Charlie Gage likes to stumble into things. And in 2008, he stumbled into LGBT activism.
In fact, that is Gage’s most affable characteristic: like any true artist, he stumbles; he lacks boundaries and isn’t comfortable with the norm of anything—including his own identity, where even at 23 and attending Cal State Fullerton (CSUF), his trouble with coming out was exacerbated by the fact that he was abnormal—even for a queer.
“I was still coming out at that time,” Gage said. “And I was in this industrial phase, y’know? I was all KROQ’ed and 91x’ed out, going to shows like The Cure, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, U2, REM, Primitive Painters. That‘s what I did”—and what also led him to manage CSUF’s infamous Wednesday-at-noon shows that featured bands and musicians like No Doubt, Rage Against the Machine, and Henry Rollins—”but when I came out in Orange County and I started going to the gay group, it was all Janet Jackson, Madonna, and OZZ.”
This odd transitioning from goth-rock and new wave to Saved By the Bell was something that put him in a disposition: he felt—and rightfully so—that there was nothing for him.
“Because of that, because of feeling I was so removed from the gays, I began just doing everything,” he explained. “School papers. Public access shows in Garden Grove, Cypress, Westminster and Stanton. Creating magazines that profile local bands. Doing comic book fairs. Just… Everything.”
All this stumbling around in an attempt to find a culture which could be his own—as well as the lack of quality content in publications like Edge and Frontier and the pedophilia-like images that cluttered XY—was the impetus for the creation of his own magazine, Faze. This LA Weekly-gone-queer-inspired albeit short-lived publication was Gage’s first deeply personal foray into creating something that he felt was his own and simultaneously shareable with popular gay culture, running around to everywhere from The Abbey to The Library.
“I’ve always been drawn to creating things that affect people,” he said. “That’s how I wrap my head around things: by controlling images. When the first Gulf War happened, I was living with my parents and I recorded everything—on VHS—that was about the war. From ‘Good Morning America’ to ‘The Tonight Show’—any clips whatsoever. And I would edit them together into five minute clips: one from the day it started to one when the day it ended. I still have them.”
It is there that, in 2008, Gage used this same philosophy to eventually help himself wrap his head around something else he stumbled into: the Prop 8 protests which, having started right here in the L.A. County region, broke out across the state.
“My friend was really pushing the rally the day after the election in West Hollywood [on Facebook],” he said, “and I wrote a reply stating it was was stupid. It was simply stupid and the whole event made me angry. Why would I want to go to a gay event talking to gay people in a gay park in a gay town? What is the point?”
Let’s not forget that Gage stumble, even when he is seemingly against something—and stumble he did. Having picked up a guy he was on a date with, Gage offered two choices for the evening: “I can take you back to my apartment or this protest rally thing—he picked the rally. I was admittedly disappointed because I wanted to show him my… Apartment,” he said laughing.
And when Gage saw hoards of people walking up Laramie and onto Sunset, straight into traffic, he knew he was witnessing something beyond what he had complained about.
“It was the purest [of the Prop 8] protests because there was no planning,” Gage said, his voice heightening with excitement at the memory. “Pure crowd mentality, pure grassroots that just can’t be created.”
As he was walking between cars on Sunset, the fact that stopped cars were forcing people to pay attention exhilarated Gage. It was beyond West Hollywood and the epicenter; it was the crowd Gage had only thought was a dream of witnessing the power of change.
Eventually, Gage admittedly became addicted to the rush of the marches and protests which spread throughout the state—including right here in Long Beach—and he documented it all.
Inspired: The Voices Against Prop 8 became quite literally Gage’s obsession as it overtook his life for the entire span on 2009. Hunched in the back house of his co-producers, almost losing friendships while simultaneously sinking back into his roots of understanding—non-fiction film and editing—Gage ended up creating something which was entirely his, was entirely stumbled upon, and had entirely altered his life.
Following that, the whirlwind that became Inspired has lead Gage to not only twelve film festivals—including its Long Beach premiere last year at QFilms—but his work for the community is garnering him a Man of the Year Award at the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club’s annual awards this Saturday.
Our community can only hope he continues to stumble and create such beautiful histories of our communities, our cities, and our struggle to have our voices heard.
The next screening of Inspired, presented by the Long Beach Cinematheque, will screen on Wednesday, October 17, at 7:30PM at the Art Theatre located 2025 E. 4th Street. Tickets can be purchased here.
The Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club’s 31st Annual Human Rights Banquet,“The Changing Face of Equality,” will occur tomorrow at The Reef, located at 880 Scenic Drive. For more information, click here. To purchase tickets, click here.