Queer Stories that Need to be Told

Check it! is a documentary movie about the first ever documented LGBTIQ gang in the US. It’s a success story of three bullied childhood friends who are trying to make it despite the odds against them. Armed with a passion for fashion and lots of attitude, the gang teamed up for protection and empowerment. At the beginning, nothing was easy and some got incarcerated. Now, some of the gang members are no longer gang members and they are successful owners of a lucrative fashion clothing line.

Directors Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer did not flinch at sights of violence, some captured and some retold for the camera, nor at the chance to reveal devastating statistics about violence against LGBQIT population in the US. The documentary portrays moments of resistance and fighting back, and “Acceptance is worth fighting for” tagline summons up what this Washington D.C.-based gay and transgender youth gang stands for. We are able to see an intimate depiction of the protagonists’ day-to-day struggle over the course of three years that the movie was being shot.

The documentary premiered in April 2016 on New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, and it’s currently being screened in theaters worldwide.