Inside the Rainbow

Inside the Rainbow is a short-form documentary series from filmmaker Tay Barrett that celebrates gay and lesbian people living openly and proudly, many of them doing good in their communities. Each brief episode introduces a different person and lets them explain what they do and why it matters. Subjects include an astrologer, the bear rapper Big Dipper, and Mark Taylor, who looks after a collection of vintage gay erotica at the New York University library, along with Pandemonia, Jessica O'Dowd and Scott Young. Barrett has said she wanted to tell uplifting stories, the kind she wished she had seen when she was younger, and the series keeps its tone warm and encouraging throughout. Quick, colorful and affirming, it is a series of small portraits about creativity, community and the joy of being yourself.