Interview with Susan Polis Schutz, director of "Anyone and Everyone" documentary
Ksenia Zemskaya (KZ): How did this idea come to you and what made you make this film?
Susan Polis Schutz (SPS): My son Jared Is gay and he was so tortured before and when he came out it just broke my heart and I was inspired to make this film to show the tremendous conflict, anguish and fear that children and families and their gay children go through.
KZ: What kind of preparation did you undertake in making this film?
SPS: I attended PFLAG [Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays] in New York City and I listened to parents who were in tears to learn that their children were gay, and I listened to gay children who spoke of their extreme struggles of being gay and everyone was suffering, everyone was alone, but the fact that there were facilitators in the room, people running the meeting as well as other families gave them a great amount of comfort and support. So I started to go around to different PFLAG meetings all over the country and I met gay kids and gay families and I felt sad that people were forced to be so unhappy just because they were gay, and I felt terrible that my own son wasn't able to come out to anyone at that time. So that's when I started to do the research to find families from all walks of life who had a gay son or daughter.
KZ: Why do you think that parents of gay and lesbian children need to unite together? Why do you think it is important?
SPS: It really helps because at first you can be very accepting of the gay lifestyle, but when it's in your own family it is a little bit of a shock because it is not exactly what you had thought about or planned, especially if you learn about it later, like we did. We didn't learn about it until after my son graduated from college. And so if you have other parents to talk to it makes it easier because you see that other people have gone through it and are fine. It is just easier to deal with.
http://www.sbsff.com/en/films/anyoneandeveryone/susan.asp"Anybody and Everybody" by Susan Polis Schutz
Bent Lens Cinema
In her moving debut film, Boulder writer and entrepreneur Susan Polis Schutz interviewed parents across the country with a gay or lesbian child to find out how they learned about their child's sexual orientation, and what their responses were.
Families from all walks of life -- Asian, Native American Latino and African American, as well as from an array of religious backgrounds including Mormon, Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Hindu -- share intimate accounts of how their children revealed their sexuality, and their struggle to understand.
Through a series of remarkably honest and revealing interviews with parents and children, the stories of these families come to life, at turns tearful, confused, courageous, loving and poignant.
"Anyone and Everyone" is a moving and beautiful portrayal of the love between parents and children, and the work some parents are willing to do for the sake of that love.
"Anybody and Everybody" by Susan Polis Schutz
trailer
www.anyoneandeveryone.com
About the Film
Executive Producer Susan Polis Schutz
Connected by having a son or daughter who is gay, parents across the country discuss their experiences in the documentary Anyone and Everyone. In it, filmmaker Susan Polis Schutz, depicts families from all walks of life. Individuals from such diverse backgrounds as Japanese, Bolivian, and Cherokee, as well as from various religious denominations such as Mormon, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Hindu, and Southern Baptist, share intimate accounts of how their children revealed their sexual orientation and discuss their responses.
The parents also talk about struggling with the pain of their sons and daughters dealing with not being accepted by relatives or friends, and being ostracized by religious congregations.
"It was so evil and so bad that we almost couldn’t talk about it... You just had the idea it was so terrible that it was unspeakable," said a Mormon mother in the film.
"Having heard all these awful things and what homosexuality was and then having a member of your family, a person that you have seen, a child that you have seen since the child was born, a person that was absolutely wholesome, good, kind, gentle and that put together with the word lesbian didn’t add up," said a hispanic mother.
Biography of Susan Polis Schutz
Over 14 million books have been sold containing Susan's poems, and her poetry has been published throughtout the world in textbooks, magazines, and newspapers. In addition, poems by Susan have appeared on more greeting cards than those of any other writer in history. Susan's accomplishments of the past, remarkable as they are, do not compare with her triumph as a film maker in Anyone and Everyone, her very first film.
This is the Story behind the film in Susan's own words:
"It took two years to make the film Anyone and Everyone but the path to making it started over ten years ago. Right after graduating from Princeton, my son Jared, told my husband Steve and me that he was gay. Steve and I had always respected gay people, but when it came to be in our immediate family, we were totally shocked."
"Since Jared wasn’t "out," we were not able to discuss his being gay with anyone, so we weren’t able to reach out to people to better understand our feelings."
"During the next few years I watched Jared and some other gay children suffer greatly because they felt so alone and confused. Jared’s facial muscles were contorted, and his mind tormented. And as the mother of this wonderful boy, I suffered with him."
Prayers For Bobby
http://www.prayersforbobby.com/
Dr. Caitlin Ryan - Family Acceptance Project™
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/02/dr-caitlin-ryan-reducing-risk-and.html
In Good Conscience – Sister Jeannine Gramick - Directed by Barbara Rick
In Good Conscience - Sister Jeannine Gramick
New Ways Ministry - CoFounders - Sr. Jeannine Gramick & Father Robert Nugent
Gramick: Equality is a Catholic value
by David Taffet – Dallas Voice
The Quality Of Lasting Homosexual Relationships
Deserve Respect
Roman Catholic -->Cardinal Christoph Schönborn,
Vienna
Gay Marriage - “SEPARATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE”
Does Not Give Churches Or Benedict XVI
The Freedom To Abuse Children or Adults.
July 2010 - By Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
VATICAN like TOBACCO COMPANIES Responsible For The Lifetime Harm They Caused To Children By Their UNSUBSTANTIATED Antigay Teachings – by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
The Lucifer Effect:
Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
By Philip Zimbardo - Stanford University
Blaming the Victim
Ellen Langer - Harvard University
Psychology Today
Belief In A Just World - - - Separation of Church and State - - - Wrongly Condemning Homosexuals
Roman Catholic - hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage
& criminal charges - falsely accused gay priests
WATERGATE?
Psychologist testifies on 'remarkable similarities' of
gay and straight couples
By Maura Dolan - January 14, 2010
Los Angeles Times
California - Prop 8 judgment, August 4, 2010
Gay marriage
“Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.”
Judge Vaughn Walker
On Prop 8, it's the evidence, stupid
By Lisa Bloom
CNN.com
and related links:
Hate Crime Bill vs Attacks But No Facts -> Fear And Ignorance Of
The Blind Leading The Blind
October 27, 2009 – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Galileo Condemned As A Heretic - Misinterpretations Of The Bible
Homosexuality? Natural Law?
Benedict XVI?
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
Gay Marriage -> Restores
“Hope of Love”
To Children In Early Childhood
Sexual orientation is less about sex and more about love,
being one with another human being - Attachment Theory
LOVE & RELIGION
Gay Marriage
Roman Catholic - hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage
& criminal charges - falsely accused gay priests
WATERGATE?
Belief In A Just World - - - Separation of Church and State - - - Wrongly Condemning Homosexuals
“Someday, maybe, there will exist
a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction
that the most deadly of all possible sins
is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.”
Erik Erikson
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