Ryan Ashley Lowery’s doc LIGHT UP is such a refreshing eye opener, even for this ‘older’ white cisgender gay male.  It tells the stories of five people, those on the spectrum of cisgender queer men and transgender women in Atlanta, which so beautifully entertains but also educates us on life once on the downlow, and now very much on the up and out. Light Up was evidently also a docu-series, but this edited film version allows us such an exceptional opportunity to get closer to understanding and appreciating some of the differences in our queer community. 

Set against the backdrop of Atlanta Fashion Week the film takes a look at Octavius Terry a once-famous athlete who transitioned into a designer in the latter half of his life; a flamboyant Celebrity Hair Stylist, Derek J – known as the reality TV Show “Fashion Queen, and for having more stiletto shoes than the late Imelda Marcos; Ohio Jones a handsome, self-effacing content provider with a wonder sense of humor; Simone Tisci a trans women and a spectacular ‘House’ dancer; plus  Benjamin Carlton – a gay black man who also serves as a minister in a church.  Credit to Carlton for the story, which frankly at first I found to get on board about keeping his faith after coming out at 30 and swapping his fervent Christianity.

It was refreshing to see flashbacks and get glimpses of them all growing up, and how, in most cases, dispelling falsely held concepts of what we may have felt that life in the closet would have been for them.   The one thing that all the stories had in common was how once they became their true selves, their lives really took off.

In these days when parts of our community ….particular trans men and women…. are constantly the subject of misinformation and under attack, then the timing of this film could not be better.  It is now streaming on most major platforms inc Tubi, Prime Video and You Tube