After Stonewall (First Run Features) – After Stonewall, subtitled “From the riots to the millennium,” is the sequel to Before Stonewall (which is also available on DVD), originally produced as part of a PBS series, and has particular resonance at this time in gay history. The LGBT community’s struggle against the homophobic actions and rhetoric of the religious right figures prominently in the documentary, and following the 2004 election, is especially poignant. Opening with the it’s “okay to be gay” clip from South Park, After Stonewall picks up with the 1970 Gay Liberation Day March on Christopher Street and reminds us that San Francisco also served as a hub for gays and lesbians to be “free to be who they were.”

Historical events abounded, including the American Psychiatric Association’s declassification of homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder, lesbian Elaine Noble’s election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the mid-1970s, the rise of the women’s music scene, the Marches on Washington, Harvey Milk, the defeat of Briggs initiative, and of course, the AIDS crisis, to mention a few.

After Stonewall also boasts a substantial list of interview subjects including Jewelle Gomez, Armistead Maupin, Barney Frank, Peter Tatchell, Dorothy Allison, Barbara Gittings, Michael Bronski, Karla Jay, Harry Hay, Jim Fouratt, Frank Kameny, Pratibha Parma, Elizabeth Birch, Larry Kramer, Barbara Smith, Revs. Troy Perry and Mel Smith, and David Mixner, among others.

Too Close For Comfort: The Complete First Season (Rhino Home Video) – A completely ridiculous and nearly never funny sitcom that ran for five season (!) in the 1980s, Too Close For Comfort is less notable for being one of the TV series that Ted Knight did after The Mary Tyler Moore Show than for being our introduction to gay actor Jm. J. Bullock. Initially billed as Jm. M. Bullock, the gawky Southerner played Monroe, a lost lamb in eighties San Francisco (imagine that) who is taken in by Baxter’s Rush family. Monroe often provided much needed comic relief in this painful sitcom and served as the whipping boy for Henry (Baxter). Another point of interest is that in the opening episode, the tenant who rented the flat below where Henry lived with his wife and two ditzy daughters has died, and in cleaning out the apartment, it is determined that Mr. Rafkin was a drag queen.

Erasure Live!: The Tank, The Swan and The Balloon (Mute DVD): Having only seen Erasure live for the first time in 2003 I was, for some reason, unprepared for the theatrical nature of the show. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

Had I seen The Tank, The Swan and The Balloon, which was filmed live at the Manchester Apollo in 1992, I might have been better prepared. For instance, seeing openly gay lead singer Andy Bell’s entrance in a swan boat, swathed in a feather boa and wearing sequined pants, now came as no surprise. With his sweat-drenched skin glistening, Bell belted out beloved Erasure tunes while prancing with pride. Of course there are costume changes, including one involving blue satin jackets and platforms for the Abba sequence.

The Western-themed “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” bit featured male dancers in butt-less chaps and thongs. Bell himself strode out on stage in blue-sequined chaps, thong and cowboy hat, while his straight musical partner Vince Clarke strutted around in Mae West drag. By the time the hot air balloon arrived, we expected “the ceremony of the ruby, red slippers in the face of Nazi homophobic shitheads all over the world,” and Bell’s rendition of “Over The Rainbow.”