When Proposition 8 passed in California, overturning the state Supreme Court decision that made same-sex marriage legal, there immediately began a discussion of whether support from socially conservative African-American voters had been the deciding factor.
Director Yoruba Richen’s documentary disputes that. She follows the run-up to a 2012 marriage-equality initiative in Maryland.
Richen follows black LGBT activists as they go door to door, and as they discuss the difficulties they’ve faced in their communities and churches. While the director’s support for marriage equality is obvious, she commendably doesn’t caricature the opposition. The conservative preachers and other opponents get some time to state their case in a thoughtful way.
It is, in fact, a thoughtful movie, which takes care to treat churches and faith with respect, but lacks some sort of essential fire. “The New Black” often feels like a polished but uninspired op-ed.
Things do pick up when one lesbian activist goes to visit her still-tentative mother. And the high point comes from gospel singer Tonéx, who’s recently come out. An incredulous interviewer is shown asking, “Do you practice . . . ,” and is unable to utter the word. Tonéx responds, “You mean, like, piano?”