‘We Live Here: The Midwest’ Hulu Documentary Shines Light On LGBTQIA+ Standing Strong In Heartland Against Backlash
05.12.2023 - 21:45
/ deadline.com
In the wake of a Donald Trump presidency of 2016, in addition to the rise of anti-Gay legislation which poised a threat to the marriage equality decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, filmmaker Melinda Maerker and producer David Clayton Miller took the time to check in on the LGBTQIA+ community in the Midwest.
Here was a place of American family values, rattled by rising discrimination; yet several LGBTQIA+ spouses and families opted to stay strong in their communities and live true to themselves. The new Hulu movie, We Live Here is a window into their struggle in schools, churches, and their neighborhoods.
Of those featured in We Live Here, there’s a trans/queer Iowan family, Nia and Katie Chiaramonte, who must find a new community with their five kids after being expelled from their church. There’s Mario and Monte Foreman-Powell, a gay Black couple with a young daughter who test the line of acceptance in Nebraska. Debb and Jeff Richmond, a couple in Minnesota, are struggling to rebuild their families after their transitions. A farming lesbian couple Denise and Courtney Skeeba homeschool their bullied son in Kansas. On the positive side, the documentary shows Russell Exlos-Raber, a gay teacher in Ohio who is creating a safe space for LGBTQIA+ students.
Getting full access to these families wasn’t an easy task, and took time for the documentarians to gain their trust.
“Lin and I had reached out to a lot of people, and while many were very interested and wanted to be a part of the documentary, they feared a lot of recriminations that they would get, particularly from their job. It was difficult. In fact, while we were on the road, we went to Wisconsin and the next family backed out on us. So, there was a mad scramble,”