Television

CINEMAX, compiled by Blase DiStefano

Wednesday Pride

Cinemax Reel Life: Real Pride ... every Wednesday in June

• He’s Having a Baby

Hollywood talent agent Jeff Danis is at the top of his game. He and his partner of 20 years, Don Pike, share a rich life, which includes a beautiful home, exotic vacations, and many close friends. However, as he approaches his 50th birthday, Danis feels his life is incomplete and dreams of becoming a father. When he shares his desire with Pike, their relationship is thrown into turmoil. He’s Having a Baby chronicles the challenges they encounter on their journey to Saigon to become parents. Airs Wednesday, June 4, at 6 p.m., on Cinemax, with a repeat airing on June 29 at 7 a.m.

• All About My Father

This touching account of a respected doctor and transvestite in a small Norwegian community comes from the only person who could make such a film—his son. Even Benestad wants his father to explain why he has broken up the family and resists accepting Esben Benestad’s new identity as Esther Pirelli. His father, on the other hand, wants the world to know that gender is a fluid and personal concept. Airs Wednesday, June 11, at 6 p.m., on Cinemax, with a repeat airing on June 29 at 5 a.m.

• No Dumb Questions

This touching and funny film looks at three inquisitive young sisters, ages 6, 9, and 11, who want to know why Uncle Bill has chosen to become a woman. They love their uncle, but will they feel the same about Aunt Barbara? With just weeks until Bill’s first visit as Barbara, the sisters navigate the complex territories of anatomy, sexuality, personality, gender, and fashion. A fresh perspective on a complex situation, No Dumb Questions proves there are no dumb questions. Airs Wednesday, June 18, at 6 p.m., on Cinemax, with a repeat airing on June 29 at 7:45 a.m.

• Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House

Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz met as housewives in a tight-knit Jewish neighborhood in 1960s Brooklyn. Fourteen years later, realizing they were in love, they left their husbands for each other. Berman describes the early stages of their relationship as “the agony and the ecstasy”—the ecstasy of loving Kurtz and the agony of being a lesbian. Recalling the complexities of a lesbian relationship in the 1970s, Berman remembers how she considered jumping off the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, believing it would be easier for her children to deal with her death than the shame of having a lesbian mother. In a landmark 1988 legal case, Berman and Kurtz sued the New York City Board of Education for domestic partner benefits. Overnight, they became national heroines, and after a five-year struggle, made history again by winning those benefits for all New York City employees. Their successful lawsuit resulted in TV appearances on Phil Donahue’s and Geraldo Rivera’s talk shows, during which they literally flew out of the closet before millions of Americans. Airs Wednesday, June 25, at 6 p.m., on Cinemax, with a repeat airing on June 29 at 7:45 a.m.

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