HIGHLIGHT | THE KISS-IN: SANDY + LINDA’S STORY Last year, two long-time Out On Screen supporters shared their story including the magical moment when they had their very first kiss at a movie theatre in front of hundreds during the film festival. The audience celebrated by giving a smooch or two to their loved ones. This soon became what we now call the “kiss-in”, to honour the global kiss-in rally that took place just a couple of weeks following the film festival. Below is Sandy and Linda’s speech. Linda and I love movies. We love renting them, we love going to them, and we love sharing them. We can’t always remember what we’ve seen or what the titles were but usually five minutes into it, it dawns on us that we’ve already seen it. We have a confession to make... Linda and I come from an era where public displays of affection by gays and lesbians were not safe. Yesterday, prior to the opening gala film, we had our very first kiss in a movie theatre, with the lights on, and hundreds of others doing the same! And we loved it! 25 years ago, Louise Pohl, one of the founding members of Out On Screen asked her friends to support a new project. She asked us to donate. To
support a 24-hour marathon where she and a few others were going to sit in the dark and watch gay and lesbian films. This was to be the precursor to Out On Screen. My immediate reaction was that she was nuts (sorry, Louise). Firstly, a 24-hour marathon? Really?? Secondly, where were they going to find 24 hours of gay and lesbian films that were worth watching? I donated anyway, basically because I liked Louise (and still do). Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. Look what’s 25! Now the Out On Screen programming committee has so many films to consider, they go into lengthy, heated deliberations. We love this festival!!! We have had a love affair with Out On Screen for years. We love: Sitting in a theatre with our community watching our lives being depicted on the big screen. Sitting in a theatre and laughing together, crying together, and sometimes wondering what the “f” that was all about? We love the things that we learn and appreciate the things that maybe we didn’t care to learn. We love the people that we see every year and celebrate together in a country where we can. We love watching younger people come to Out On Screen and being confident and proud in their sexual orientation. We talk about Out On Screen with our friends, some of whom are here and some of whom don’t quite get why we would spend 10 days in a dark movie theatre. But year after year we do the entire festival. So people, make an investment in your future. And fall in love too!
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