New Web Series 'Fathers' Imagines Who Would We Be If AIDS Never Happened?

In 'Fathers' AIDS activist Vito Russo
becomes president instead of dying of AIDS

In his latest project, filmmaker Leo Herrera posits, “If AIDS never happened, who would we be?”

The new web series Fathers imagines in fictional documentary-style an LGBTQ utopia called ‘Stonewall Nation,’ a collection of queer communes in a parallel universe where the AIDS crisis never happened.

The official website for the series describes the sci-fi “documentary” as “Cruising meets Black Mirror meets Beyonce’s Lemonade.”

In the alternate timeline, communities called ‘Stonewall, Oregon’ and ‘Stonewall, Nevada’ exist peacefully as LGBTQ folks openly thrive.

The Fathers Project imagines AIDS never existed.

Everyone shown here represents someone we lost.

Instead of the LGBTQ community being decimated by disease and seeing the nascent gay rights movement stymied by rising anti-LGBTQ animus in the 1980s, Herrera envisions gays running for president, unconstrained by discrimination and disease, living openly across the country.

The 1980s were a golden age for the gay population.

It was a decade defined by our dominance of the arts, victories in politics

and groundbreaking developments in healthcare.

Relying on LGBTQ historians for accuracy, the characters/people featured in Fathers are actual gay leaders of the past as well as survivors, friends, and family members.

The pilot episode (below) is just the beginning as Herrera plans future installments to explore “the election and presidency of gay president Vito Russo (the real AIDS activist who was killed by the disease in 1990), and will be a direct reflection on the political climate today. They will also deal with the plight of gay seniors and the sexuality of modern queer culture.”

The name ‘Stonewall Nation’ comes from an actual group of queer separatists who hoped to establish their own city in Alpine, California, in 1970. Without proper resources, the plan was never implemented.

You can help fund the project here, and check out the first episode below:

Straight dad's letter to 4 year-old son goes viral

In all the hoopla about the recent marriage equality rulings from SCOTUS, the "bigness" of the decisions has really been the focus for the public.

But many people have stopped and related to the importance of what's "just happened" on very personal levels.

A straight father has written a letter to his 4 year old son about where we are now and how it will be perceived in years to come. Very touching. Here's just an excerpt:

Maybe you'll read about today's decision in a history book and it'll sound like a long time ago, the Dark Ages, when certain couples could marry and certain couples could not. You'll feel comfortable pursuing whatever kind of partnership interests you, no matter the person's gender, or color, or race, or class, or belief system, or whatever, and live in a country in which you can join in the legal state of matrimony with that lucky person.

I hope that by then American society will have a better understanding of what I saw all so plainly today. That if you prick our skin, the same red blood flows through all of our veins. These differences in appearance and behavior and belief in many ways are trivial, surface. How you treat other people, your stewardship of our planet and society and yourself as a functioning, contributing human on Earth, matters so much more than who you'd like to date, have sex with, or marry. As Kurt Vonnegut so succinctly put it, "You've got to be kind."

Other than that? Have fun, kid. And while this marriage thing sure ain't easy - in fact, I don't wish it on anyone who doesn't feel ready, 100% sure they want to make their commitment into a socially recognized, legal bond - I'm happy knowing that if, one day, you think you're ready to take the plunge, you can do it with whomever the hell you want. And I'll be right there (unless you decide to elope like your mom and me decided, which is totally cool too), cheering you on and wishing you well, no matter whose hand you're holding when you say "I do."

You can read the whole letter - that has gone viral in just days - by clicking here.

I love great dads.

From GLEE: a father/son discussion that is and isn't about sex

There's something very moving about honest discussions between parents and their children.

From GLEE last night. As a gay man, what resonates about this scene isn't about being gay. It's about a father stepping up and having a really uncomfortable conversation with his son. A father who actually FATHERS a son.

I never had this conversation with my father. In any form. But I have a great amount of confidence that had my "old-world" father been born a little later - my dad would have been something like this.

I'm lucky to have known my father, to know I could say I loved him and to hear him say he loved me. He looked forward to meeting Michael, my husband. He even made us laugh when he met Michael. The first thing my father ever said to Michael was "You must be Michael. Hey - you're good looking." How do you not love that and feel good about where you come from?

Every situation isn't that Disney-wonderful and supportive. Speaking from a different personal perspective, I've been with my husband for over 16 years. Legally married for over 7. But his father has never spoken to me, and his father has never shown any interest in speaking to or meeting me. That's not a judgement. It's just the facts. (To be clear: The parents needed "time to adjust" to my husband's coming out, so I didn't push myself into their lives out of respect. I guess I never thought it would take 16 years to adjust...) Anyway - clearly there's a big chasm out there in terms of fathers, sons and communication.

I'm not a father. But I am a son. So I get half of this equation. And maybe I get a few points for knowing how much I love my god-son, for whom I have a great amount of respect, love and pride.

What would this world be like if all fathers really took the time and thought to have this conversation without judgement? What if....? Just the idea is amazing.

I think this is really amazing.