The return of Marlon Riggs

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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.

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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