A Star Is Born — Almost
Nat Keitt stars in a critically acclaimed film. But you may never see it.
BRONX, NEW YORK
Nat Keitt is a star. For years the AFSCME Local 1930 (D.C. 37) executive board member has been a star to his friends, family and co-workers. He has won their affection with a positive outlook that has sustained him even in the face of tragedy.
Keitt’s big break came two years ago when he was featured in the documentary film Out at Work. Unfortunately Keitt may never make his television debut: The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) refuses to air the film.
The 55-minute documentary follows the lives of three workers — two gay men and a lesbian — who are open about their homosexuality. It chronicles the story of Nat Keitt during the most difficult year of his life, the year his partner, David Sanabria, died of AIDS.
UNION SUPPORT. Keitt, an office associate with the New York Public Library, found comfort and support in the workplace and union before, during and after Sanabria’s illness. He refers to D.C. 37’s Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee (LAGIC) as his "mother." LAGIC led the union’s efforts to win recognition for workers’ domestic partners from the New York City government. The first benefit the group won was bereavement leave.
"I signed up for bereavement leave for David," Keitt recalls. "By then we had been living together 10 years. It made David very happy. It showed we were responsible for each other."
Then Keitt joined in AFSCME’s fight to extend health benefits to domestic partners in New York City. "It opened a world for workers who were able to put their mate on their insurance," he says. This benefit became invaluable when Sanabria contracted AIDS.
SHARED BROTHERHOOD. When Sanabria was hospitalized, "my staff and fellow union members would go to the hospital and sit with David," Keitt says. "They organized shifts, and they went — African-American, Hispanic, Irish, Italian. It is the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened to me. He was very happy."
After days of slipping in and out of a coma, Sanabria died on May 6, 1995. "That was the only time in my life I realized I had lost a battle. In that moment, I lost everything," says Keitt.
His co-workers and the union were still there to support him. "It was just the thought of not taking him home that really bothered me" — the thought of going home alone. So his friends took Keitt home with them.
"When people talk about unions, the union is not just an organization to give you benefits," he says. "The union is also there when they say ‘brotherhood.’ It takes a strong union bond for things like that to occur."
FINAL INDIGNITY. Keitt believes that the broadcast of Out at Work would serve as a memorial to Sanabria. Critically acclaimed, it had been selected as a finalist for Point of View (P.O.V.), a national showcase for independent documentaries broadcast on PBS. However, the film was eliminated from consideration after PBS refused to air it.
"We found Out at Work to be compelling television responsibly done on a significant issue of our times," wrote PBS Director of News and Information Sandra Heberer to P.O.V., "but PBS’s guidelines prohibit funding that might lead to an assumption that individual underwriters might have exercised editorial control over program content — even if, as is clear in this case, those underwriters did not." Heberer saw small contributions made by D.C. 37 and the United Auto Workers as "problematical."
Cara White, a PBS consultant designated to speak with Public Employee, says the film failed the "perception" test: that the listing of a union as a funder would lead to the "perception" that the union had exercised some control over the content.
Out at Work producers and other media watchers assert that this test does not seem to be applied across the board. They point out that PBS aired James Reston: The Man Millions Read — a documentary about the New York Times — even though it was funded by the New York Times. The network also showed a series on computers funded with a $1.9 million contribution from the Unisys computer company.
"It appears there’s a double standard here," says Ruby Lerner, executive director of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. "Large corporate donations for any program never seem to be in question. Public television should celebrate the participation of labor organizations and, in fact, should itself be cultivating the ongoing participation of labor organizations in its programming."
"Out at Work’s subjects are everyday heroes whose life stories, though inspiring, have been absent from television," says Tami Gold, one of the film’s producers. "Public broadcasting was created to correct this imbalance — and what we’re finding is that PBS is failing in this mission."
By Susan Ellen Holleran
To protest the Out at Work decision, write PBS Programming, 1320 Braddock Pl., Alexandria, Va. 22314. Out at Work is available for $150 (VHS) or $300 (16mm) from Frameline, 346 Ninth St., San Francisco, Calif. 94103 or call (415) 703-8650.
