"Gay USA" is an American documentary released in1978 and directed by Arthur J. Bressan, Jr. The film focuses on the burgeoning gay rights movement in the United States at a time when it was facing hostility from homophobic assholes. Comprised of footage shot at a number of Gay Pride events around the US in 1977, the film captures a time just as the gay rights movement began facing the first organized backlash in the form of Anita Bryant and her campaign to repeal anti-discrimination protection in Dade County, Florida. Gay participants as well as critical spectators are interviewed. Footage from Gay Pride marches around the country in 1977 are edited together in this documentary to give us a gay state of the nation in the late '70s. What is most interesting when viewing this film many years after it was made are the interviews with people talking about how far gay rights had come at the time.
Arthur J. Bressan, Jr. (1943 - 1987) was an American filmmaker who produced gay pornography, gay-themed features, and documentaries. He died of an AIDS-related illness in NYC where he was born. Bressan directed 8 mainsteam films:
Buddies (1985)
Daddy Dearest (1984)
Juice (1984)
Abuse (1983)
Pleasure Beach (1983)
Gay USA (1978)
Forbidden Letters (1976)
Passing Strangers (1974)
He wrote most of his screenplays, edited "Space Rage" (1985), and was a cameraman for the Oscar-winning documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk" (1984). Tragically, most of his films are not available. They are gay films made by a gay man for a gay audience. But they are not available. Instead, gays are supposed to watch Hollywood crap like "Another Gay Movie". Furthermore, there is very little information available about Bressan and his films. Let's hope the situation improves.
