A documentary titled Fish Out of Water will be shown September 21st followed by a talk September 26th by Dr. Bill McConkey, an activist who challenged Wisconsin’s recent amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Fish Out of Water follows filmmaker Ky Dicken’s personal journey as she narrates footage from the first legal gay marriage in Boston, shots from Proposition 8 rallies, the Obama election, and animated sequences illustrating Bible verses. There is also a lot of actual commentary from the people she’s talking about: Gays and lesbians and the ministers, preachers and historians who all want to see the truth about religion and gays reaching the others in the film, those who openly discuss their discontent for the LGBT community. The film explores the seven Bible passages notoriously used to condemn homosexuality and justify marriage discrimination and makes this polarizing subject accessible and non-threatening. It is part of the Movies That Matter monthly series.
The following Sunday Dr. McConkey’s topic titled New Laws: Big Ones and Little Ones will focus on the gay and lesbian legal conflict. McConkey mounted an unsuccessful constitutional challenge to Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage ban (William C. McConkey v. J. B. Van Hollen) approved in a 2006 statewide referendum composed of two questions being considered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a legal challenge posed by civil rights advocates.
Dr. McConkey, Political Science Professor at UW-Oshkosh, is an educator and social activist and the author of “Fighting the Merchants of Hate: The War for America’s Soul.” He has worked for several government agencies, including the Executive Office of the President of the United States, the Florida Senate’s Committee on Higher Education, and for the Governors of Illinois and Alaska.
Both events will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Door County (UUFDC) located at 10341 Hwy. 42, Ephraim. Fish Out of Water will be shown September 21 at 7 PM. Dr. McConkey will speak September 26th at 10 AM. The public is invited to both events.
