Let's Talk About Sex: An Interview With Filmmaker Katherine Linton

AE: In one episode you talked to photographer Phyllis Christopher, who spoke about how in the '90s in San Francisco there was this big explosion in terms of being very open and adventurous about lesbian sexuality. I think that Shine's stuff comes out of that, to a certain extent. Do you feel like that kind of openness to polyamory, all of the BDSM stuff — do you think that that has expanded to more mainstream lesbian sexuality? I didn't really see you talk to too many Midwestern lesbians.
KL: No, and that was because of the budget. Really, I had to go to New York, San Francisco and L.A., and primarily San Francisco and New York. You get more bang for your buck.

No, we didn't talk to Midwestern lesbians, so I don't know what the girls are doing in the great swath of our country that should be focused on as well. But … I'm not an expert, so I don't know. I think that because there's more images and there's more discussion about it that maybe more people are open to it, but I wouldn't think — and polyamory, I think, is much bigger in the straight community.

It was actually a very small portion that I could find that was lesbian. Like there's no lesbian-only polyamory conferences, I don't think. That would be a really dramatic conference, could you imagine?

AE: Yeah, I would stay away from it!
KL: Yeah … talk about dyke drama. Whoa. The thing with polyamory is [that] I have to go into it saying, "This works for them" and "I take you at your word," because of course, it's your life. But Meredith and I watched it, and she goes, "Hell no! If my girlfriend comes home and she wants this, hell no!" And was like, "I'm with you, sister." It's bad enough with one woman.

So there were things that were sort of funny to us, like, "Whoa, it's amazing that they can make this work, and God love 'em." It just expands people's understanding of sexuality, that not everybody has the same desires.

AE: Where do you think that the most innovative or unique representations of lesbian sexuality are found these days? Where do you think the edge is now?
KL: You mean in media or just in general?

AE: I guess in both.
KL: I would say in general obviously it's San Francisco still. … It's certainly not as visible in New York. … So in terms of edge I would say San Francisco. It's always probably come from San Francisco originally, you know, anything that sort of pushes the envelope — some from New York.

In terms of the media, I just think it can be found all over because of the web, but it's still just in the web as far as I can tell. … I just think that access to media that's not mainstream is where you're going to find that edge.

AE: I wanted to ask you a little bit about your career. You've been making films for a long time, but what got you started in making gay films?
KL: Well, I auditioned for and was hired as co-host for In the Life in 1993, and then [laughs] sort of didn't like all the makeup I was wearing. I wanted to be involved behind the scenes, and then … one of the producers quit, and suddenly I was producing the show.

I had to learn everything there was to learn on the fly, so I saw how powerful television was suddenly. You know, we would get ratings back and suddenly realize that 500,000 people saw the show in this area. I mean the numbers — well, I had come from theater — were suddenly shocking. I thought, that's amazing, that you could reach so many people.

And at that time there was nothing else on TV like it, and here we were doing this gay and lesbian news magazine. So I really saw how much it impacted people, and I guess I've always been committed, from then on, to our visibility and believe that my way is the media. Other people have their roots, but this is what I know. So I've been really lucky, actually, to be able to do it as long as I have. So that's how I got my start. And I hosted [In the Life] and produced it for a long time.

AE: When did you found your company, Linton Media? It's a separate thing, right?
KL: Yeah. 2004. I founded it actually when I got the launch for Logo. It was called The Evolution Will Be Televised. It was the first thing that aired, so that was a huge, huge project — 90 minutes on the media and the movement — so it was sort of my gay opus. I got to put all that I had ever learned at In the Life [into it], and I did this thing for VH1, AIDS: A Pop Culture History, so it sort of felt like everything coming together in one doc, so that was pure joy to do.

That was like a seven-month project. I didn't want a production company. I was like, "OK, I'm going to dissolve after this, OK everybody? I don't want this." But somehow I've kept it going.

ML: Did you shoot that Julie Goldman host interview segment from Lesbian Sex and Sexuality in your offices? I saw you in the background.
KL: Yes [laughs]. Yeah, yeah, yeah, my one tiny little cameo. That was hysterical because obviously I was really working, and these deliverymen would come by, and she's walking around in her underwear. The whole thing was so funny. … And it was all Chinese lawyers on this floor, so they never know what they hell we're doing. But they'll walk by the thing, and we're like, "Hey, did you get that lesbian sex blah blah?"

Just the things that come out of people's mouths, they don't even think about the Chinese lawyers that are walking by. Oh my God, these people must be like, "What is that sick porn company?" And then there's Julie Goldman running around in her underwear. It was very funny.

AE: Did you actually think that you would use her as a host for the series or was it always a hilarious segment kind of thing?
KL: That was actually Tracy [Izatt], the producer of that particular episode … that was her idea. I was like, "Um, I'm not sure if this is going to work." It was tricky, but it was funny. It was like this could either work or not work.

AE: It was kind of nice actually to have that in the middle.
KL: Yeah, I thought that it was an interesting little break for the series.