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This was a collection of short films that together, celebrates gay men's love of telling people what to do and what not to do.

Surprisingly, each of the six shorts presented was really good in its own way.

"Gay Life for Beginners" was a sad, stereotypical look at gay male sexuality, so it made sense when the credits rolled at the end to reveal an almost entire female crew. The animation and narration were superb, but its really time to stop reinforcing negative stereotypes that do so much harm.

The next one, "Into the Streets" was a documentary about then governor, Pete Wilson's broken promise to sign a state bill AB101 that would have added the words "sexual orientation" to the anti-discrimination statutes that ensure fair treatment in housing and employment. Wilson's veto of this legislation sparked massive protests in 1991 and people in Los Angeles took to the streets for weeks. I remember the violence and intensity of demonstrations in San Francisco around this issue so it was surprising to see that LA's version of protest were peaceful and more sustained. The film also showed how Wilson's veto had a direct correlation to Queer support for Bill Clinton in the national elections. Seeing it now, it made me sad and angry to know that Clinton betrayed his queer supporters in an equal measure.

The short film about HIV education for correctional officers was very funny and educational. The narrator/director did a short in last year's festival called "Boychik" and it was nice to see that his sense of humor is equally adept at portraying serious material in a jovial yet respectful manner. I was surprised that they didn't mention TB as a counterpoint to HIV in terms of transmission, its far more contagious and in terms of drug resistance, its far more immediate and frightening.

"Our Brothers, Our Sons" was a bit disturbing. I was surprised to learn that AOL helped fuel the creation of a barebacking phenomenon that is controversial and disconcerting. Basically, some guys that are HIV+ decided to advertise on AOL for "raw" sexual encounters, i.e. sans latex and barebacking was born. This documentary traces its history and interviews four generation Xers and four baby boomers about their condom use, or lack thereof. In doing so, it displays the conflicting messages 21st century queers face about safer sex, HIV treatment and the advertising that glamorizes a life-challenging disease.

More enlightenment followed in the short video piece called, "How They Get Us to Screw Ourselves". It presented the cruel joke perpetrated on gays and lesbians by a big tobacco company and their queer apologists. The real irony of this piece was the revelation that group that was so eager to jump into bed with the tobacco company in none other than GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. They allowed Lucky Strike to set up an illegal "smoking lounge" at their annual awards presentation and then acted like they didn't do anything wrong. One of the GLAAD representatives even acted like they were doing people a service by providing deadly products for free. Now I know the where the inspiration for the Gay Shame awards came from.

The last short screened was, "Going West". While it had a cute concept, the execution left a lot to be desired. The acting and script were equally stilted and it kind of reminded me of that book called, "Nothing in this book is true, but its exactly the way things are". The story centers around the assimilation of a guy who is fresh meat in the big city. He's almost brainwashed into joining the shallow and conformist gay mainstream, but their heavy handed tactics are too much for the protagonist and he eludes them. If only this process wasn't so subtle, constant and ubiquitous in real life, maybe more guys could do the same.

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