We’ll Meet Again: Coming Out

Viewing at the Grand Rapids Area Library with audience input & discussion following the film. Pizza served.

RSVP: [email protected] or call 218-999-5883

This meeting is free and open to the public.

Before the 1970s, being gay in America meant facing widespread discrimination. To come out as to risk everything: family, job and even safety. For two young men growing up in New England, living a life out of the closet was only possible because of the people who helped them open the door.

Tom was born in 1949 near Hartford, Connecticut. His strict Catholic background meant that from a young age he was under pressure to conform, marry and raise a family. At the time gay people were not only classed as criminals and perverts – being gay was also believed to be a mental illness.

Paul was born in 1952 and grew up within a loving family in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. At 18-years-old, he enrolled at the University of New Hampshire, keen to pursue his interest in politics. He was soon elected President of the student body. His support of establishing a Gay Student Organization caused a backlash from State Governor, Meldrim Thomson along with threats to cut University funding.