[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.74,0:00:03.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Human beings start putting each other into boxes
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.17,0:00:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the second that they see each other --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.98,0:00:08.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is that person dangerous? Are they attractive?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.05,0:00:11.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are they a potential mate? Are they a potential networking opportunity?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.32,0:00:13.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We do this little interrogation when we meet people
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.85,0:00:16.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make a mental resume for them.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.02,0:00:17.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What's your name? Where are you from?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.54,0:00:20.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How old are you? What do you do?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.90,0:00:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then we get more personal with it.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.70,0:00:26.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you ever had any diseases?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.85,0:00:28.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you ever been divorced?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.83,0:00:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does your breath smell bad while you're answering my interrogation right now?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.28,0:00:33.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What are you into? Who are you into?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.100,0:00:35.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What gender do you like to sleep with?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.86,0:00:38.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I get it.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.29,0:00:40.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are neurologically hardwired
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.04,0:00:42.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to seek out people like ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.43,0:00:44.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We start forming cliques as soon as we're old enough
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.61,0:00:46.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to know what acceptance feels like.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.55,0:00:48.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We bond together based on anything that we can --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.90,0:00:54.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,music preference, race, gender, the block that we grew up on.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.35,0:01:01.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We seek out environments that reinforce our personal choices.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.24,0:01:03.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, though, just the question "what do you do?"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.70,0:01:05.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can feel like somebody's opening a tiny little box
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.66,0:01:07.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and asking you to squeeze yourself inside of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.19,0:01:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because the categories, I've found, are too limiting.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.75,0:01:12.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The boxes are too narrow.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.64,0:01:14.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this can get really dangerous.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.76,0:01:16.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So here's a disclaimer about me, though,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.54,0:01:18.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before we get too deep into this.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.14,0:01:21.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I grew up in a very sheltered environment.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.12,0:01:25.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was raised in downtown Manhattan in the early 1980s,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.07,0:01:28.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,two blocks from the epicenter of punk music.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.96,0:01:31.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was shielded from the pains of bigotry
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.05,0:01:35.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the social restrictions of a religiously-based upbringing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.15,0:01:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where I come from, if you weren't a drag queen or a radical thinker
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.58,0:01:40.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or a performance artist of some kind,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.70,0:01:42.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you were the weirdo.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.69,0:01:43.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.97,0:01:46.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was an unorthodox upbringing,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.06,0:01:48.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but as a kid on the streets of New York,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.57,0:01:50.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you learn how to trust your own instincts,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.54,0:01:53.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you learn how to go with your own ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.47,0:01:56.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when I was six, I decided that I wanted to be a boy.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.71,0:02:00.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to school one day and the kids wouldn't let me play basketball with them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.18,0:02:01.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They said they wouldn't let girls play.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.61,0:02:03.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I went home, and I shaved my head,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.02,0:02:05.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I came back the next day and I said, "I'm a boy."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.64,0:02:06.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, who knows, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.66,0:02:10.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you're six, maybe you can do that.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.47,0:02:14.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't want anyone to know that I was a girl, and they didn't.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.10,0:02:16.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I kept up the charade for eight years.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.74,0:02:20.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this is me when I was 11.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.91,0:02:22.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was playing a kid named Walter
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.42,0:02:24.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a movie called "Julian Po."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.61,0:02:28.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a little street tough that followed Christian Slater around and badgered him.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.04,0:02:30.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, I was also a child actor,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.09,0:02:32.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which doubled up the layers of the performance of my identity,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.78,0:02:38.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because no one knew that I was actually a girl really playing a boy.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.86,0:02:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, no one in my life knew that I was a girl --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.98,0:02:44.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not my teachers at school, not my friends,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.30,0:02:46.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not the directors that I worked with.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.15,0:02:48.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kids would often come up to me in class
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.41,0:02:50.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and grab me by the throat to check for an Adam's apple
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.65,0:02:53.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or grab my crotch to check what I was working with.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.100,0:02:56.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I would go to the bathroom, I would turn my shoes around in the stalls
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.36,0:02:58.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that it looked like I was peeing standing up.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.91,0:03:00.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At sleepovers I would have panic attacks
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.98,0:03:03.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to break it to girls that they didn't want to kiss me
