there's an awesome one i cant recall the name of right now about butch african american women, they've shown it on logo and pbs here in nyc.
i saww a beautiful docu about the aids quilt as well, made during the construction of panels, cant remember the name on that one either.
and paris is burning will knock your socks off!

The Cockettes documentary, Tongues Untied, Pick Up the Mic (documentary about queer hip-hop performers, still making the festival circuit).

Coming in to the topic late, but as a heavy GLBT Film Festivalgoer who loves docs, I must recommend these:

"SMALL TOWN GAY BAR" about a very small town in Mississippi and the gay bar(s) that manages to thrive there despite oppressive homophobia. Here's a blurb:

festival.sundance.org/filmgui...pup.aspx
Netflix has it cataloged, but no release date. You can reserve it, though.

"WHEN OCEAN MEETS THE SKY"--absolutely recommended; my favorite selection in the film festival the eyar it played. It's about the (gay) history of Fire Island, NY; how it came to be as a "town" in the first place and how it became gay. Unfortunately, I don't know how to get hold of this on, as it doesn't seem to be on DVD.

"GAY SEX IN THE 70S"--this is available through Netfilx, but be forewarned that it should be called "Sleazy gay sex in New York City in the '70s", as it has a very narrow view of the topic. Still, it's informative and interesting.

"WHEN BOYS FLY"--about the whole circuit-party scene and its dangers. Not exactly an uplifting film, but good. I think this is farily easily available. (A very similar-themed, but fictional, film came out almost at the same time, called "Circuit".)

www.imdb.com/title/tt0318828/

"WORD IS OUT"--this is old, but when I was in college in the early 1980s, it was the perennially-shown film that the gay students' group would show during Gay Awareness Week. It is probably quite dated now, but very touching and earnest, about gay people in the 60s and 70s. I don't know how available it is, though.

There are also a pair of complementary docs, "BEFORE STONEWALL" and "SINCE STONEWALL" that chronicle our culture in the various eras. Good "Gay History 101" kind of stuff.

Here are some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet:

The Celluloid Closet
Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale
Ruth and Connie: Every Room in the House
The Gift
Portrait of Jason

Seen PARAGRAPH 175?