Sex Positive NORTH TEXAS PREMIERE
2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31

It might be hard to believe that the person who invented the idea of safe sex was a dominant leather S/M hustler. Meet Richard Berkowitz, the unvarnished, no-nonsense, compassionate and charismatic hero of this not-to-be-missed new documentary. Sex and activism had always run parallel in Rich's life, but when the AIDS epidemic hit in the early ’80s, the two became one. That's when he formed an unlikely collaboration with pioneering AIDS researcher Joseph Sonnabend (interviewed here) and the late singer-activist superstar Michael Callen (featured via archival footage). Though the former might have been better at getting headlines, it was from Rich's typewriter that emerged the very first safer sex document ever written. It was explicit, realistic and thoroughly sex-positive, infused with Sonnabend's insights in disease transmission. But almost everybody thought it was "dangerous". The trio was vilified, surprisingly by other AIDS activists (like Larry Kramer, who is interviewed here) who were so afraid of homophobic backlash that they refused to acknowledge that sexual behavior had anything to do with how AIDS spread or affected one's health. It's a painful, but beautifully-told chapter of our recent history. The story of how the gay community handled the AIDS epidemic on the pathway to acceptance and sexual freedom. But Rich's telling of his own history — his hustling, his experiences with AIDS and drugs — is just as rich with insight and emotion. Rich is the very definition of unsung hero, and the message he brings is just as urgent now as it was 25 years ago.

Director: Daryl Wein
2008, USA, 78 min.