Southern Baptist Sissies
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For those like me who hail from the Bible bet, Southern Baptist Sissies serves as a painful reminder of a legacy that still lingers despite the passing of Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond, and others of their ilk. This is a film of the GLAAD Award-winning theatrical production from Del Shores that follows four childhood boys coming of age within the confines of a church that condemns them to h-e-double-toothpicks. Each character has their own trajectory, from the kid who early on embraces his inner drag queen to the anti-gay crusader who denies his boyish love. Even in the production’s campiest moments, you can feel the hope of humanity breaking through. I caught Southern Baptist Sissies at the 2013 Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, but you can check out their latest screenings on Facebook.
Becky Garrison is a satirist/storyteller whose most recent book is Roger Williams’s Little Book of Virtues (Wipf & Stock, March 2020). Also, she edited Love, Always: Partners of Trans People on Intimacy, Challenge and Resilience (Transgress Press, 2015). Her six books include 2006’s Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church (PW, starred review).