All human beings experience psychological wounding and healing in their lives. It's inherent to the journey of love and the journey of life. This study specifically explores the wounding experience shared by most western gay men—the unwitnessed, isolating experience of the closet, an artifact engendered by the oppressive heteronormative culture permeating the formative years of young gay men's lives. This study puts forth the premise that it is not the experience of the closet that is overwhelming to a young gay man, but rather the unwitnessed suffering that creates trauma; also that in response, many gay men create memorials to their suffering through addictions, compulsions, or repetitive patterns that impede their finding meaning in their lives.

Through the medium of film, this study chronicles the journey of seven men and me. Together we explored the possibility of healing through the conscious creation of a memorial to our communal experience of unwitnessed, lonely suffering. We built this memorial using objects as metaphors to represent personal stories from our collective crypts of shame, recounted to one another in the role of compassionate witness.

We also told healing stories around our shared passion for country western dancing in community with other gay men and lesbians, and the effervescent power of a dance club known as the Sundance Saloon in San Francisco, California—a place where we find home each time we gather together.