A Gay Girl's Guide to Sundance: Prop 8 and Loreal Makeovers

While this year's Sundance Film Festival has been noticeably tempered on all fronts, the gays still managed to make a splash. Everywhere people were wearing buttons and badges that simply read the number "8." It was part of a campaign to build awareness for the film 8:The Mormon Proposition, a powerful documentary about the Yes on 8 campaign waged in California in the fall of 2008.

Through dozens of documents, news footage, election financial reporting and interviews with church members, director/writer Reed Cowan and co-director Steven Greenstreet tell the story of how the Mormon Church strategized the most costly and well-orchestrated ballot initiative in US history.

During the film, we follow the story of a sweet young gay couple as they fight to have their rights and marriage recognized. The movie was invigorating and very well may serve as a call to action for those who feel the frustration and indignities this proposition causes.

In conjunction with the film, GLAAD hosted an informative and spirited panel at the Filmmaker's Lounge. Moderated by National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell, the panel included Reed, Dennis Herrera, the San Francisco city attorney, HRC President Joe Solmonese, Narrator and Oscar winning screenwriter for Milk, Dustin Lance Black, and financier Bruce Bastian.

They talked about the gay community's strategic approach to the proposition going forward, and about reaching out to religious groups on their level. Solmonese pointed out the progress the LGBT community has made since this measure first went on the ballot and we lost by 20 points. He said, "Don't mistake a loss for failure," and reiterated HRC's commitment to the cause. 

At one point, Black joked about being the forth "fallen Mormon" on the panel and recounted the difficulty of  growing up gay in the church.

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During a break between movies, I stopped off at the Loreal tent for a makeover.

While I've hired dozens of make up artists for my photo shoots over the years, I've never actually had anyone do my make up. It's incredibly relaxing to have someone smoothing moisturizer all over my face. (She acknowledged that my skin was indeed dying for moisture).

Next she brushed on the base and "built" my eyes, as she called it. Initially she tried to color the inside of my eyes with a pencil, but I was blinking furiously and staving off low-grade panic, so she decided to abandon that effort. She gave me tips on how to use my brushes (I currently use one for everything) and said it's important to swirl and not pump your mascara wand. Who knew? Apparently the later invites bacteria and no one wants that.

Upon finishing, I glanced at an enhanced me in the mirror. I have to admit, I felt pretty and was excited to take my new face onto the next party.

In addition to 8, I saw two movies; Bhutto and the Killer Inside Me, which I will review in my next posting...

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