Written by Bea Copland (Cinema Projectionist)
This February, like so many before, is LGBT+ History Month across the UK and we at the Phoenix Cinema are proud to show our support – this month and every month.
Here, Cinema Projectionist Bea Copland takes a closer look at a couple of the fantastic films we have coming up with LGBT+ themes.
First up is Georgia Oakley’s beautiful drama Blue Jean, which follows a lesbian PE Teacher living under the Thatcher administration and Section 28.
This legislation made it illegal to discuss homosexuality in schools and to promote it as an acceptable lifestyle, whilst the community was already suffering due to the AIDs epidemic. This era is also well documented in the 2012 movie Pride but Blue Jean explores the consequences of this legislation on those it affected the most – a teacher hiding her sexuality to keep her job and a young girl unable to openly explore who she really is.
Section 28 was abolished on June 21st 2000 in Scotland, and on November 18th 2003 in the rest of the UK, but it’s effects are still being felt today. It spread an unnecessary fear of LGBT+ people into the lives of millions of members of the general public and is the reason why LGBT+ History Month in the UK only started in 2005.
Blue Jean is showing from 28 February – 2 March, with daytime and evening screenings available.
The second film to watch out for is the documentary Born to Be, which follows doctors at the Mount Sinai Hospital for Transgender Care and Surgery in New York.
In a country where medical bills are high and hospitals often won’t admit Trans patients, Mount Sinai ensures that all transgender and gender non-conforming people have access to quality transition-related health and surgical care. It shines a light, not only on how safe these surgeries are, but on how much it betters the lives of those who receive them.
Although these surgeries are free in the UK, the lengths Trans people have to go through to get them isn’t much different which makes this documentary just as relevant here as it does across the pond.
We are ecstatic to announce that alongside this screening will be a Q&A with Trans woman, author, and activist Laura Kate Dale. Her memoir, Uncomfortable Labels, focused on life at the intersection of living life both trans and autistic. Gender Euphoria, her second book, was an anthology of positive, real life, gender affirming stories from non-cisgender writers. Her first children's book, Me and My dysphoria Monster, aims to discuss gender dysphoria in child appropriate language, with illustrations to bring to life a very internal experience. Laura has helped organise trans rights protests across the UK, alongside working as an accessibility focused video game critic.
Born To Be is screening at 7:30pm on Friday 17th of March. Tickets for this event will be on sale at the lower price of £5, £4 concessions, to encourage as many people as possible to come along, watch the film and join in the discussion. Tickets and details will be available on our website next week.