We are where we are right now, because someone fought to advance our world a little further than where it was before. This is true broadly, and without really reservation. Everything from indoor plumbing to electricity, totally non-partisan issues, advanced because someone kept pushing it further. However, this is true for so many who don’t have a broad set of rights. People have had to create safe spaces, environments, and lives around the margins allotted. Carl Bean certainly was one of these people for the LGBTQ community, and i was sadly unaware of who he was, and his contributions until this documentary. Luckily, a few people decided this story needed to be told. initially conceived as a short, this was expanded into a feature as name recognition producers like Billy Porter and QuestLove joined. Now, taking Tribeca by its fabulous storm, is I Was Born This Way.

The documentary does feature the late carl Bean telling us about his life, his upbringing, his connection to faith, his struggles with his identity, and how he came to ultimately decide his path was to provide a welcome place for LGBTQ Christians. This spark started a movement, with churches popping up across the country, and a denomination was born. Carl Bean became an archbishop. But, that was long after he landed in the discos of the 70’s, with his queer anthem I was Born This Way. Of course Lady Gaga has a song, Born This Way, which she shows up to talk about where that inspiration came from, and how much she admires Bean.

I pretty much loved this unconditionally, as a documentary. It doesn’t have audio description, but Carl talks so much we almost have a podcast or audio book, on the blind side. However, I could hear attempts to do reenactments, including giving some dialogue. I totally get why, as a lot of LGBTQ adults live in found families, so having access to home videos and photos isn’t a real possibility. However, Bean’s sister is here, and there might have been some stuff. The problem with being a blind critic and tackling movies without audio description is always the question of what am i missing visually. Here, I feel like that becomes more pronounced with reenactments. On the other hand, structurally, I can’t imagine this having verbose audio description. i would be getting some, and any references help, but there’s a lot of talking, and that’s something that draws mild ire from audio description writers as they navigate where to put the description. There would not be much, but every little bit helps.

I’m still not convinced by the need for reenactments, as that always gives me a bit of a History Channel vibe, and the acting is always spotty at best. Even the direction can get mixed, as you have a director whose strength is documentary, directing actors in a reenactment sequence, which is a bit more like doing feature work.

The rest of the movie is inspirational. i felt like i needed to apologize for not knowing who carl Bean was, because he’s made such an impact on my life that I was unaware of. He seems to be content with working miracles under the radar, but all that goodwill has to pay off at some point, right? Personally, I think he should be the Patron Saint of the LGBTQ community. he worked hard to help those who needed faith and also knew that their sexual orientation wasn’t a choice. they were born this way, and Carl made them feel appreciated for who they were, after spending so long struggling with his own self worth.

I hope this gets picked up by a distributor willing to really get behind this. After all, it does have Gaga, and she did just make 2 million people show up in one place at one time. I think she can get butts in seats to learn the story of Carl Bean, the Arch Bishop of Fabulousness.

Fresh: Final Grade: 8.4/10