Feature-length documentary (2016)
Awards:
Television Academy Honor (2018)
Southern Poverty Law Center, Social Justice Film Award (2016)
Outfest Film Festival, Special Programming Freedom Award (2016)
Distribution:
Logo TV in partnership with American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Synopsis:
When Moises Serrano was just a baby, his parents risked everything to flee Mexico and make the perilous journey across the desert in search of the American dream. After 23 years growing up in the rural south as an undocumented queer man, Serrano is forbidden to live and love in the country he calls home. He sees only one option—to fight for justice.
Serrano’s story illustrates the intersection of queer and immigrant issues and offers a different vision for LGBTQ Latino youth who grow up in the rural south surrounded by white faces and homophobic attitudes. Serrano has found dead rats in his mailbox and white crosses on his porch, the threats are palpable and real. Coming to this country without papers (documentation) is not a criminal offense, and yet undocumented immigrants are routinely placed in detention centers, sometimes with their young children, where they face prison like conditions. With such a strong emphasis on education and upward mobility in the U.S., it shouldn’t take a young person like Serrano, who graduated at the top of his class, seven years to go to college.
Forbidden premiered in July 2016 in Los Angeles at Outfest Film Festival. It is available for viewing on LogoTV and through educational distributors Kanopy and Pragda.