SFIFF: Pursuit of Equality World Premiere

Hillary Newsom Callan (we hope), Geoff Callan, Gavin Newsom and Mike Shaw pose for pictures and field questions.

Filmmaker Geoff Callan, Gavin's brother-in-law, was asked by Gavin to come down and film the first ceremony. As everyone in San Francisco knows, Gavin was in office just over a month before he surprised everyone (save for Geoff and the Chronicle, of course) with his announcement that the city had amended the marriage licenses to be non-discriminatory. The rest, as they say, is history. But Geoff and his small crew stuck with the story, and were given the kind of access to City Hall that no one else has ever had. So the premiere promised to be a chance to witness events as though you were right there in the thick of it. Even the Gavster said he hadn't seen the film until last night.

Gavin's staffer Peter Ragone and San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Roxanne Captor.

The scene outside the Castro was certainly buzzing -- SFist would like to hope people were a little more excited about this documentary than a certain thriller starring Courteney Cox. Of course, the army of signature gathers that seems everpresent in the neighborhood were on hand, including the hard working folks at EQCA. As we stood around, waiting, the media began to arrive in droves. At six a bus pulled up and out stepped Dorothy "Del" Martin and Phyllis Lyon, looking as fabulous as ever, followed by more wedded couples, various city politicos, and the filmmakers.

Mabel Teng puts a brave face on things.

It was good to see Mabel Teng smiling, as she hasn't had much to smile about lately. She didn't wait around to answer any questions from the press, nor did City Attorney Dennis Herrera (who figures largely in the film, but we'll get to that later). Del and Phyllis were game, though, as were Bonnie McKay and Davina Kotulski looking elegant in their nuptial finery. Geoff and Mike were the stars of the moment, though, until of course Gavin stepped out of his limo and wandered into the fray.

Our candidate for best supporting role goes to Dennis Herrera.

After answering questions from the press (we swear we were almost knocked off our feet by a diminutive reporter from KTVU who pushed past us to shove a mic at the Gavster -- it was like playing in the post at a basketball game in the crush), the assembled dignitaries retired to the mezzanine and then to their reserved seats. We tried to scored some refresh...exclusive pics and quotes, but even though the Chron photog was behind the velvet ropes upstairs, we were told "no press." So we went to grab a seat in the front row and listen to the dulcet tones of the Castro's organ while we waited for the flick to start.

San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Roxanne Captor introduced the picture, and mentioned meeting "Geoff and his beautiful wife Kimberly." Geoff shouted out, "Hillary. It's Hillary," much to the embarrassment of Roxanne and delight of the crowd, who shared a huge laugh (hey, we've made the same mistake). "I'm going to be chased back to LA," Roxanne joked. Geoff and Mike then introduced the film together, and Mike told the crowd if they wanted to let loose and cheer or boo they were welcome, as it's an "interactive film." The crowd quieted down, but as the curtain was going up, someone shouted "Thank you, Gavin," and a cheer rose from the audience.

It wasn't a minute into the title screen before the crowd let out a viscious hiss at the first appearance of bible-thumping protestors. Who knew that hissing was gay, and booing passe? By the end of the film, though, there were far more cheers than jeers, and mostly tears (we blubbered like a baby -- both the happy blubbering and the sad blubbering -- at multiple points during the film). But to stay catty for a moment, the only other folks to induce hissing besides the reactionary Christians were Gavin's mentor Willie Brown and the esteemed George Bush.

The film moved quickly from Gavin's inauguration (oh, Kim Kim, so optimistic in her Jackie O inspired dress) to February 12th. Gavin had barely won a close vote in the Mayoral runoff election, but was ready to act unilaterally to make same-sex marriage a reality, and city government rallied around him. It wasn't twenty minutes into the film, and gay rights activists Del and Phyllis were tying the knot. The scenes of director of Neighborhood Services and LGBT liaison Joe Caruso trying in vain to choke back tears and then letting go were touching. "Everyone cries at weddings," he said. So true.

The rep from the Assessor Recorder's office who complete their paperwork gave Phyllis a laugh when she read of the boilerplate "and here are some materials on pregnancy and family planning" after signing off on the documents. For a wedding present, Gavin gave them a copy of the California Constitution, and big kisses on the cheek. Del and Phyllis were all smiles and thank yous. "I don't know what took me so long," he quipped. He mentioned later during the Q&A that during the month that the weddings were happening he was mostly stuck in his office, and generally appears in the film when prominent couples dropped by to thank him in his offices.