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.36,0:03:05.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without outing myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.10,0:03:07.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's worth mentioning though
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.15,0:03:10.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I didn't hate my body or my genitalia.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.100,0:03:12.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't feel like I was in the wrong body.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.76,0:03:14.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I felt like I was performing this elaborate act.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.80,0:03:18.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wouldn't have qualified as transgender.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.62,0:03:20.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If my family, though, had been the kind of people to believe in therapy,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.87,0:03:22.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they probably would have diagnosed me
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.59,0:03:24.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as something like gender dysmorphic
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.38,0:03:26.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and put me on hormones to stave off puberty.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.78,0:03:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in my particular case,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.66,0:03:29.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just woke up one day when I was 14,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.38,0:03:31.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I decided that I wanted to be a girl again.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.96,0:03:34.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Puberty had hit, and I had no idea what being a girl meant,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.96,0:03:38.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was ready to figure out who I actually was.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.59,0:03:40.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When a kid behaves like I did,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.99,0:03:42.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they don't exactly have to come out, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.83,0:03:45.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No one is exactly shocked.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.09,0:03:48.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.83,0:03:53.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I wasn't asked to define myself by my parents.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.30,0:03:55.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was 15, and I called my father
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.16,0:03:56.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to tell him that I had fallen in love,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.86,0:03:59.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was the last thing on either of our minds
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.16,0:04:00.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to discuss what the consequences were
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.78,0:04:03.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the fact that my first love was a girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.20,0:04:05.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Three years later, when I fell in love with a man,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.48,0:04:08.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,neither of my parents batted an eyelash either.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.06,0:04:11.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,See, it's one of the great blessings of my very unorthodox childhood
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.45,0:04:13.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I wasn't ever asked to define myself
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.48,0:04:15.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as any one thing at any point.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.83,0:04:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was just allowed to be me, growing and changing in every moment.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.65,0:04:22.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So four, almost five years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.69,0:04:26.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Proposition 8, the great marriage equality debate,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.01,0:04:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was raising a lot of dust around this country.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.98,0:04:30.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at the time, getting married wasn't really something
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.59,0:04:31.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I spent a lot of time thinking about.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.72,0:04:34.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I was struck by the fact that America,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.53,0:04:36.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a country with such a tarnished civil rights record,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.60,0:04:39.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be repeating its mistakes so blatantly.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.21,0:04:41.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I remember watching the discussion on television
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.18,0:04:42.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and thinking how interesting it was
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.98,0:04:46.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the separation of church and state
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.01,0:04:49.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was essentially drawing geographical boundaries throughout this country,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.63,0:04:51.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between places where people believed in it
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.21,0:04:52.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and places where people didn't.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.100,0:04:59.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, that this discussion was drawing geographical boundaries around me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.25,0:05:02.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If this was a war with two disparate sides,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.36,0:05:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I, by default, fell on team gay,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.14,0:05:08.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I certainly wasn't 100 percent straight.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.33,0:05:11.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the time I was just beginning to emerge
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.58,0:05:15.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from this eight-year personal identity crisis zigzag
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.50,0:05:17.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that saw me go from being a boy
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.33,0:05:20.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to being this awkward girl that looked like a boy in girl's clothes
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.55,0:05:23.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the opposite extreme of this super skimpy,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.34,0:05:26.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over-compensating, boy-chasing girly-girl
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.01,0:05:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to finally just a hesitant exploration of what I actually was,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.98,0:05:32.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a tomboyish girl
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.38,0:05:35.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who liked both boys and girls depending on the person.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.59,0:05:40.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had spent a year photographing this new generation of girls, much like myself,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.74,0:05:42.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who fell kind of between-the-lines --
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.41,0:05:45.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girls who skateboarded but did it in lacy underwear,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.95,0:05:49.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girls who had boys' haircuts but wore girly nail polish,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.90,0:05:52.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girls who had eyeshadow to match their scraped knees,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.90,0:05:55.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girls who liked girls and boys who all liked boys and girls
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.100,0:05:57.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who all hated being boxed in to anything.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.85,0:06:01.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I loved these people, and I admired their freedom,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.60,0:06:04.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I watched as the world outside of our utopian bubble
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.53,0:06:06.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exploded into these raging debates
