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The Modern History Of Cruising, Homophobia And AIDS In Less Than Four Minutes

The modern history of the gay rights movement, including prejudice and homophobia and events that led up to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, is revealed in The Fight Continues, a short documentary directed by Ryan Murphy. The film incorporates vintage footage of gay men cruising, the police raid on Stonewall, antigay activist Anita Bryant getting a pie slammed into her self-righteous mug and early health warnings about the mysterious cancer “triggered by the lifestyle of some homosexuals”— and since Ryan is peerless at choosing just the right song for the soundtrack, this non-fiction video is scored, appropriately, to Bronski Beat’s classic gay anthem “Smalltown Boy.” Murphy’s short film has been released just a few days before the May 25 premiere of HBO’s The Normal Heart, a searing drama about the early years of the AIDS crisis, which he directed.

Watch The Fight Continues below.

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