Molly McKay and Davina Kotulski showed up on February 12th, 2004 just as they had done for the last five years in a row. Each year, they stood patiently in line with other happy couples, only to be turned away. Though they knew it was inevitable, they did it to demonstrate that the law as it stood was actively discriminatory. But instead of being turned away, they were wed, with State Assemblyman Mark Leno officiating.

As word spread, the crowd gathered. Within a few short days, thousands of couples had already been wed. That's when City Attorney Dennis Herrera was introduced, as the forces of evil descended on San Francisco Superior Court to ask for an injunction to halt the weddings until the legality of Gavin's move could be determined. The staff is nervous waiting for the decision to be made, and Adriel Hampton makes an appearance in the film describing the scene in the courthouse as reporters awaited news from the judge. When the judge fails to issue an injunction, there are some great scenes where the prosecutors partake in some lawerly spin-speak to try to put a brave face on their defeat. The weddings would continue.

Finally, the kids from "Repent America" show up with their "No Homo" shirts and start vigorously thumping bibles. Twice they managed to get into City Hall and block the hallway to the Assessor Recorders office while singing hymns (rather poorly, we might add -- they might harmonize better if they mixed a few gays in there, we bet). At one point the crowd of affianced drowned them out by singing the national anthem. Oh, the irony! But of course the "riots" that the Governator warned might happen never materialized, as only a few dozen protestors showed up during the course of the month.

By this time the debate had reached a national level, with George Bush announcing his support for a constitutional amendment declaring proof of wee-wee and corresponding hoo-ha necessary for matrimony. SFist loved the use of a clip of Al Sharpton from the Democratic Primary debates (though we kind of always love clips of Al Sharpton): "The issue is not who you go to bed with. It's if they wake up with jobs in the morning." As we all know, though, economic self interest took a back seat to moralist rhetoric, and the Dems lost -- leaving many blaming Gavin, rightly or wrongly.

One of the strongest threads in the film were the interviews with the family of Pali Cooper, Jeanne Rizzo and their son Christopher Bradshaw. After over a month of weddings, the California Supreme Court finally handed down a stay in the case, grinding the weddings to a halt. The scenes of Pali and Jeanne running down the halls, only to find the doors of opportunity closed, and their son Christopher consoling them were absolutely crushing (this triggered the sad blubbering). In an interview afterwards, Jeanne admits, "I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell this story without it hurting so much."

When the courts decided in August to force San Francisco to revoke the licenses, the mood is darkest. Though while Dennis Herrera and the City Attorney lost that battle, the went on to win the next, moving from defense to prosecution in order to challenge the constitutionality of California's law banning same-sex unions. SFist would like to suggest that while Gavin may be the star of the picture, Dennis should be, as it's one thing to go around changing things by executive fiat, and entirely another to put your shoulder to the wheel of justice and make it turn. So kudos to Dennis and his great staff. The scene of Gavin offering up his fist for Dennis to pound after Dennis's recent victory in the constitutionality case was telling.

While the film was certainly both entertaining and deeply moving to anyone with an emotional investment in the story, we don't think it's entirely polished yet. In the Q&A after the film, the filmmakers admitted that they didn't have a distribution deal and were going to begin on the festival circuit in the hopes of finding one. Two people in the crowd suggested PBS and HBO, and in both cases, the film would probably need to be cut down to a sixty minute format, and we think that it would help the pacing and focus the story better if they did. Still, a great effort, and it's hard to go wrong with the subject matter.

Filmmakers John Fraser, Paul Byrd, Geoff Callan and Mike Shaw.

Dorthy "Del" Martin and Phyllis Lyon receive one of many standing ovations.

Gavin answers a question from his brother during the Q&A after the movie.

The easily recognizable Jan Wahl looks on as Gavin speaks.

Some might argue that the film isn't particularly balanced, but Geoff admitted that besides all their efforts, they never got a chance to do a sit down interview with the "Repent America" folks or Randy Thomasson and his "Campaign for California Families." While they had footage from speeches and protests to represent the dissenting opinion, no one offered to back up their rhetoric and offer cogent and detailed arguments against the marriages.

Mark Leno and Molly McKay make a suprising good couple -- though not as good as Molly and Davina.

Finally, Bonnie McKay and Mark Leno got up to ask for help and support, thank the audience and filmmakers, and suggest that folks drop by the EQCA desk in the lobby to make a donation. If we weren't so poor, we would have done just that, to give you an idea of how inspiring all that love was. Sure, we may have reservations about the timing and intentions behind our "Winter of Love," but you can't deny the emotional impact of seeing all those happy people in love getting married. Two beautiful deaf women saying their vows in sign language? Jon and Stuart so handsome in their tuxes and pink bowties? Somebody get us a tissue, we're tearing up again.