During the twelve years from the Stonewall Rebellion (1969) to the first reported cases of AIDS (1981) there was a search for a definition of what it meant to be gay. And for the most part, that search required openly exploring a sexuality that for decades had been forbidden. Americans in New York and elsewhere were cutting loose from puritanical values and ascribing to the catchphrase of the time "if it feels good, do it." Suddenly, not only was sexuality allowed for gay people, sexuality was in and of itself a good thing. Today, most people - even young gay men - have no idea of what life was like in the streets of New York at that time. There are few left alive to tell them of the astounding sexual freedom and sexual excitement of day-to-day life.This film provides that "hidden history" in a frank and thoughtful way, raising questions about how far the gay liberation movement has come and how acceptance of sexuality can affect sexual behavior, promiscuity, and the sometimes murky relationship between liberation and integration.

Documentary producer/director Joseph Lovett (producer of the first in-depth AIDS investigations for national television at ABC News' "20/20") focuses his lens on the unbridled sexual passion and exploration that marked those twelve years. With access to a filmic and photographic treasure trove of erotic life on New York's West Side Piers, trucks, bars, dance clubs, bathhouses and beaches, Lovett's cast of storytellers takes us from the remarkably repressed pre-Stonewall period to an era of sexual liberation unparalleled since ancient Rome. Straightforward, funny and titillating at the same time, their stories are told with remarkable wit, humor and perspective.