Image provided by Esther Newton
[June 19, 2025, 6-8pm EST]
Join us for a special virtual screening of Esther Newton Made Me Gay, a feature documentary that celebrates the life and legacy of cultural anthropologist, activist, and iconic butch lesbian Esther Newton. With a career spanning over seven decades, Newton has been a trailblazer in queer scholarship, shaping the foundations of LGBTQ+ and Gender Studies through her groundbreaking work on drag, lesbian identity, and the politics of representation.
Image provided by Esther Newton
Directed with deep sensitivity and insight, the film follows Newton’s intellectual and personal journey—from her early awakenings in 1950s gay life to her role in the women’s liberation and lesbian-feminist movements, to her current reflections on butch identity in relation to trans-masculinity. Interwoven with her passion for competitive dog agility, the documentary offers a nuanced and tender portrait of a scholar-athlete navigating aging, illness, and resilience.
This event will open with a brief introduction and conclude with a live Q&A featuring special guests. It is an opportunity to celebrate queer history, feminist scholarship, and the enduring spirit of someone who has helped generations of thinkers and activists see themselves more clearly.
[June 19, 6-8 event] This event Esther Newton Made Me Gay is hosted by the Franklin Furnace LOFT, live stream via Zoom. Free and open to the public, registration required.
Artist Bios
Esther Newton received her PhD in anthropology at the University of Chicago in 1968. Her first book, Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America (1972), was the first major cultural study of a homosexual community in the United States. Her second book, Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years in America’s First Gay and Lesbian Town (1993) documented the history of Cherry Grove, one of the oldest and most visible predominantly LGBT communities., She then published a collection of essays Margaret Mead Made Me Gay (2000) and My Butch Career: A Memoir in 2018. She is the subject of Jean Carlomusto’s award winning documentary, Esther Newton Made Me Gay (2022)
Jean Carlomusto‘s films have been exhibited internationally, in festivals, museums, online, and on television. A recipient of the Visual AIDS Vanguard Award for her pioneering work in the AIDS activist video movement, her film LARRY KRAMER IN LOVE & ANGER, HBO, 2015, was featured at the Sundance Film Festival and nominated for two Emmy Awards. In L IS FOR THE WAY YOU LOOK, PBS/WNET, she pieced together lesbian history using scraps of gossip into a humorous portrait of a population’s creative tussle for visibility and inclusion. Her works, including, ESTHER NEWTON MADE ME GAY, explores the wonderful complexity of queer life.
