REEL Justice Films presents “WELCOME!”

The film that tells the story of how The Unitarian Church in Westport became a “welcoming” congregation to gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender people.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the congregation’s acceptance of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s guidelines to welcome the gay community. The process was not smooth, nor was it unanimous. But in those 20 years, much has changed and much has happened to turn the cultural landscape into a totally different color than it was 20 years ago.

Personal testimony is the basis for the film. The people who were instrumental in bringing the gay issues out into the open and to a public discussion are featured in this film. 20 years ago it was not an easy task to come out as gay or lesbian or transgender or even bi-sexual. But the importance of this film is that the people who can give eyewitness accounts agreed to do so.

The Unitarian Church in Westport is home to the Rainbow Task Force – the group that was responsible for creating the very first Fairfield County Gay Pride.

Everyone is welcome to the film ‘WELCOME!” which was directed and edited by Rozanne Gates, a member of the Rainbow Task Force since 1998.