodations. In 2002, the City's human rights law was also amended to cover "gender identity and expression," protecting people of transgender experience." —Andy Humm via https://archive.pzfoundation.org/philzwickler/film/rights.html
View the Series Flyer
Speakers:
Stephen Petrus, Director of Public History Programs, LaGuardia and Wagner Archives LaGuardia Community College
Andy Humm, Journalist, Activist, Co-host, Gay USA.
More in the Reimagining Justice Film Festival:
Reimagining Justice Film Festival (1 of 5): Mothers of Bedford
Reimagining Justice Film Festival (2 of 5): 16 Bars
Reimagining Justice Film Festival (3 of 5): Crip Camp, Gyo Obata, and More
Reimagining Justice Film Festival (4 of 5): TED Talk by JR, Unguarded, and More
AIANY Architecture for Justice Committee
