Coming Home

Subtitled "The Story of Coming Out to Those Who Loved Us First," this production follows the personal journeys of five gay men and women, ages 28 to 46, who tell us about their families, early life in school, realization and eventual acceptance of their sexual orientation, the circumstances surrounding their "coming out" to their parents, and how the familial dynamic changed thereafter. Interspersed throughout are home movies and photographs of these folks, as well as an ongoing sequence concerning a young woman writing "the letter" to her parents. Most of the standard coming-out cautionary notes are raised here (your parents' image of and dreams for you might be damaged, they may try to "talk you out of it," they may ask awkward questions, they may even cut you off), but the rarely-acknowledged concept that you are also permanently outing your family is not addressed strongly enough. On the plus side, though, the interviewees are well-spoken, honest, and personable, and none of them regrets coming out, even if the results were not always pleasant. (One poor woman, God bless her, inadvertently came out when her mom unknowingly laid out a set of pictures for the entire family to see, which included "private" photos of the woman and her girlfriend mixed in with the family reunion photos.) A strong optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (K. Glaser)