As we close out LGBTQ History Month, how about taking 20 minutes to watch a free short film from 1983—nearly three decades ago—about a Black lesbian mom?
If She Grows Up Gay (1983), by Karen (Sloe) Goodman, is a 22-minute documentary short about a young, working-class mother, her two-year-old daughter, and her partner. It came out in 1983—two years before the more well-known (and also excellent) early documentary on lesbian families, Choosing Children. If She Grows Up Gay adds yet more proof that queer parenting isn’t as newfangled as some may think—and that our community consists of more than just affluent White couples deciding to start a family together.
The film is part of the Frameline Voices series, “a curated program of short films and episodic content representing experiences unique to LGBTQ+ people and communities.”
Watch it in full right here: