Directed by Jean Carlomusto (USA, 2022, 92 min.). English.

Drawn to the drag scene as a student in the 1950s and identifying as both butch lesbian and between genders, Esther Newton has spent six decades writing about and forging queer communities. Her 1972 book Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America is noted as the first rigorous academic anthropological study of queer community in modern history. Esther Newton Made Me Gay is a rare look at queer history and gender studies through a living lesbian icon, encompassing amazing archival footage peppered with Esther’s other passion—training poodles!

Followed by a Q and A with producer Shanti Avirgan.