
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of
interviewing Madeline Davis for an article I was writing about her documentary,
Swimming with Lesbians.
Swimming
with Lesbians provides a raw
look into the GLBT movement of a “rustbelt city on the edge of the Midwest,”
otherwise known as Buffalo, NY. It’s an engaging, heartwarming, tragic,
realistic, gritty, and fabulous account of the people and personal stories that
have paved the way for where we are now — from the tantalizing tales of Tangara,
a local 60s drag queen, to Peggy Ames, a transsexual woman who was courageous
enough to embrace her true gender when her family and an entire town turned
their backs on her.
But Swimming
with Lesbians is more than just a documentary; it’s a visual reminder of
the lives we have lived, the places we have been, and the beautiful history we
have created together right here in Western New York.
The name for the documentary came about by
accident. Davis was driving with a friend (who is also featured in the documentary)
and he mentioned that he didn’t like swimming because gay men are judgmental
about body images. Davis told him jokingly that he should go swimming with
lesbians, because lesbians don’t care how people look. “I think lesbians are much more
accepting in that regard,” she said. “We come in all different shapes, colors,
cultures, ages and sizes. We come from everywhere. We are the most fortunate of
genders, because we allow each other to be as we are.”
For those of you who don’t know her, Madeline
Davis is a woman with many extraordinary sides, including lesbian, author,
musician, Reiki master, librarian, and speaker. She is also a pivotal player in
GLBT history and she’s seen her fair share of pride parades, demonstrations and
protests. In 1971, she marched and spoke at the first gay rights rally at the
New York State Capitol and participated in the original effort to lobby the
state legislature on behalf of gay rights. Often credited for single-handedly
bringing GLBT issues and politics to the forefront in Buffalo, she began
collecting items for what is now known as “The Madeline Davis
GLBT Archives of Western, New York” in 2001.
Swimming
with Lesbians gives you an
inside view of Davis’ personal life, her brilliant past, and her unwavering
determination to create one of the most extensive GLBT archive collections in
the country. When she set out to film the documentary, Davis hoped that one
central message would be perceived: that people would understand how vitally
important it is to not let our history disappear. That is why she created the
archives. She believes that we need to keep a living collection of GLBT history
and make it available for researchers, for students, and for future generations
of gays and lesbians in this country so that they know what happened before. If
we don’t, well then our history will simply go up in smoke.
So far, Swimming
with Lesbians has been well received. Davis is hoping that a distribution
company will pick up the documentary and eventually air it on popular networks
such as HBO or LOGO. As for the archives, Buffalo State College is currently
clearing space in the Butler Library in order to showcase them and preserve
them for years to come.
I invite you to watch Swimming with Lesbians if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet.
It’s not only an important part of Western New York GLBT culture, it’s an
important part of GLBT culture, period.