This work by LA-based artist Rhys Ernst invokes the story of Lou Sullivan, trans man and AIDS activist largely responsible for establishing the distinction between gender identity and sexual orientation. Cut with images of Ernst’s own examination of this figure and trans history, the video is structured by the search for and desire to identify transmasculine elders and an intergenerational exploration of gay transmasculine identity. Utilizing interview footage, excerpts of Sullivan’s book “Information for the Female-to-Male Crossdresser and Transsexual," VHS gay porn, and Grindr chats, 

 is a meditation on the life of the late trans man and AIDS activist that explores the bodily intersection of transmasculine gay and HIV+ identity.

 a program of seven videos that bring together charged moments and memories from their personal perspective amidst the public history of HIV/AIDS.

Dear Lou Sullivan

is a hybrid feature film that blends personal interviews, archival materials, and narrative fiction as a framework for exploring the complicated and often unwritten history of transmasculine sexuality. Testimonials from transgender men both past and present dissect how cultural expectations, political agendas, and gatekeeping practices shape the locus of desire.

The fictional story centers on Ahmad, an Iranian expat who arrived in the US at the onset of the AIDS crisis. Now in his 60s, concealing his trans identity for decades has meant distancing himself from intimacy. Ahmad comes to the LGBTQ archives of Chicago to explore his latent homosexuality and engage in fantasy to reimagine his life as an out, gay trans man.

He is assisted by Kieran, a twenty-something nonbinary archivist who is immersed in queer culture and trans community. An intergenerational friendship takes hold as Kieran realizes they are in the presence of a trans elder in need of guidance. Though they come from radically different cultures, Ahmad and Kieran’s bond is strengthened by a shared fascination with Lou Sullivan, a gay transgender AIDS activist. Ahmad sees himself in Lou, although his story is a sobering reminder of the cost of living as openly gay and trans.

Ahmad’s research blends fact with fiction, often diving into fantasy sequences that re-imagine the gay bathhouses of the 70s and 80s through a transmasculine lens. As his curiosity evolves, Ahmad’s insecurities begin to fall away. He’s fascinated when Kieran shares their experiences in the modern-day bathhouses of Chicago, though he initially lacks compassion when Kieran confesses to an STD scare. As the archive closes due to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, Ahmad makes a final attempt at reconciliation with Kieran, ending on the promise of a blossoming friendship before transitioning into a final fantasy sequence at a traditional Persian bathhouse filled with queer and trans patrons. At last, Ahmad can finally feel desired for who he is.

Their story is punctuated throughout by intimate interviews with trans-identified men about their varied experiences with gay male cruising culture, affirming interactions in a bathhouse, or lack of adequate healthcare for masculine-of center folks. These brutally honest exchanges bring to light the untold history of a group of people who have been doubly marginalized by straight and gay communities alike.

The film pivots between fantasy, fiction, and fact using the letters and interviews of Lou Sullivan as the historical core. Interspersed throughout are clips of the heart-wrenching final interviews between psychiatrist Dr. Ira Pauly and Lou in his final days before succumbing to AIDS. Alongside the contemporary oral histories from a diverse group of transmen across the US, participants candidly discuss the evolution of their desires and illuminate their struggles with gender (non)conformity, fetishization, transphobia, safer sex, and sexual racism.

 is a tender love letter to the gay transmasculine community and the legacy that Lou Sullivan, and many unnamed others like him, left behind.

Desire Lines

This first feature documentary by Barbara Hammer, a pioneer of lesbian cinema, weaves striking images of four gay and lesbian couples with footage of an unearthed forbidden and invisible history. 

Archival footage from the first gay film in the U.S., Lot In Sodom (1933) is interwoven in this haunting documentary.

Nitrate Kisses

Twenty-year-old Lukas is a female-to-male (FTM) Transgender man, taking the steps through his gender reassignment treatment. His friendship with Ine, who is lesbian, is making the changes and assimilation easier. Lukas sees his romantic world open up for him as Ine introduces him to gay life in Cologne. As he becomes more and more interested in a local gay boy, things are getting more and more complicated.

Romeos

JJ is a 'Stud' Lesbian. Together with her best friend Seb, a gay pretty boy, they work as wedding photographers. When JJ falls in love with a beautiful diva, JJ and Seb's friendship is tested. JJ is forced to choose between her hot new lover and her best friend.

Stud Life

Kyiv, 2023. Two friends return from a party and stay at the home of one of them. It would seem like cozy evening but suddenly the heroes are caught in an air raid. Within the air raid happening the two guys explore their closeness.

Too Close

Stevie Trixx, Apollo Moon, Austin Spears and Jamal Phoenix get hot and sweaty after a casual football afternoon. These four transmasc perverts are up to no good… one of the sexiest transmasc orgy ever!

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