Stolen Moments
by Margaret Wescott

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Summary of Stolen Moments

The film begins on a high note, celebrating gay-pride rallies of the 1990s. Starting from the present and moving backward, Wescott is determined to rouse our collective memory, detailing the struggle of lesbians to survive in a hostile world. A clear sense of urgency informs this film, echoed by Audre Lorde's potent observation: "It serves to remember." Wescott details the persecution of lesbians in 17th-century Amsterdam, where cross-dressing or "passing" was known as the "sin that cannot be named." Lesbians found guilty of this "crime" were routinely strangled, burned, or drowned. We are reminded that gays and lesbians were the first victims taken into Hitler's death camps at the onset of World War II and also the last to leave--after the war, the Allies continued to incarcerate them. Turning back to the U.S., Wescott reenacts a thriving but tenuous underground bar scene where lesbian establishments of the 1950s were busted by cops who were paid off or otherwise had their way during a time when legal protection for gays and lesbians was nonexistent. This story would not be complete, however, without detailing the glory days of lesbian culture. Wescott interweaves these highlights as a counterpoint to the horrors of persecution: Weimar, Germany, where 60 gay and lesbian caf?s and bars flourished before the rise of Fascism; turn-of-the-century Paris and Gertrude Stein's salon; the Michigan Women's Music Festival; the Gay Games; and (of course) the ongoing celebration of pride.

Still, the beauty of this film lies in the women Wescott interviews. Without their firsthand accounts of coming out, surviving hate, and creating their own families, we might have sat glassy-eyed through a history lesson that, seemingly, has no direct relationship with the present. Their voices--alive and empowering--ensure our connection to the evolving story that is lesbian history. Note: This film contains brief scenes of nudity and sexual intimacy. --Katy Ankenman

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