On his first day in office this year, Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at destroying diversity, equity, and inclusion at American colleges. This summer, it became clear to the organizers of Phoenix’s annual Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival that, as a result, they would have to call off what would’ve been their 17th annual festival. Desperado's funding runs through Maricopa Community Colleges, and they worried that showing queer films during Trump’s anti-DEI rampage would put the schools’ federal funding in peril.

“Without events such as ours, storytelling from LGBTQ+ filmmakers will be harder to find,” Alan East, the festival’s programmer, told LOOKOUT . “We’re hopeful that the festival will return.”

Well, the festival isn’t back — yet. But fans of LGBTQ+ cinema have foun

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