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.38,0:06:11.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where pundits started likening our love to bestiality on national television.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.95,0:06:14.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this powerful awareness rolled in over me
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.28,0:06:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I was a minority, and in my own home country,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.65,0:06:22.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on one facet of my character.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.30,0:06:27.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was legally and indisputably a second-class citizen.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.91,0:06:29.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was not an activist.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.45,0:06:31.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wave no flags in my own life.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.95,0:06:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I was plagued by this question:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.08,0:06:37.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How could anyone vote to strip the rights
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.03,0:06:39.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the vast variety of people that I knew
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.20,0:06:42.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on one element of their character?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.63,0:06:44.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How could they say that we as a group
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.15,0:06:47.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were not deserving of equal rights as somebody else?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.08,0:06:49.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Were we even a group? What group?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.45,0:06:53.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And had these people ever even consciously met a victim of their discrimination?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.31,0:06:57.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Did they know who they were voting against and what the impact was?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.36,0:06:59.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then it occurred to me,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.25,0:07:01.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps if they could look into the eyes
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.53,0:07:05.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the people that they were casting into second-class citizenship
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.31,0:07:07.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it might make it harder for them to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.21,0:07:09.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It might give them pause.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.20,0:07:15.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Obviously I couldn't get 20 million people to the same dinner party,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.04,0:07:19.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I figured out a way where I could introduce them to each other photographically
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.37,0:07:22.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without any artifice, without any lighting,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.33,0:07:25.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or without any manipulation of any kind on my part.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.57,0:07:28.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because in a photograph you can examine a lion's whiskers
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.32,0:07:31.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without the fear of him ripping your face off.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.03,0:07:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, photography is not just about exposing film,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.43,0:07:36.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's about exposing the viewer
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.38,0:07:38.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to something new, a place they haven't gone before,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.48,0:07:41.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but most importantly, to people that they might be afraid of.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.80,0:07:43.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Life magazine introduced generations of people
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.64,0:07:47.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to distant, far-off cultures they never knew existed through pictures.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.72,0:07:53.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I decided to make a series of very simple portraits,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.95,0:07:55.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mugshots if you will.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.70,0:07:59.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I basically decided to photograph anyone in this country
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.47,0:08:01.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was not 100 percent straight,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.87,0:08:05.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which, if you don't know, is a limitless number of people.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.05,0:08:07.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.10,0:08:09.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this was a very large undertaking,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.77,0:08:11.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to do it we needed some help.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.65,0:08:14.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I ran out in the freezing cold,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.19,0:08:17.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I photographed every single person that I knew that I could get to
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.59,0:08:21.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in February of about two years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.56,0:08:25.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I took those photographs, and I went to the HRC and I asked them for some help.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.69,0:08:28.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they funded two weeks of shooting in New York.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.05,0:08:31.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then we made this.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.06,0:08:43.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.34,0:08:47.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Video: I'm iO Tillett Wright, and I'm an artist born and raised in New York City.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.52,0:09:00.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.83,0:09:05.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Self Evident Truths is a photographic record of LGBTQ America today.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.49,0:09:07.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My aim is to take a simple portrait
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.12,0:09:09.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of anyone who's anything other than 100 percent straight
Dialogue: 0,0:09:09.77,0:09:14.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or feels like they fall in the LGBTQ spectrum in any way.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.99,0:09:17.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My goal is to show the humanity that exists in every one of us
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.98,0:09:20.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the simplicity of a face.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.10,0:09:22.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.79,0:09:25.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.88,0:09:28.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's written in the Declaration of Independence.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:28.30,0:09:29.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are failing as a nation
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.56,0:09:31.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to uphold the morals upon which we were founded.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.67,0:09:33.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is no equality in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.90,0:09:36.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["What does equality mean to you?"]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.28,0:09:37.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Marriage"] ["Freedom"] ["Civil rights"]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.92,0:09:40.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Treat every person as you'd treat yourself"]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.04,0:09:43.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's when you don't have to think about it, simple as that.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.66,0:09:46.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fight for equal rights is not just about gay marriage.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.45,0:09:50.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today in 29 states, more than half of this country,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.55,0:09:54.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can legally be fired just for your sexuality.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.92,0:09:58.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Who is responsible for equality?"]
