The story of community in the Deep South that is forced to deal with the struggles of ignorance, hypocrisy and oppression,[1] Malcolm Ingram's Small Town Gay Bar visits two Mississippi communities and bases those visits around two small gay bars: Rumors in Shannon, Mississippi, and Different Seasons/Crossroads in Meridian, Mississippi.
Kevin Smith, executive producer of Small Town Gay Bar and also of "Silent Bob" fame: "It's a film that is a portrait of small-town gay bars in rural Mississippi," Smith said, straightening up. "Which is probably the hardest place in the world to be gay. It's a portrait of how people will create their own community, even in the middle of a community that ostracizes them and wants nothing to do with them. They can still collectively come together and create an oasis for themselves to just chill out and be themselves and be who they can't be in this particular buckle of the Bible Belt."[3]
David Rooney of Daily Variety Magazine: "Ingram illustrates how gay bars function as oases of acceptance and alternative families for his good-humored, enduring subjects."[4]
Philip Martin of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: "Ingram's movie not only makes it clear that people can be brave and resourceful in the face of intolerance, they can also throw a great party."[5]
