Scroll To Top
film

A Lesbian Love Story Blossoms Over 47 Years in Legacy of Love 

A Lesbian Love Story Blossoms Over 47 Years in Legacy of Love 

Lillian Faderman and Phyllis Irwin

The 47-year romance between lesbian historian Lillian Faderman and Phyllis Irwin is beautifully told in Allison Tate's short film. 

Celebrate Valentine's Day with a story of everlasting love between women told across generations. In her short film, Legacy of Love, Advocate video director and filmmaker Allison Tate (Carol Support Group) investigates the universal, timeless experience of love with her profile of lesbian historian Lillian Faderman and her partner of 47 years, activist and professor Phyllis Irwin.

The eight-minute film, part of the Facebook Watch docu-series 365 Days of Love, produced by Sofia Vergara's production company RAZE and NewForm, tells the story of Faderman and Irwin's monumental relationship that began when they met and fell in love when they were professors at California State University in Fresno in the early 1970s.

Bts_3_legacy_of_love

With thoughtful, probing questions, Tate delves into the challenges Faderman and Irwin faced as a lesbian couple trying to raise a son during deeply intolerant times while also highlighting the excitement of falling in love.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Tate asks of the couple at one point.

"I think, in this case, it probably was kind of like that," Irwin replies, her hands intertwined with Faderman's. "It just felt like, wow. Whew."

Watch Legacy of Love below.

30 Years of Out100Out / Advocate Magazine - Jonathan Groff & Wayne Brady

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.