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.07,0:10:01.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've heard hundreds of people give the same answer:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.08,0:10:04.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We are all responsible for equality."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.56,0:10:07.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So far we've shot 300 faces in New York City.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.41,0:10:08.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we wouldn't have been able to do any of it
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.83,0:10:11.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without the generous support of the Human Rights Campaign.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.71,0:10:13.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to take the project across the country.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.66,0:10:17.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want to visit 25 American cities, and I want to shoot 4,000 or 5,000 people.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.74,0:10:21.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is my contribution to the civil rights fight of my generation.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.73,0:10:23.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I challenge you to look into the faces of these people
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.90,0:10:26.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and tell them that they deserve less than any other human being.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.77,0:10:28.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.81,0:10:31.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Self evident truths"]
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.09,0:10:32.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["4,000 faces across America"]
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.75,0:10:37.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Music)
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.31,0:10:45.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.56,0:10:49.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,iO Tillett Wright: Absolutely nothing could have prepared us for what happened after that.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.84,0:10:53.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Almost 85,000 people watched that video,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.09,0:10:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then they started emailing us from all over the country,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.59,0:11:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,asking us to come to their towns and help them to show their faces.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.26,0:11:04.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And a lot more people wanted to show their faces than I had anticipated.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.61,0:11:08.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I changed my immediate goal to 10,000 faces.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:08.11,0:11:12.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That video was made in the spring of 2011,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.17,0:11:15.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as of today I have traveled to almost 20 cities
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.63,0:11:18.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and photographed almost 2,000 people.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.54,0:11:21.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know that this is a talk,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.55,0:11:24.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I'd like to have a minute of just quiet
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.81,0:11:26.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and have you just look at these faces
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.06,0:11:29.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because there is nothing that I can say that will add to them.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.93,0:11:32.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because if a picture is worth a thousand words,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.46,0:11:35.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then a picture of a face needs a whole new vocabulary.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.07,0:12:00.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So after traveling and talking to people
Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.75,0:12:04.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in places like Oklahoma or small-town Texas,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:04.60,0:12:08.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we found evidence that the initial premise was dead on.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.13,0:12:10.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Visibility really is key.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:10.02,0:12:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Familiarity really is the gateway drug to empathy.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.28,0:12:16.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once an issue pops up in your own backyard or amongst your own family,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.73,0:12:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you're far more likely to explore sympathy for it
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.65,0:12:21.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or explore a new perspective on it.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.21,0:12:23.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, in my travels I met people
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.86,0:12:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who legally divorced their children for being other than straight,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:28.06,0:12:30.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I also met people who were Southern Baptists
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.43,0:12:33.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who switched churches because their child was a lesbian.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.45,0:12:37.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sparking empathy had become the backbone of Self Evident Truths.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.60,0:12:41.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But here's what I was starting to learn that was really interesting:
Dialogue: 0,0:12:41.01,0:12:45.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Self Evident Truths doesn't erase the differences between us.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.36,0:12:48.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, on the contrary, it highlights them.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:48.75,0:12:50.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It presents, not just the complexities
Dialogue: 0,0:12:50.85,0:12:53.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,found in a procession of different human beings,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.01,0:12:56.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the complexities found within each individual person.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.61,0:13:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It wasn't that we had too many boxes, it was that we had too few.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.52,0:13:14.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At some point I realized that my mission to photograph "gays" was inherently flawed,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.30,0:13:17.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because there were a million different shades of gay.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:17.49,0:13:20.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here I was trying to help,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:20.24,0:13:23.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I had perpetuated the very thing I had spent my life trying to avoid --
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.43,0:13:25.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,yet another box.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:25.94,0:13:29.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At some point I added a question to the release form
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.16,0:13:31.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that asked people to quantify themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:13:31.08,0:13:33.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on a scale of one to 100 percent gay.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.88,0:13:37.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I watched so many existential crises unfold in front of me.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:37.80,0:13:40.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:13:40.60,0:13:41.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People didn't know what to do
Dialogue: 0,0:13:41.80,0:13:44.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they had never been presented with the option before.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:44.20,0:13:46.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can you quantify your openness?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:46.39,0:13:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once they got over the shock, though,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.30,0:13:52.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by and large people opted for somewhere between 70 to 95 percent
Dialogue: 0,0:13:52.38,0:13:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the 3 to 20 percent marks.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.90,0:13:57.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, there were lots of people who opted for a 100 percent one or the other,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:57.60,0:14:00.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I found that a much larger proportion of people
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.07,0:14:02.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,identified as something that was much more nuanced.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:02.92,0:14:09.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I found that most people fall on a spectrum of what I have come to refer to as "Grey."
