Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives is a documentary directed by the Mariposa Film Group and was released in 1977. It is a collection of interviews featuring 26 different queer individuals. Each person brings a different perspective of gay life, oppression, identity, and community.

This documentary showcases a variety of people from a variety of situations and backgrounds. “Single story telling” is the idea of basing bias off of one person in a community, and allowing how you see that one person affect how you see the whole community. Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives represents a diverse cast who all share queerness in common. This allows viewers to be informed on multiple different aspects of the same community.

---

Oftentimes words such as f-slur, “homosexual”, and “lesbian” can have bad associations, but some queer people are working to reclaim them. In this documentary, several of the people use the f-slur causally when describing themselves or others in their community. I was a little taken aback at first, the f-slur seems like a bad word. People outside of the queer community can’t use these slurs, but they are really just words that refer to a specific identity.

---

From a young age, the idea that gay and lesbian are bad things is enforced. If someone calls you gay it’s a bad thing and you need to stop doing whatever it is that made them say that. This causes kids to feel shamed, and unable to explore their identity. Representation in children’s media allows validation and education. Having queer media in accessible places, like classrooms, is valuable for kids.

---

“Coming out of the closet” is a made up concept due to our society being rooted in heteronormative practices. This causes cishet (cisgender heterosexual) people to be the default. If we didn’t assume everyone was straight and cis there would be no need to “come out”. It can be freeing to come out and not actively hide your identity, and it’s something a lot of queer people experience. However, sometimes it isn’t necessary or enjoyable for LGBTQIA+ people.

---

The “gay experience” is a collection of experiences that happen to most gay people. Throughout the documentary, we learn about all the different things so many people experience in different contexts: being called slurs, coming out, gay bars, first love, realizing sexuality, denying sexuality, and so much more. Due to society, many people receive similar acts of oppression and hate.

---

Romantic, platonic, and emotional connections are all different. In romantic queer relationships, sometimes people are more open to each other, creating a deeper emotional connection. This could be due to a stronger sense of community, valuing connection more than straight couples, and not feeling enforced by gender roles. We see this in Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives when couples are talking to or about each other.

---

There is a stereotypical queer fashion and mannerisms: flamboyant clothes, abandonment of gender roles, how they sit or compose themselves, how they talk, limp wrists, makeup, drag. We see all of this in this documentary, and also how you can’t always tell if someone is queer just by looking at them. Expression is often used to show identity, but it doesn’t have to be.

---

Gay people have had the idea that their identity is wrong engrained so much that they choose to psychiatrists to cure themselves. When attending conversion therapy they receive weird cures like eating more salad. Growing up with minimal or negative representation allows for invalidation and hatred in someone’s beliefs about them self and others. The church can affect this greatly, as they are known for being homophobic. People who grow up in the church can struggle with agreeing with some of the beliefs, but also feeling unwelcome in that space.

---

In Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives some people have experienced conversion therapy, mental institutions, or shock treatment. These treatments cause trauma, and many lingering aftereffects. Someone said that the worst and scariest part of being forced to undergo these treatments is the anger and hatred you feel afterwards.

---

Mental health in the queer community is a huge issue. Constantly being oppressed is draining. Oftentimes people feel like they aren’t enough, or are unable to be loved because of their identity or how they present. This stems from growing up with unsatisfactory representation that causes bias and misinformation. A quote from Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives talks about not being enough for anyone: “To the doctor, you were sick. To the lawyer, you were a criminal. And to the minister, you were wicked.”

---

Gender roles are planted deep into our habits and lives. In queer relationships, where there isn’t a cishet man and a cishet woman, it’s seen that they will still establish these heteronormative roles. When given the opportunity to dismantle gender in relationships, we see how greatly it affects us.

---

“I’d rather be oppressed by somebody than be sitting alone and depressed.” It’s difficult to be an advocate for the queer community when that can create a sense of loneliness. Standing up against sexism and homophobia can make you feel like the odd one out. We need to build community to work together to attack these issues as a group.

---

It will take time for the world to be more accepting. We can work towards everyone viewing LGBTQIA+ people just like they’re the default too. When this is achieved, the closeness of gay community might be lost a little, but the adventure and fright of being gay will lessen.

Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives is 2 hours and 13 minutes long, and can be viewed on Criterion Channel.