Vito Russo (July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990) was an American

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

activist, film historian, and author. He is best remembered as the author of the book '' The Celluloid Closet'' (1981, revised edition 1987), described in ''The New York Times'' as "an essential reference book" on homosexuality in the US film industry. In 1985 he co-founded the

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

, a media watchdog organization that strives to end anti-LGBT rhetoric, and advocates for LGBT inclusion in popular media.

Life and work

Vito Russo was born 1946 in East Harlem, Manhattan. Growing up Russo was disturbed by the stereotypical portrayals of gay people in media. After witnessing the Stonewall riot in 1969 and hearing about another raid the following year, Russo became avidly involved in the emerging

Gay Activists Alliance The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) was founded in New York City on December 21, 1969, almost six months after the Stonewall riots, by dissident members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). In contrast to the Liberation Front, the Activists Allianc ...

. Russo obtained his undergraduate degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his Master's in film at New York University. While earning his Master's, Russo also worked with the film departments at a Gay Community Center and New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

. It was his interaction with these communities that led to the synthesis of his politics and works. Russo developed his material following screenings of

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

films shown as fundraisers for the

. He traveled throughout the country from 1972 to 1982, delivering ''The Celluloid Closet'' as a live lecture presentation with film clips at colleges, universities, and small cinemas such as the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco and the Hirschfeld Biograph in Dublin. In both the book and in the lecture/film clip presentation, he related the history of gay and lesbian moments – and the treatment of gay and lesbian characters – in American and foreign films of the past. In 1983, Russo wrote, produced, and hosted a series focusing on the gay community called ''Our Time'' for

WNYC-TV WPXN-TV (channel 31) is a television station in New York City, airing programming from the Ion Television network. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on Seventh Avenue ...

public television, that was co-hosted by Marcia Pally. This series featured the nation's first

GLBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is an ...

hard news and documentary video segment produced and directed by social behaviorist D. S. Vanderbilt. Russo's concern over how LGBT people were presented in the popular media led him to co-found the

(GLAAD), a watchdog group that monitors LGBT representation in the mainstream media and presents the annual

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affe ...

. The Vito Russo Award is named in his memory and is presented to an openly gay or lesbian member of the media community for their outstanding contribution in combating homophobia. Russo was also actively involved in the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

direct action group

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy ...

. Russo appeared in the 1989 documentary '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt'' as a "storyteller," relating the life and death of his lover Jeffrey Sevcik. The film won the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

at the

62nd Academy Awards The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1989 and took place on March 26, 1990, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p ...

. In 1990, Vito Russo spent a year in California at the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching a class, also titled "The Celluloid Closet". He enjoyed being a professor, spending lecture breaks smoking and joking with his students. Also in 1990, Merrill College at UC Santa Cruz established Vito Russo House to promote Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender awareness and provide a safe and comfortable living environment for queer, straight-supportive and all students who value and appreciate diversity. The house tailors its programming to meet the needs of LGBT students and offers all an opportunity to build understanding and tolerance.

Death and legacy

Russo was diagnosed with HIV in 1985, and died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. His work was posthumously brought to television in the 1996 documentary film '' The Celluloid Closet'', co-executive produced and narrated by

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

. His memorial was held at a Congregational Church. He appeared in the film ''Voices from the Front'', a feature-length documentary in 1991 on AIDS activism in America created by the video collective Testing the Limits. After his death there was a memorial in Santa Cruz put on by students and colleagues. There were testimonials about how inspirational he had been and en masse, the group sang " Over the Rainbow" in his memory. Russo's papers are held by the New York Public Library. A family-approved biography of Russo's life, written by NYIT professor Michael Schiavi, titled ''Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo'' was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in April 2011. A two-volume Vito Russo reader was published in July 2012 by White Crane Books titled ''Out Spoken: The Vito Russo Reader - Reel One'' and ''Out Spoken: The Vito Russo Reader - Reel Two.'' Reel One presents his film writings; Reel Two collects his political/social commentaries. The documentary film ''

Vito Vito is an Italian name that is derived from the Latin word "''vita''", meaning " life". It is a modern form of the Latin name Vitus, meaning "life-giver," as in San Vito or Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dogs and a heroic figure in southern ...

'', had its festival premiere within the 2011

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

went on to screen at the

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...

, and had its television premiere on HBO on June 23, 2012. It is directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of the Los Angeles production company

Automat Pictures Automat Pictures is an American film and television production company based in Los Angeles, focusing on the production of independent films, original television programming, EPK, and Blu-ray and DVD added value. It was founded in 2000 by producer ...

. In 2013, GLAAD named the " Vito Russo test" after him, a set of criteria intended to analyze the representation of LGBT characters in films. In 2016, Russo was inducted into the

Legacy Walk The Legacy Walk is an outdoor public display on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, which celebrates LGBT contributions to world history and culture. According to its website, it is "the world's only outdoor museum walk and y ...

. From 1969 until his death, he lived at 401 West 24th Street in

Chelsea, Manhattan Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River and West Street to the west, and Sixth Avenue to the east, with its norther ...

. In June 2019, Russo was one of the inaugural 50 American “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes” inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City’s

Stonewall Inn The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the sin ...

. The SNM is the first

U.S. national monument In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...

dedicated to LGBTQ rights and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and the wall’s unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of ...

. Season 1, episode 10 of the podcast ''

Making Gay History ''Making Gay History'' is an oral history podcast on the subject of LGBT history, featuring trailblazers, activists, and allies. Most episodes draw on the three-decade-old audio archive of rare interviews that the podcast's founder and host Eri ...

'' is about him.

References

UCSC Teaching & Memorial

External links

"Vito" Facebook Page

"Vito" Official Website
* *
Finding Aid: Vito Russo papers, 1969–1990, New York Public Library.

GAZE TV Interview October 1989
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Vito 1946 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Activists from New York (state) American film historians American male non-fiction writers American people of Italian descent Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Gay men HIV/AIDS activists Historians from New York (state) LGBT rights activists from the United States American LGBT writers People from Chelsea, Manhattan People from East Harlem Stonewall Book Award winners Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Writers from Manhattan