Small Town Gay Bar - Strength and Isolation

Malcolm Ingram's Documentary of Being Gay in Rural Middle America

Nov 2, 2009

Small Town Gay Bar explains the importance of social support and connection in parts of the country where gay people are least accepted, the heartland, in rural America.

Small Town Gay Bar is Malcolm Ingram's documentary of the search for social support in middle America. One patron relates of their bar, "This is my stress reliever." Some of those interviewed admit their lives are bifurcated, with one persona allowing them to go to work and "pass" as being like those around them, while their true selves may only emerge when they come through the doors of the bar. The bars become a refuge for the local homosexual, bisexual and transgender communities in what they perceive to be a hostile world. And there is every sign that it is hostile, indeed.

Being Gay in Lee County, Mississippi, Takes Courage

The movie begins with a fast-moving camera, giving the feel of a car or freight train passing through. It is difficult to watch, as the film flips from one scene to another, but this difficulty is only at the beginning of the film. There is, however, a certain dreariness to the film, despite many excellent interviews and the significance of the search for connection, a common human theme, that is made so difficult for an entire group of people and clearly portrayed in this documentary. Perhaps that dreariness is intentional, because it captures the challenge for many folks who have so little in the way of solace and comfort.

The bars are basic structures, with some having only plastic garden chairs. Yet the importance of human touch, so forbidden for many of these couples, is tenderly portrayed, even amid the bleak scenery. The most colorful image of the film is from the website, the door of one of the bars which has an American flag with rainbow stripes, a symbol of acceptance and diversity, laying against the weather wood of the old structure. This appealing symbol seems to represent what is sought but so rarely found in the middle of the Bible Belt.

Fundamentalism, Intolerance and Bigotry Meet Anything Goes in Malcolm's Film

Two of the bars mentioned in the film are Rumors and Crossroads. Both have experienced challenges, destruction and rebirth as they try to provide a safe haven for people who are, as one patron explains, "inconceivably different." One bar owner admits he has an "anything goes" attitude, while another former patron reports that at times it becomes too much of a "circus." Finding the balance between letting it all hang out and being repressed (as most have to do daily in their lives) is one of the challenges for the bar's owners and affects their ability to stay in business, too. A local preacher who sincerely believes that gay people are sinners, preaches hate, even after a young gay boy is killed.

The callousness of picketing with signs of hate, stating that this beautiful young man was "going to burn in hell" seems inconsistent with a Christian ethic of loving one another, yet the portrayal of the preacher was made all the more disturbing for the unexamined nature of the man's beliefs. The importance of finding a place of acceptance is heightened by the constant harrassment and exclusion, the hatred and animosity many people feel in their everyday existence. It is, therefore, amazing when one patron reports that they do not care if no one likes them, they are who they are, people can take it or leave it. Finding that strength, as many of the people interviewed have found, elicits a certain degree of respect when viewing the harsh realities and very real obstacles of their lives.

This film provides an interesting commentary on finding one's tribe, belonging, the need for respite and refuge, and the importance of acceptance and community. The fluid way the communities were resurrected when their meeting places returned, yet the way the same community receded like waters after a flood, retreating to their hidden places and once again staying out of sight, was a point well made by the film. Yet despite the tenderness and significance of the interviews, there was a certain two-dimensional, rough-cut feel to the film that might leave the viewer feeling unfulfilled. But maybe that was the whole point.

The copyright of the article Small Town Gay Bar - Strength and Isolation in Socio-Political Documentaries is owned by Barbara DeGrande. Permission to republish Small Town Gay Bar - Strength and Isolation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.