Backdrop fallback

Serving in Secret: Love, Country, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Serving in Secret: Love, Country, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Share

Serving in Secret: Love, Country, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2023

0

0.0(0 votes)

Documentary

Overview

Tracing the U.S. military's long history of discrimination against the gay community and one couple's personal journey for acceptance.

Links & Resources

Website IMDbView

Social & External

Production Companies

Day Zero Productions

Sugar23

TIME Studios

MSNBC Films

The people behind it

Cast & crew

6 featured cast members

Starring

Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow

Self

Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi

Self

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg

Self

Jeh Johnson

Jeh Johnson

Self

Tom Carpenter

Self

Eric Fanning

Self

Creative team

Directed by: Jonathan Baker
Produced by: Leah Konings

Similar Movies

The Black List: Volume Two

The Black List: Volume Two

THE BLACK LIST: VOL. 2 profiles some of today's most fascinating African-Americans. From the childhood inspirations that shaped their ambitions, to the evolving American landscape they helped define, to the importance of preserving a unique cultural identity for future generations, these prominent individuals offer a unique look into the zeitgeist of black America, redefining the traditional pejorative notion of a blacklist.

Triumph Over Prejudice: The Montford Point Marines

Triumph Over Prejudice: The Montford Point Marines

Against the backdrop of a world on the brink, the Montford Point Marines transcended enemy lines and formidable barriers of racial segregation. Beginning in rural Virginia, their journey to the front lines of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War is more than a testament to their bravery - it's a reflection of their indomitable spirit and unyielding resolve. Confronting racial prejudices, the heartbreaks of war, and the turbulent transition to civilian life, these men never wavered in their commitment. "Triumph Over Prejudice" dives deep into the uncharted terrains of the Black experience in the early 20th century Marine Corps, illuminating stories often shadowed in history's corners. With cinematic finesse fit for a global streaming audience, the film weaves personal narratives into a rich tapestry, culminating in an epic saga of heroism, perseverance, and the enduring legacy of the American veteran.

Beyond the Straight and Narrow

Beyond the Straight and Narrow

How did the rise of LGBTQ visibility, political progress, and digital technologies in the 2000s come together to offer the abundance of complex queer and transgender representations we see today? Media scholar Katherine Sender shows how LGBTQ visibility and political progress have combined with new digital media technologies and television platforms to produce an increasingly complex range of queer and transgender representations.

The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights

The Niagara Movement: The Early Battle for Civil Rights

An examination of the heated debate and conflict between W.E.B DuBois and William Monroe Trotter with Booker T. Washington on how to best uplift the race and secure equality for their community, which led to the Niagara Movement, a short-lived movement that laid the cornerstone of the civil rights movement.

Planet of the Humans

Planet of the Humans

Forget all you have heard about how “Renewable Energy” is our salvation. It is all a myth that is very lucrative for some. Feel-good stuff like electric cars, etc. Such vehicles are actually powered by coal, natural gas… or dead salmon in the Northwest.

The Red Elvis

The Red Elvis

A documentary on the late American entertainer Dean Reed, who became a huge star in East Germany after settling there in 1973.

Basquete das excluídas

Basquete das excluídas

Originating in Curitiba in 2013 and spreading to Portugal, Spain, Mexico and Brazil, “Basket das Excluídas” consists of an LGBTQIA+ group gathering to play basketball on a public court in the city. They vogue and resist with their bodies around the city, challenging norms and celebrating diversity while engaging in a game that expresses identity and a form of resistance.

Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story

Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story

The real life story of the events surrounding the fight for and against public housing and racial integration in Yonkers, New York in the 1980s as portrayed in the HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero.

The Glitterstorm

The Glitterstorm

A documentary that chronicles the twenty years of Pride parading in Iceland. Filmmaker Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir has shot the parade from the beginning, with all its pride and power, beauty and sometimes ugliness. She mixes old material and new interviews with activists who reminisce about their participation in the parade, it’s impact on society in general, and what Pride means for the LGBTQ+ community.

Black Power: A British Story of Resistance

Black Power: A British Story of Resistance

An examination of the Black Power movement in the late 1960s in the UK, surveying both the individuals and the cultural forces that defined the era. At the heart of the documentary is a series of astonishing interviews with past activists, many of whom are speaking for the first time about what it was really like to be involved in the British Black Power movement, bringing to life one of the key cultural revolutions in the history of the nation.

