Saint of 9/11

Greetings from Miami...
Malcom Lazin, producer of the documentary, "Saint of 9/11" is here at the National Assn. of Gay and Lesbian Journalists convention. He told us his film, about the life of FDNY chaplain Mychal Judge, will be shown, for free, in 13 cities on Monday, Sept. 11. That is five years to the day after Judge died after rushing into one of the Twin Towers with firefighters before it collapsed.

Judge was a gay priest, and beloved - now more so than ever. He was with former Mayor Rudy Guliani at the scene and instead of leaving with the mayor, Judge said: "I need to be with my men and the people who need me." He then voluntarily walked into harm's way.

"We have an authentic Franciscan priest who is an authentic American hero and who happens to be gay," says Lazin. "It challenges the proposition that gays are unworthy of being members of the priesthood."

The film is narrated by openly-gay actor Sir Ian McKellen. While it does no make Judge's sexuality the main focus, it does discuss it unlike an earlier BBC documentary which did not mention that he was gay.
"He was absolutely out to anyone who would be comfortable with it and not to anyone who would not," Lazin says. "He did not want his sexuality to interfere with his primary work."

For more information about the movie, click here.