OUT IN THE STREETS explores the untold history of graffiti and street art as a tool for queer activism through the personal stories of a global artist community.
Through intimate interviews, contemporary street artists from around the world share personal stories of survival, coming out, gender expression, and using creativity to fight back against the increased threat of violence and backlash against LGBTQ+ rights. Woven throughout, pioneering activists of the last half-century explain the untold history of street art in the Queer Liberation movement.
Stonewall veteran Mark Segal reveals that on the first night of the riots, he and his friends chalked "Tomorrow Night, Stonewall" to fuel the protests. Photographer Stanley Stellar describes how late-1970s gay artists took over the abandoned piers of NYC to create an erotic wonderland. Jill Posener talks about her work documenting the vibrant feminist lesbian graffiti movement of the '70s and '80s. Avram Finkelstein (co-creator of Silence = Death) and Maxine Wolfe of ACT UP explain how they powerfully used visual activism during the AIDS crisis. And Sister Lotti Da brings the continued fight to the streets with the New York City Drag March.
Through this film's production a worldwide Queer Street Art community was formed. Artists who previously felt isolated and overlooked by the street art scene discover each other and begin collaborating. International artists wage a guerilla art campaign to celebrate queer history with ad take-overs. Brazilian artist Suriani travels to NYC to collaborate with Homo Riot on a mural honoring the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. And in Los Angeles the first Queer Street Art exhibition was organized, bringing together dozens of artists in a revolutionary celebration of community.
OUT IN THE STREETS goes beyond exploring street art as a movement—it defines this pivotal moment of queer artists coming together to inspire future generations.
