Testimony is a documentary that explores the narrative parallel between testimonies (those of evangelicals who are describing how they came to believe in Jesus Christ) and coming out stories (those of lesbians and gays). Essentially, it’s a film about storytelling, and how people create a narrative out of two major events in their own lives.
Testimony is about people who have both stories -- a testimony of how they came to Jesus Christ and a coming out story. People from all over the United States have told their stories -- about finding acceptance and love in their church communities, about first discovering queer feelings in themselves, about struggling not to be queer because of the perceived disapproval of God, about coming out to family and friends, about being rejected by family and church, about reevaluating their faith and belief systems, and about finding a pride in who they are.
The main themes are initiation to religion, initiation to one’s sexuality, being “born again,” both in the religious sense and by coming out, disillusionment because of the church’s lack of acceptance, having to reshape and refine and individualize the teaching of one’s church, and finally re-embracing the spiritual journey. The film focuses on the positive by not giving direct voice to the (confused and destructive!) rhetoric of those who reject. While the film recognizes the difficulty of the journey, clearly the pervading sense is encouragement and hope. The root of the film, the stories of those who have undertaken the sometimes arduous journey and continue to seek and find ways to be fulfilled spiritually (and otherwise), is in itself a great source of encouragement and hope for others.