Everyday in Gaza

Everyday in Gaza

Filmed in the heart of the Gaza Strip in the spring of 2025 and produced by WeWorld as part of a project funded by the European Union, in collaboration with Save the Children, the film tells everyday stories of resistance and humanity: a barber who continues to welcome his clients amid the rubble, restoring dignity and beauty; Wafa, a woman who dedicates her life to children with disabilities or those who have been orphaned, offering care, education, play, and a sense of normalcy. An intimate narrative that illuminates the strength of the community even in one of the world's most fragile and war-torn contexts, like Gaza, where the population has been under constant attack for two years and under blockade for over 18 years.

The Son

The Son

Using unpublished photos taken by Italian war photographer Enrico Sarsini, and the reconstruction of key events, this film examines the battle for a strategically-located church that was defended by Azerbaijani teenager Natig Gasimov. After his surrender and interrogation by Armenian forces, he was never heard of again. This film finds out what happened to Natig and who may be responsible. Filmed over a period of three years, filmmaker Karan Singh spoke to witnesses in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Italy and Russia in his search for the truth.

PACmen

PACmen

This observational documentary follows the men behind the Super-PACs that persuaded Dr Ben Carson to run for President. Believing Carson can save the Republican Party, they successfully draft him to run, raise millions of dollars and catapult him to the top of the polls. However, as Carson's political inexperience begins to show, his constant media gaffes make fundraising increasingly difficult. Donors and voters abandon Carson's campaign as wallets close, hearts open and faith is tested. As Trump inexplicably rises, the campaign descends into chaos and the PACmen begin to wonder - did they pick the wrong savior?

Trans and Pregnant

Trans and Pregnant

Two men undertake a thought-provoking journey to parenthood. Not by adoption or surrogacy, but by Frankie, a trans man, carrying their baby. Made with support from NZ on Air.

Steal This Film

Steal This Film

Steal This Film focuses on Pirate Bay founders Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde, prominent members of the Swedish filesharing community. The makers claimed that 'Old Media' documentary crews couldn't understand the internet culture that filesharers took part in, and that they saw peer-to-peer organization as a threat to their livelihoods. Because of that, they were determined to accurately represent the filesharing community from within. Notably, Steal This Film was released and distributed, free of charge, through the same filesharing networks that the film documents.

Crashing the Party

Crashing the Party

With the survival of the Democratic Party at stake after the country's worst three presidential losses a little-known Bill Clinton and a band of insurgents at the DLC challenge the establishment to retake their party and the White House.

Stories of A

French documentary campaigning for the liberalization of abortion and contraception, directed by Charles Belmont and Marielle Issartel in 1973.

Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992

Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992

An in-depth look at the culture of Los Angeles in the ten years leading up to the 1992 uprising that erupted after the verdict of police officers cleared of beating Rodney King.

The Reagan Show

The Reagan Show

Comprised entirely of archival footage taken during those pre-reality-television years, The Reagan Show looks at how Ronald Reagan redefined the look and feel of what it means to be the POTUS.

9/11: The Longest War

9/11: The Longest War

In honour of the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, National Geographic Channel is looking back at the very best reporting we have done since this world-changing tragedy first happened using extended excerpts from past specials that relate directly to events leading up to and following the attacks on New York City and Washington DC.

Recommended Movies

Looking for Richard

Looking for Richard

Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."

Welcome to Chechnya

Welcome to Chechnya

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

I Am Vanessa Guillen

I Am Vanessa Guillen

Vanessa Guillen was 20 years old when she was found murdered at a US Army base. Rather than submit to silence, her family fought for justice and change.

Tongues Untied

Tongues Untied

Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.

This Changes Everything

This Changes Everything

An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry.

Gilbert

Gilbert

The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.

In the Realms of the Unreal

In the Realms of the Unreal

In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.

My Mom Jayne

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

Disclosure

Disclosure

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Coded Bias

Coded Bias

Exploring the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's startling discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately, and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all.

Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life

Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life

This compelling Documentary moves beyond the spotlight and past the attention-grabbing headlines to give pop superstar Chris Brown a chance to tell his own story. New interviews with the international phenomenon reveal long-awaited answers about his passion for making music, his tumultuous and much publicized relationships, and the pitfalls of coming of age in the public eye. Also included is new concert footage, behind-the-scenes access, and special interviews from Usher, Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled, Mike Tyson, Jamie Foxx and others.

The Celluloid Closet

The Celluloid Closet

Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.

For the Love of Spock

For the Love of Spock

The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.

Tab Hunter Confidential

Tab Hunter Confidential

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.

Seduced and Abandoned

Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

S4: The Bob Lazar Story

S4: The Bob Lazar Story

Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to spark global curiosity

28 Up

28 Up

Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.

McQueen

McQueen

Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.