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The return of Marlon Riggs
Advocate, The, March 25, 2008 by Michelle Garcia
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In 1991, PBS dared to shed light on the black gay man's unique experience of simultaneous racism and homophobia in Tongues Untied: Black Men Loving Black Men by Marion T. Riggs. Many embraced the ground breaking presentation of gay issues with an African-American viewpoint, from the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS, to racial prejudice in the gay community, to violent gay bashing.
The National Endowment for the Arts presented Riggs with a $5,000 grant for the film, which was made in the late 1980s. Along with its gay themes, its prominent nudity and barbed political opinions fueled the conservative movement's fight--led by Sen. Jesse Helms--against public funding of controversial art. While it made a deep impact, Tongues Untied was shoved into the closet for nearly a decade before its VHS release in 2000. It's now a collector's item, with prices reaching well into the hundreds for used and abused copies.
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Riggs died in 1994, but with the DVD release of Tongues Untied on March 18, his film will live on for a new generation to witness.
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