A documentary on gay porn mogul Chuck
Holmes' gay rights activism has reached more than 80
percent of its funding goal.
The project by San Francisco filmmaker
Michael Stabile takes a look at Holmes' often rocky relationship with
the early leaders of the gay rights movement.
Holmes built famed gay porn house
Falcon Studios, which in the 80s and early 90s dominated the gay porn
industry with its preppy yet masculine models.
He is credited for giving millions to
organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's
largest gay rights advocate, and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund,
which promotes openly gay elected officials, and gay or gay friendly
politicians such as Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank and former
President Bill Clinton. He also gave generously to AIDS charities.
But sometimes Holmes' “dirty money”
was not welcome.
In
a trailer for the film, Holmes says: “Gay films have been the
unspoken, unheralded leader in the social acceptance of gay men in
America, to changing the laws and in pushing gay society out of the
closet around the world. And don't you ever fucking forget that.”
Holmes died in 2000 from complications
of AIDS at the age of 55.