Fish Out of Water

Since Netflix is foolishly forcing users to pay twice as much for access to both instant viewing and DVDs, I've been on a hunt for LGBTQ films, shows, and documentaries I can watch online before September hits and we say goodbye to Netflix's extensive yet paltry selection of instantly available movies and shows.

Anyway, this habit and the company's suggestion generator led me to the 2009 documentary Fish Out of Water, which I watched yesterday. (Watch the trailer.)

I immediately related to aspects of writer/director Ky Dickens' opening backstory of being gay at socially conservative Vanderbilt University (I graduated from Notre Dame), and found the arguments and evidence presented in her film, which is essentially a refutation of the claim that the Bible condemns homosexuality, ones that I want to use against my cousin and others who incorrectly use Catholic/Christian teachings to argue against gay rights.

You can find a handy list of the "anti-gay" Bible verses-- and why they're not-- here. This documentary echoed what the MCC minister argued in Prayers for Bobby (also a great film-- and I usually hate Lifetime movies-- but you will need tissues).

Fish Out of Water features interviews with a dozen ministers and theologians (all heterosexual), including two that believe homosexuality is unnatural (one of them is Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church). It also interviews more than 170 members of the LGBTQ community, many of which identify as Christian despite their churches' and families' rejection and condemnation.

The film argues that of the Biblical passages used to condemn homosexuality, from Adam and Eve to the writings of Paul, none of them hold any water. (Again you can find a snapshot of the film's arguments here.) It further asserts that Jesus always sided with the persecuted, hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors, and though Jesus says nothing about homosexuality, his teachings and actions indicate that he would only show acceptance and love toward the LGBT community.

Fish Out of Water uses animation, academic interviews, and solid logic to refute parroted, assumption-based arguments against the morality of homosexuality. It's earnest and humble, and has the potential, I believe, to open eyes and hearts, and inspire people to form their own opinions about Christianity and the gay community, instead of the opinions and interpretations presented to them as truth and fact.