WMU hosts screening of 'Southwest of Salem'
The documentary includes interviews, home video footage, court documents and family testimonies from Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez, who plead their innocence after being wrongfully convicted of gang-raping two little girls during the Satanic Panic witch-hunt era of the 1980s and 1990s.
These four Latina lesbians fought against mythology, homophobia and prosecutorial fervor in their struggle for exoneration. With assistance from the Innocence Project of Texas, the women were gradually paroled and released, but continue to fight to exonerate their names.
The film screening will include a brief post-film discussion facilitated by WMU's Latino Student Alliance.
The event is being sponsored by WMU's Office of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgendered Student Services; Division of Multicultural Affairs; and Latino Student Alliance, with a grant from the University Cultural Events Committee.
For more information, visit wmich.edu/lbgt/programs/calendar-events or contact Natalie Nguyen, director of WMU LBGT Student Services, at (269) 387-2123 or natalie.nguyen@wmich.edu.
For more WMU news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.