"The Trip" is about 19 year-old gay rights activist Tommy (Steve Braun) and 24 year-old Alan (Larry Sullivan). They have a long-term relationship from their initial meeting in 1973 until 1984. At a party in LA, lean and lanky Tommy introduces himself to sexually and politically repressed Alan. Tommy has long hair, is openly gay, with a good sense of humor. The short-haired, muscular Alan is a member of the Young Republicans and an aspiring journalist. Alan is working on his first book, a treatise on homosexuality, and he invites Tommy over for dinner to interview him for the book. Tommy stays over at Alan's apartment who eventually says, "I'm not a fag like you, okay?" However, they soon begin a 4 year relationship.
In 1977, during Anita Bryant's crusade, the anti-gay book Alan wrote years before, "The Straight Truth", is published without his consent. The book destroys Tommy's credibility as a gay activist, resulting in Tommy and Alan's break-up. Years later they re-unite, but under tragic circumstances, as Tommy is now dying of AIDS. In a fitting end to their love story, Alan writes a second book, about his coming out process and his love affair with Tommy. The book is called "The Trip", and is dedicated to Tommy.
Genuine news footage is interspersed in the film, and incorporates the struggle for gay civil rights in the 1970s, the Moscone-Milk assassinations, the AIDS crisis, and the indifference of the Reagan Administration to it. Characters like Tommy's best friend, Michael (Alexis Arquette), Alan's mother (Jill St. John), and Beverly (Sirena Irwin) add humor to the movie, but each lends support to Alan's relationship with Tommy, and to him living as an openly gay man. Written and directed by Miles Swain.
In 1977, during Anita Bryant's crusade, the anti-gay book Alan wrote years before, "The Straight Truth", is published without his consent. The book destroys Tommy's credibility as a gay activist, resulting in Tommy and Alan's break-up. Years later they re-unite, but under tragic circumstances, as Tommy is now dying of AIDS. In a fitting end to their love story, Alan writes a second book, about his coming out process and his love affair with Tommy. The book is called "The Trip", and is dedicated to Tommy.
Genuine news footage is interspersed in the film, and incorporates the struggle for gay civil rights in the 1970s, the Moscone-Milk assassinations, the AIDS crisis, and the indifference of the Reagan Administration to it. Characters like Tommy's best friend, Michael (Alexis Arquette), Alan's mother (Jill St. John), and Beverly (Sirena Irwin) add humor to the movie, but each lends support to Alan's relationship with Tommy, and to him living as an openly gay man. Written and directed by Miles Swain.
