Thomas Banks And His Quest For Love
From December 3, streaming service Stan will air an award-winning Australian documentary, Thomas Banks’ Quest For Love, featuring a gay man with a disability, QNews reports.
Following Thomas Banks, a Melbourne-based writer and public speaker over six years, the documentary shows his experiences with bullying, one-night stands, gay saunas, dates gone wrong, counselling sessions and more all in the hope of finding love.
At the same time, Banks writes and stars in a play to voice his frustrations and the challenges he faced in his search for a partner.
“I want people to understand what it’s like having a disability, but also to be gay, too,” Banks explains.
Banks said he wants to challenge people’s perceptions and was seeking acceptance from the gay community.
“I would go the gay sauna and people would look at me weird, like I shouldn’t be there. I want to make people understand that people with disabilities can be gay, can be sexual,” Banks said.
“A lot of people think that people with disabilities should be asexual. But it’s really important for me to challenge that,” Banks said.
In 2019, Quest For Love was screened at film festivals in Australia and internationally, winning awards at the Mardi Gras and Melbourne Queer Film Festivals.
The documentary will premiere on Australian streaming service, Stan, on December 3 to mark the International Day For People With A Disability.
Filming the documentary took director Pip Kelly, Thomas and a small crew everywhere from gay nightclubs, saunas and bars to the Midsumma Festival and Thomas’ family home in regional Victoria.
Kelly said Thomas is sharing a “deep story that will touch everyone’s heart.”
“The film is ultimately about the heart. Wanting and deserving love, being vulnerable, not wanting to be rejected, and self love,” she said.
“Things we all feel at some point in our lives and things we all have in common as human beings.
“But it goes [further] to really delve into what it’s like to be a young man with cerebral palsy and to be gay as well.
“I hope more understanding and acceptance will be the result of people watching this film.”
Watch the trailer below.
