Posted on 09/15/2008 8:03:31 PM PDT by TheDon
LAGUNA WOODS - At age 88, Loraine Barr came out as a lesbian to honor her late partner after decades of keeping the relationship a secret.
Now, the Laguna Woods resident is the subject of an award-winning documentary.
The film, "88 Years in the Closet," produced by Mission Viejo-based Your Story Here, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the ninth annual Big Bear Lake International Film Festival over the weekend.
"It was a kick a blast," said Barr, who traveled to the mountain resort with the filmmakers to watch the screening. "It was so much fun having all those people see the film."
...
"I've only been able to say the word 'lesbian' for the last month," Barr says in the film. "It's a very difficult word to get my mouth around."
Most men and women of Barr's generation couldn't come out of the closet. Piercey died in September 1998.
It took Barr nine years after her death to have the courage to go public with her sexual orientation.
Barr's story appeared first in Newsweek magazine last September when she submitted an essay, then in the Orange County Register...
MTV has expressed interest in buying the rights to the film but no distribution deal has been made, Lehman said.
"88 Years" also has been made an Official Selection at a number of other film festivals, including the Women's International Film Festival in South Florida, the18th Annual Inside Out Toronto Film Festival, the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the 21st Annual Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, the 2008 Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the upcoming 2008 San Fernando Valley International Film Festival.
Barr turns 90 in December. She is working on a memoir she hoped to complete by then.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
75 Years with My Sister
50 Years Stoned Out of My Mind
30 Years with Cirrhosis

SHE'S OUT: Loraine Barr, 89, of Laguna Woods Village, stands next to a portrait of her long-time partner, Mary Piercy, who died in 1998 at age 80. Now, the Laguna Woods resident is the subject of an award-winning documentary, 88 Years in the Closet."
Can you stay in the closet next time?
Nobody cares. You are boring!
Jeez! What would you give a lesbian for her 88th birthday?
Oh God, oh God, oh God!! Why did I have to open this thread?!?!?!
I’m going to have to rip out my eyes and wash my brain out!!
Hmmm. So many comebacks, so little bandwidth.
Well, I don’t think she’d care much for Mikey...as much as he might enjoy her...
How about the message from Jesus: "Repent and be saved"?
Oh, I dunno...a lifetime supply of carpet maybe?
I wish her a happy birthday.
I take issue with “88 years in the closet”. Do little girls, even before puberty, really have any clue what homosexuality is, and would they really know that they are inclined in that direction?
Even as teenagers, of both sexes, get overwhelmed with sexual feelings and development of their bodies, do they know for sure about homosexual feelings at young ages?
Maybe I’m taking it too literally.
You know, it's a bad enough visual to hear about 88 year old lesbians, but to then have them use such phrases, it really is unfair. I will have nightmares tonight. And please, no one, and I mean no one, better post any Helen Thomas or Rosie O'Donnell pictures in this thread.
Wow, 88 years in the closet and she’s only 89. She started really young. Why must these people inundate us with their perversion?
So that's how she got Elton John's eye glasses.
LOL! Nice, and so fast!
Must be the only one here who thinks this is a sweet story. Life is short, glad she’s happy.
Are we sure Loraine is actually a female?
Her glasses are just about as silly as those worn by Dame Edna.
Dame Edna Everage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_Edna_Everage
By familiarity and repetition you will come to accept their perversion as normal. You bigot!
Oh, that’s funny!
Hey, no fair! That’s MY birthday present!
“I’ve only been able to say the word ‘lesbian’ for the last month,” Barr says in the film. “It’s a very difficult word to get my mouth around.”
TMI!!!!!!!!!!!
I think that’s Doodles Weaver.
Now thats the first HT insertion that’s made me laugh in awhile...nice work
I lived in California for 16 years, but I never heard of “Laguna Woods.”
Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, yes, but never heard of Laguna Woods before.
And why is a portrait of Helen Thomas on the wall behind this woman? Is it a dart board?
RK—thanks for the belly laugh!
LOL!
Forget my post about Helen Thomas.....I didn’t realize it was photo shopped. Talented and clever people, these freepers.
You’re not the only one.
“Oh my dear, I seemed to have misplaced my batteries.
“Does anyone have a couple of AA’s so that I might get to repower my Dildo???
Anyone have a link to any of the videos? LOL
There you go. . . . .
Depends if she’s the butch or the fem.
Butch: power tools. Six pack o’ beer. Plaid shirts.
Fem: personal power tools.
That explains why I never heard of Laguna Woods.....I moved to Maine 16 years ago. Sure miss that California climate!
Gay Barr?
rofl!
Ewwww! That's just nasty.
Me, too, Ms Barr. Me, too.
It’s Leisure World. Used to be in Laguna Hills. Been there for years, but a few years ago they became their own city and called it Laguna Woods.
Ohmygod! I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts!!!
Excellent! If that’s not a nightmare, I don’t know what is.
Or just Depends.
Season tickets to the WNBA starting with free carpet swatch night, a promotion they use way too much.
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