Happy Birthday, Marlon Riggs! Born today in 1957 as Marlon Troy Riggs, this African-American gay rights activist, poet, educator and filmmaker was an icon of gay and black cinema. He had produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films.
These included the fifty-seven-minute Emmy-winning 1986 American documentary film 'Ethnic Notions', the 1992 American black and white/color documentary film 'Color Adjustment', and the award-winning feature-length 1994 American LGBT/documentary film 'Black is... Black Ain't'.
However, Riggs is best known for co-filming, co-writing, producing, directing, narrating and starring in the fifty-five-minute 1989 American experimental documentary film 'Tongues Untied'.
The film follows Riggs giving a voice to communities of gay black men and presenting their cultures and perspectives on the world as they confront racism, homophobia and marginalization.
Riggs passed in Oakland, California from complications caused by HIV/AIDS on April 5, 1994. He was 37.
Riggs had been active from 1986–1994.
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