A documentary filmmaker, whose film is being shown this week in Davenport, says the community needs to stand up for its LGBTQ neighbors amid harassment and targeting.
Peter McDowell, born in Champaign, Illinois, came out as a gay man in the 80s during the height of the AIDS crisis. In many states, homosexuality was against the law. He says the public perception of LGBTQ citizens has improved over the last few decades.
“But I think there is danger on the horizon, and we have to nip it in the bud and make sure that all queer people, gay people come out to our friends and family and say, like, ‘Look, if you support me, you can't support this legislation that makes my lifestyle, puts my lifestyle or my life at risk,'" McDowell said.
McDowell’s 2022 documentary ‘Jimmy in Saigon” follows his personal exploration into the mysterious death and radical life of his brother Jimmy McDowell, an American 24-year-old Vietnam veteran who died as a civilian in Saigon in 1972. Peter McDowell was only five.
"I did end up meeting some long-lost friends of his, which was incredible. This is sort of like a holy grail moment for me," McDowell said. "And I also got to reconnect with a lot of his friends. I mean, it was pretty amazing because I started the film about 38 years after he died. And a lot of the people I contact said, 'Oh, my God, I haven't, you know, heard. No one has talked with me about him since then.' And people were just pouring information because they had a lot to say. So it was definitely like an opening of a kind of closed book."
This screening is tied to a fundraiser held by Iowa State Rep. Democrat Ken Croken of the 97th District, raising funds for gender-affirming care for Clock Inc. and Project of the Quad Cities. This is his fourth fundraising campaign for gender-affirming care following Iowa’s law barring Iowans under the age of 18 from receiving that care in the state in 2023.
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