STORYLINE
A gray winter sky hangs over lonely city streets, rusted oil derricks, and falling-down factories. This is Oil City, Pennsylvania, a fading industrial town in the heart of the American rustbelt. It is the sort of town that Barrack Obama had in mind when he made his now infamous comments about bitter small town residents clinging to their religion and prejudices as they watch the rest of the world pass them by.
The peace and quiet are shattered when the filmmaker, Oil City native Joe Wilson, places his own same-sex wedding announcement in the local paper. He wants to let other people, especially youth, know that it is possible to survive the days of fear and isolation that come with being an outsider in small town America.
The peace and quiet are shattered when the filmmaker, Oil City native Joe Wilson, places his own same-sex wedding announcement in the local paper. He wants to let other people, especially youth, know that it is possible to survive the days of fear and isolation that come with being an outsider in small town America.
The announcement catches the eye of Kathy Springer, a local woman whose teenage son C.J. is being brutally abused at school because he is gay. Ignored by the school authorities and with no where else to turn, she seeks help from Wilson- the only openly gay person she has heard of from the area. Together they begin a difficult struggle to take on the school authorities who ignored the harassment and violence that make every day “eight hours of pure hell” for C.J.
The announcement has a very different impact on Diane Gramley, head of the local chapter of the ultra-conservative American Family Association. Infuriated by the prospect of the “homosexual agenda” invading her little town, she initiates an incendiary series of actions that polarizes the community and leads to death threats against Wilson, C.J. and his mother, and “every other pervert” in the town.
The announcement has a very different impact on Diane Gramley, head of the local chapter of the ultra-conservative American Family Association. Infuriated by the prospect of the “homosexual agenda” invading her little town, she initiates an incendiary series of actions that polarizes the community and leads to death threats against Wilson, C.J. and his mother, and “every other pervert” in the town.
OUT IN THE SILENCE takes viewers on a very personal journey through conservative small town America as the filmmaker becomes immersed in the battle over gay visibility and equality that unfolds in his hometown over a three year period. With camera in hand, he engages with traditional values activists, conservative politicians, school authorities and everyday local folks, follows the trials and tribulations of a grassroots effort to promote diversity and tolerance in the area, and forms an unlikely and transformative friendship with a fundamentalist preacher. Ultimately, OUT IN THE SILENCE portrays, with emotion and candor from all sides, the ongoing struggle for justice and equality for all that is roiling small towns and rural communities throughout America and the change that is possible when people search for what they have in common rather than what sets them apart .
OUT
in the
SILENCE
