NIPA Movie Night - The Fall of '55 - Special Event!

Join us for this special screening of The Fall of '55. We will be joined for Q&A by Director, Seth Randal

In the fall of 1955, a gay sex scandal erupted in the unassuming, wholesome and “vice-less” town of Boise, Idaho as male teenage sex workers began to disclose their dalliances to authorities. Overnight, Boise’s same-sex underworld, comprised mostly of married family men, was splashed onto headlines and thrust into the spotlight. Reputations were shattered and lives ruined as the rumors and accusations flew.

What followed was a classic witchhunt, marked by intense homophobic hysteria, in which the whole town became embroiled.

Seth Randal’s gripping documentary provides unique insights into the pre-Stonewall gay experience as well as the struggle with LGBTQ+ identities and the prevailing myth that it was a cancer that could be spread to the youth. Interesting parallels are also drawn with the era of McCarthyism, during which…