Q&A with directors Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer
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On Tuesday, May 19th, directors Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer were in attendance a screening of their work-in-progress OUT IN THE SILENCE at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. The film follows the chain of events that occur when the filmmakers post an announcement of their wedding in Joe Wilson’s hometown newspaper in Oil City, PA. The film thoughtfully explores homophobia on and its effect on town’s residents, ultimately seeking the possibility for transformation in small town America.
During their brief visit the filmmakers sat for a brief Q&A with DFP staff before their screening. |
DFP: Before I became a documentary filmmaker I was a…
Dean Hamer: Molecular biologist: I researched and authored nonfiction books on genetics and human behavior. I’m best known for my work on the biological basis of sexual orientation and the discovery of the “gay gene” .I got involved in the media business because of the uproar over the “gay gene” and how often the story was misreported and misrepresented. I first wrote a book called The Science of Desire, and more recently started making films because of their incredible power to bring to life complex and nuanced aspects of the human condition.
Joe Wilson: I’ve been a human rights activist and was a program officer for human rights at two private foundations over the past 20 years.
DFP: When Obama became President of the United States, old timers were asked how long had they thought it would take for America to have a Black President. How long do you think it will take for C.J., the young man in your film, and others like him to have legal marriage rights?
Joe Wilson: Well, for us, this isn’t a film just about marriage. It’s really about something much more basic, and important: the right of GLBT people to live freely and openly wherever they happen to be without fear of losing friends, family or jobs and sometimes their very lives simply for being who they are. Recognition of rights and protections are important, and help in creating social change, but we’ve got much more to do to ensure that such changes mean something to those living in more isolated and conservative areas, particularly the rural and small town America.
Dean Hamer: How long will it take? It might be two or three years or it might be 32 years or eight presidential terms. Social acceptance will take much longer if ever. Sexuality is such a strong drive and forms so early, there will always be people who are uncomfortable with whatever they themselves don’t like to do.
Joe Wilson: Oh, I disagree. I don’t think it will take that long at all. I’d say within the current presidential term, four-eight years. With someone like Obama in the White House, and given the social forces that elected him, anything is possible. Of course, there will be the social resistance, and people with a vested interest in whatever the “ism” happens to be. But we’ve got to take advantage of this moment of opportunity to educate, agitate, organize, and advocate for the change that we know is possible…legal rights are on their way.
DFP: The last Census to include any GLBT survey at all was in 2000 (George Bush removed it from 2005 Census). At that time there were 600, 000 same sex couples in cohabitation. Activists are fighting to get GLBT questions on the 2010 Census. What do you think that snapshot might capture?
Dean Hamer: I think it will show more and more same sex couples cohabitating, and not just in New York or Provincetown or San Francisco, but throughout the entire nation. That’s one of the things that anti-gay political forces don’t want people to know: Same sex couples are not a freak show limited to big cities. They are a part of the fabric of our country. There is less to be afraid of than they want you to believe.
Joe Wilson: The right wing that is active against GLBT people like to talk about numbers as a way to minimize rights. (”See! Kinsey was wrong, they’re only 2-3 % of the population.”) But, is there a minimum number of people for whom rights matter? The Jewish population in this country is only about 2%, but their rights do matter. The same can be said for GLBT people.
DFP: Any funny stories along the way of making this film, or “out takes” that didn’t make it in the movie?
Dean Hamer: The funniest part of the whole story is that when we decided to get married, Joe insisted on having no public ceremony, no gifts, no reception, etc. Just us and two good friends as witnesses. Joe truly doesn’t like attention paid to him. But he didn’t tell me we would spend the next five years of our lives making a film about it and trying to tell the whole world!