# Out of the Past (1998)

### reviewed by
Scott Renshaw

    OUT OF THE PAST
    (Inverted Pictures)
    Featuring:  Kelli Peterson, Barbara Gittings, narrated by Linda Hunt.
    Writer:  Michelle Ferrari.
    Producer:  Jeff Dupre.
    Director:  Jeff Dupre.
    MPAA Rating:  Unrated (could be PG-13 for adult themes)
    Running Time:  65 minutes.
    Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.

People will probably misinterpret the documentary OUT OF THE PAST as much as the controversial event which is at its center, which is irony enough. It would be even more ironic if they misinterpret it in exactly the same way: without any direct knowledge, because they are already convinced they know what it's about. Such tends to be the case when you are dealing with the perpetually volatile subject of homosexuality. It happens even more frequently when the suggestion is proferred that gays and lesbians are human beings with much to contribute to the world.

That, and that alone, is the fierce conviction behind OUT OF THE PAST. The story which serves as its jumping-off point is the tale of Kelli Peterson, an "out" lesbian who attempted during her 1995-96 senior year at Salt Lake City's East High School to start a student club called the Gay-Straight alliance. Its purpose, according to Peterson, was understanding -- understanding between gay students that they were not going through the difficult experience alone, understanding between gay and straight students that gays were not aliens to be feared or hated. Local school board members, legislators and parents in conservative Utah, however, believed the club was an unwholesome influence promoting the lifestyle of homosexuality, and wanted the club eliminated. Faced with the federally-mandated choice between permitting all extra-curricular clubs -- including the Gay-Straight Alliance -- and banning all clubs, the school board opted for the latter.

That story alone would be compelling enough to make for a solid piece of documentary film-making. Peterson emerges as a determined, remarkably mature young woman with a surprisingly wry sense of humor about the uproar she never meant to cause. It's fascinating and entertaining simply watching her calm determination in the face of parents who announce their concerns in board meetings that exposure to homosexuality will be a dangerous influence on impressionable teenagers. The issue for the forces in opposition to the Gay-Straight Alliance isn't just their undoubtedly sincere belief in the immorality of homosexuality. They desire nothing less than the invisibility of homosexuals, believing perhaps that if no one talks about them, they will simply go away.

That widely-held societal belief drives even more fascinating secondary story in OUT OF THE PAST -- a series of biographical vignettes intertwined with Kelli Peterson's struggle. The vignettes describe individuals I was embarrassed and angry to discover that I had never heard of, gay Americans who contributed to the arts, political thought and social justice. The most intriguing of these is Bayard Rustin, a member of Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle of advisors who was the architect of non-violent civil resistance and the primary organizer of the march on Washington. Rustin became a lighting rod for opposition, both from segregationists like Strom Thurmond and from other black political leaders. Like many others, he has been excised from history books because of his sexual orientation, contributing to the continued invisibility of gay Americans as role models.

Like many "talking head" documentaries, OUT OF THE PAST does have its slow patches, and not all the biographical sketches are uniformly enlightening. Ultimately, however, the film does what it sets out to do: it places Kelli Peterson in a historical context, validating the legacy which she had been denied. It was the societal denial of that legacy which made a Gay-Straight Alliance necessary in the first place; it was the search for heroes that turned Kelli Peterson into one.

         On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 alliances:  8.

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