This week I talked with Filmmaker Cindy L. Abel about her new documentary “Surviving The Silence” that tells the story of Colonel Patsy Thompson & Barbara Brass. In 1992 Colonel Thompson was a decorated Army nurse just two years away from her retirement after serving her country for over thirty years from conflict zones to working inside the Pentagon. At this trajectory of her career she was asked to preside over the military review board that eventually dismissed Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer for admitting she was a lesbian. For Thompson that trial was perhaps the hardest assignment in her long military career because she had to confront her own moral dilemma that she too was a lesbian & living privately with her life partner Brass for many years. This underlying story remained a secret until 2013 when Thompson & her now wife Barbara Brass decided to go public for the very first time at a college speaking engagement in Northern California. Much to their delight the speech received a resounding standing ovation, empowering them on their unfolding journey as out & proud lesbians who are visibly committed to using their unique life experience in pursuit of social justice & activism. Colonel Cammermeyer continued the fight becoming a vocal opponent of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” & eventually was reinstated thanks to Thompson’s handling of her military trial. I asked Filmmaker Cindy L. Abel, Colonel Patsy Thompson & Barbara Brass what they hope to accomplish with “Surviving The Silence” & their spin on our LGBTQ issues in this exclusive audio interview.
LISTEN
For More Info: survivingthesilence.com
No comments:
Post a Comment