Esther Newton Made Me Gay (2022): Cast

Esther Newton discovered drag as a 1950s student; as a butch‑lesbian navigating gender she felt kinship with the queens. Her 1972 book *Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America* is praised as the first rigorous drag study. Now in her sixties, she writes on queer culture with New York frankness. The film’s archival footage shows gay liberation, AIDS activism and Fire Island’s safe‑haven scene, while her dog‑training hobby adds poodle anecdotes.

• JC Director Jean Carlomusto

• EN Esther Newton as themselves
• HH Holly Hughes as themselves
• LF Louise Fishman as themselves
• AH Amber Hollibaugh as themselves

• Larry Kramer In Love & Anger 2015
• Sex in an Epidemic 2010
• Not Just Passing Through 1994