Kopkind Colony

Fierce, funny, brilliant, argumentative, perceptive, pioneering, sharpening, gentle, greathearted, gay, radically original … Today we honor John Scagliotti, our founder and administrator, 75 years on the planet this November 14.

His trail-blazing work in lgbtq media is well-known, beginning with The Lavender Hour (radio), on to Before Stonewall (documentary film) and In The Life (television), with many more films, from the earliest, Stuff of Dreams, to the most recent, Before Homosexuals. His analyses of (and anecdotes from) the 1960s antiwar and early gay liberation movements, of cultural politics, of the possibilities for a left that is ‘multi’ in all the ways that real life is experienced and a generous freedom imagined, have enlivened kitchen tables and group meetings; the pages of magazines, the lecture halls of colleges and the work of so many who for so long have had the pleasure of his conversation. His understanding of visuals and sound and the relationship between emotion and meaning — and his crystallization of those in constructive advice — has encouraged younger filmmakers for decades. “I will forever be John’s mentee!”, Desireena Almorade, a wonderful documentarian who got her start at In The Life, wrote in our book after participating in this past summer’s Kopkind/CID Film Camp.

On this day, we also honor the beauty of love, which, as manifest in John’s union with Andy Kopkind, moved so many of us. And the power of an idea which, whether conveyed in media or blossomed in the magic of Kopkind’s summer project, has inspired countless people to say, “You have changed my life.”

Here’s to the example of a lavish love, a memorable phrase, a joke when you need it most, an imagination to the stars, a life-so-far that contains multitudes. Happy Birthday and thank you, John!

To everyone reading this: you are most welcome to remember John’s 75th birthday with a gift to Kopkind (the Donate button is on the top bar here). And because we all need a moment of joy, however hard the times, here is a song to lift every internationalist, rococo, fabulous beating heart.