Despite increasingly positive representations of LGBT people in popular culture and incremental moves toward equality, LGBT people still face discrimination and negative stereotyping. Even when their company non-discrimination policies include sexual orientation and gender identity, many LGBT employees endure anti-gay remarks or jokes, and are left to wonder if it is really safe to be out at work.

In the BREAKING THROUGH series, openly LGBT people share their stories of living openly and authentically
with surprising vulnerability, showing it is possible to be out and live successful, fulfilled lives.

The award-winning BREAKING THROUGH: Out of the Closet, Into the Halls of Power streams on PBS and is available on DVD and other streaming services. No other LGBT-focused film from the South has ever gone this far!

BREAKING THROUGH:
Out of the Closet, Into the Halls of Power

In the award-winning BREAKING THROUGH, openly LGBT elected officials at all levels – including the first gay US Senator, Tammy Baldwin – share their stories of self-doubt and triumph over multiple barriers ranging from race and poverty to gender and sexual orientation, revealing a deeply personal, rarely-seen side of politicians and gay people. 

Though featuring politicians, it isn’t about politics: it’s about people who feel fear and shame, yearning to live meaningful lives. They reveal how they broke through internal and external barriers to achieve the future they envisioned, and by showing that “anything is possible,” they impact people from all walks of life.

"Ripped from the headlines about gay politicians breaking down borders in astonishing ways across America, Cindy L. Abel’s BREAKING THROUGH is groundbreaking in both its subject matter and its remarkably moving way of telling its subjects’ back stories. Masterful in its mix of immersive, intimate interviews and powerful motion graphics, this stirring sensory experience fixes in on fascinating subjects and doesn’t let viewers go for the duration of its efficient running time."  Stephen Michael Brown, Silver Screen Capture

"Cindy Abel’s captivating and thoroughly rousing documentary Breaking Through is the kind of film that makes you wonder why all other documentaries can’t be as unique, polished, and impactful. It’s the kind of film that provides crystal-clear insight into unique obstacles facing LGBT people in our society while also inspiring all viewers to work to undo and overcome those impediments." Michael Mungin, Psychology Liaison Librarian, James Madison University

BREAKING THROUGH
THE COMPANY CLOSET

BREAKING THROUGH THE COMPANY CLOSET is a feature-length documentary in production in which openly LGBT employees – from the C-suite to the factory – share their stories of breaking through personal and professional barriers to live authentic, successful, fulfilled lives.

Like any worker aspiring to climb the corporate ladder or simply wanting to know their job is secure, LGBT employees are looking for role models. They particularly want to see people who have done what was long thought to be impossible: live openly and authentically, without hiding or denying hiding parts of their identity in the workplace.

Non-LGBT viewers also want to see these role models as a way to better understand the challenges their colleagues have faced and the barriers they have broken through, as well as to be inspired to make their own workplaces more embracing and therefore more productive.

This need is met in BREAKING THROUGH THE COMPANY CLOSET.  As people at all levels within the workforce share how they broke through barriers – from race and gender to sexual orientation and gender identity – their stories inspire people from all walks of life to bring their whole selves to work.