East Side Story

Director(s): Carlos Portugal
Writer(s): Carlos Portugal, Charo Toledo
Producer(s): Mary Feuer, Carlos Portugal, Charo Toledo, Blanca Valdez
Starring: Rene Alvarado, Steve Callahan, Michael Cassady

As a kid I used to wonder how Castro became the gay center of San Francisco. Did a really old gay man just plant a flag to claim that specific hilly area of San Francisco as a homo-friendly environment? And after that man did such an act, did he invite all his friends to live in that area with him? Maybe he was related to the lesbian who started Key West or West Hollywood? As I grew older I learned about the financial power of the gay community. I learned about how areas like Castro, West Hollywood, and Hillcrest were once the lower income ends of major metropolitan cities. As the LGBT communities moved into these areas, they were slowly but surely transformed to the gay meccas that they are today.

East Side Story picks up on this trend. What happens when the gays move into East LA? A closeted Mexican-American man decides he's tired of living in the cultural security of his hegemonic community. His plans of leaving LA to follow his dreams of opening his own restaurant come to a halt when a gay couple moves across the street. When he finds himself attracted to one of the men, a comedy of errors ensues. As the film progresses, we find that Diego is torn between two identities. His gay identity and his cultural identity. This is quite common with queer people of color. As a gay man of color I can relate to Diego's dilemma. While it can be easy to separate your identities between different aspects of your being, it is hard to deal with multiple identities when they overlap or confront one another. I guess this is the burden that people of multiple identities face in their day to day lives.