The world moves on…will Tennessee go along with it?
Same day, two headlines: “Moonlight Wins at Oscars” (AP) and “Tennessee has declared war on same-sex families: Inside the legislation that would eradicate nearly all rights for LGBT couples” (salon.com).
Hundreds of millions of people in 225 countries were floored on Feb. 26 when the biggest gaffe in Academy Awards history gave the “Best Picture” nod to La La Land—only to have it overturned moments later when it was revealed that Moonlight had actually won.
The story of a bullied, gay, African American boy from Miami’s Liberty City projects, a story with an all-black cast, a story that presents human beings’ rending complexities, Moonlight was celebrated by a film community famous for loving films about itself. The film asks questions about masculinity, homophobia and self-hatred, and it tells truths about the universality and contradictions of compassion and love.
And then, on the same day, you have a tale of state legislators seemingly determined to return Tennessee to a past that denies people like those depicted in Moonlight any right to exist in any light.
As salon.com reports: “Filed by State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, House Bill 1406 would prevent a couple from listing on the birth certificate the second parent (the spouse not giving birth) after a woman becomes pregnant through artificial insemination.” [Thus denying parental rights to gay couples.]
“Republican State Rep. Mark Pody has refiled House Bill 892, also known as the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act. Voted down by the General Assembly last year, the legislation seeks to override the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex unions favor of the state’s definition.”
And then there’s House Bill 33. Sponsored by state Reps. Janice Bowling and John Ragan, the bill would “[require] that the words ‘husband’, ‘wife’, ‘mother’, and ‘father’ be given their natural and ordinary meaning’ in any legal or legislative context. According to The Tennessean, HB 33 “could have extremely sweeping effects on same-sex couples in the state, erasing the rights and benefits afforded to their relationship at every turn.”
I imagine all these state representatives would have no problem seeing and likely enjoying La La Land, a charming, lightweight film that is virtually (John Legend/jazz musicians/people dancing on cars aside) all white and all straight. But sit them down and ask them to view Moonlight and the resulting squirming would be something to behold.
Here’s the conundrum faced by these folks and people across the country like them: You are the past. The future is in the faces of the people, black and white, young and old, gay and straight, at the African American Cultural Center in Liberty City, who cheered as Moonlight took its rightful place.
Moonlight was based on an unproduced play by openly gay playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney called “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” I don’t know Mr. McCraney, but I’m willing to bet that if you loved the movie based on his work, the best tribute you can pay it is to stand up and fight the insularity and hatred your state reps stand poised to enact.
Janis Hashe has been both a staff editor and a freelance writer/editor for more than 25 years. She has a master’s degree in theatre arts, is the founder of Shakespeare Chattanooga and a member of the Chattanooga Zen Group.