The Gay We Were: A Look Back At 'Love! Valour! Compassion!'

The 1990s were an odd little crossroads for gay entertainment. The dominant mainstream narrative — when it paid any attention at all — trended towards the AIDS crisis and tragedy. At the same time, far from the mainstream, the cottage industry of gay romantic comedies pitched itself to a greatly underserved market. These movies barely made it to a theatrical release, and it’s fair to say that most of them weren’t great films, but they were what passed for a niche genre back then, and that makes them important. Certainly, for a child of the ’90s, they were formative in ways both good and bad. With The Gay We Were, we’re going to examine this subgenre one film at a time and examine what they said about gay entertainment and the era that once was.

This Week’s Film: Love! Valour! Compassion!
Release Date: May 16, 1997
Directed by: Joe Mantello
Written by: Terrence McNally
Starring: Stephen Bogardus, John Glover, Jason Alexander, Stephen Spinella, John Benjamin Hickey, Justin Kirk