Dialogue: 0,0:14:09.13,0:14:13.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let me be clear though -- and this is very important --
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.11,0:14:17.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in no way am I saying that preference doesn't exist.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:17.83,0:14:22.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I am not even going to address the issue of choice versus biological imperative,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.63,0:14:25.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because if any of you happen to be of the belief
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.50,0:14:27.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that sexual orientation is a choice,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.36,0:14:28.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I invite you to go out and try to be grey.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:28.90,0:14:31.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll take your picture just for trying.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:31.16,0:14:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.54,0:14:36.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I am saying though is that human beings are not one-dimensional.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.96,0:14:42.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The most important thing to take from the percentage system is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:14:42.73,0:14:44.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you have gay people over here
Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.95,0:14:48.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you have straight people over here,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:48.60,0:14:51.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and while we recognize that most people identify
Dialogue: 0,0:14:51.56,0:14:54.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as somewhere closer to one binary or another,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:54.27,0:14:59.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is this vast spectrum of people that exist in between.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:59.21,0:15:02.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the reality that this presents is a complicated one.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:02.25,0:15:04.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because, for example, if you pass a law
Dialogue: 0,0:15:04.53,0:15:08.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that allows a boss to fire an employee for homosexual behavior,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:08.03,0:15:10.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where exactly do you draw the line?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:10.80,0:15:16.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is it over here, by the people who have had one or two heterosexual experiences so far?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.67,0:15:17.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or is it over here
Dialogue: 0,0:15:17.97,0:15:22.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the people who have only had one or two homosexual experiences thus far?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:22.07,0:15:26.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where exactly does one become a second-class citizen?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:26.72,0:15:31.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another interesting thing that I learned from my project and my travels
Dialogue: 0,0:15:31.53,0:15:35.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is just what a poor binding agent sexual orientation is.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:35.83,0:15:38.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After traveling so much and meeting so many people,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:38.44,0:15:41.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,let me tell you, there are just as many jerks and sweethearts
Dialogue: 0,0:15:41.95,0:15:44.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Democrats and Republicans and jocks and queens
Dialogue: 0,0:15:44.90,0:15:47.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and every other polarization you can possibly think of
Dialogue: 0,0:15:47.85,0:15:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,within the LGBT community
Dialogue: 0,0:15:49.98,0:15:53.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as there are within the human race.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:53.50,0:15:58.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Aside from the fact that we play with one legal hand tied behind our backs,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:58.12,0:16:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and once you get past the shared narrative of prejudice and struggle,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:01.78,0:16:03.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just being other than straight
Dialogue: 0,0:16:03.18,0:16:08.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doesn't necessarily mean that we have anything in common.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:08.20,0:16:16.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So in the endless proliferation of faces that Self Evident Truths is always becoming,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:16.60,0:16:19.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as it hopefully appears across more and more platforms,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:19.80,0:16:25.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bus shelters, billboards, Facebook pages, screen savers,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:25.26,0:16:28.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps in watching this procession of humanity,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:28.33,0:16:31.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something interesting and useful will begin to happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:31.25,0:16:34.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hopefully these categories, these binaries,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:34.97,0:16:36.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these over-simplified boxes
Dialogue: 0,0:16:36.72,0:16:41.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will begin to become useless and they'll begin to fall away.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:41.78,0:16:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because really, they describe nothing that we see
Dialogue: 0,0:16:45.20,0:16:48.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and no one that we know and nothing that we are.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:48.55,0:16:54.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What we see are human beings in all their multiplicity.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:54.15,0:16:57.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And seeing them makes it harder to deny their humanity.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:57.73,0:17:02.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the very least I hope it makes it harder to deny their human rights.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:02.07,0:17:05.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So is it me particularly
Dialogue: 0,0:17:05.63,0:17:09.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you would choose to deny the right to housing,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:09.14,0:17:12.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the right to adopt children, the right to marriage,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:12.12,0:17:15.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the freedom to shop here, live here, buy here?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:15.75,0:17:17.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Am I the one that you choose to disown
Dialogue: 0,0:17:17.83,0:17:22.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as your child or your brother or your sister or your mother or your father,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:22.25,0:17:24.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your neighbor, your cousin, your uncle, the president,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:24.60,0:17:28.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your police woman or the fireman?
Dialogue: 0,0:17:28.05,0:17:31.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's too late.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:31.07,0:17:34.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because I already am all of those things.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:34.37,0:17:38.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We already are all of those things, and we always have been.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:38.73,0:17:41.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So please don't greet us as strangers,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:41.54,0:17:45.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,greet us as your fellow human beings, period.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:45.09,0:17:46.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:46.41,0:17:57.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)