Sally Gearhart was a charismatic radical lesbian activist, author, and academic who spearheaded the 1970s and 80s lesbian feminist movement yet has been largely forgotten. But the film SALLY is not just a straightforward biography of this “hidden figure” deserving more recognition. It also shows the symbiotic relationship between spokeswomen like Sally and movements for social change, which are necessarily collective. And it highlights Sally’s captivating iconoclasm and contradictions: SALLY is both a wild lesbian safari and a timely and deeply moving meditation on the tensions inherent in revolutionary movements: ideological principles versus human realities, separatism versus mainstreaming, and throwing down the gauntlet versus reaching across the aisle. Ultimately, Sally and compatriots’ key contributions can help guide our current, urgent battles for social justice.
