‘Wish Me Away’’ is the inspiring story of Chely Wright, the first major country singer to come out as gay. Her decision was a brave one since the world of C&W music is notoriously homophobic. At one point, Wright was so torn about her identity that she contemplated suicide. “I was brought up [being told] gay is wrong, gay is wrong,’’ says the singer, who was raised in the heart of the Bible Belt. “I don’t want my fans to hate me.’’
Directors Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf trot out the usual suspects: The singer’s friends, family, associates and other country figures. Most offer support. “If my niece is gay, that’s OK with me,’’ Aunt Char says. But the biodoc is most effective during excerpts from Wright’s daily video diary. She speaks directly to the camera, often breaking into tears. “It makes me ashamed that it took me so long to come out,’’ she admits.
The most surreal moment shows Richard Nixon at the Grand Ole Opry in 1974, when Wright was 4 years old, praising the country-music world for “stand[ing] up for the flag.’’ Wright’s rejoinder all these years later is, “For some reason, people think you can’t be gay and have those platforms for your life. But I am about God, and I am about family. And I am about the freedoms of my country. And I am gay.’’