Esther Newton Made Me Gay
Directed by Jean Carlomusto
ESTHER NEWTON MADE ME GAY explores the life and times of cultural anthropologist Esther Newton. Throughout her career, Esther was a pioneer – questioning and challenging status quo assumptions on gender, sexuality and anthropological methods. Her work inspired generations of scholars to pursue research in what would eventually become the field of LGBTQ & Gender Studies.
Keenly attuned to the cultural and societal forces that shaped her life, Esther guides us through an anthropology of herself, a study influenced by her love for a sport - competitive dog agility - that pairs her aging butch body with her beloved dog teammate on an obstacle course that is constantly changing.
Directed by Jean Carlomusto and produced with Shanti Avirgan, whose previous collaborations with Jean include the Emmy-nominated Larry Kramer in Love & Anger, Esther Newton Made Me Gay premiered as a feature-length doc in 2022.