The Dryden will screen Check It (Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, U.S. 2016, 91 min., DCP) as part of the ImageOut Festival.

It's hardly news that the LGBTQ community routinely faces discrimination and harassment, and that's especially true for LGBTQ people of color. In very few places are the challenges faced by our community more evident than in our nation's capitol, which has one of the highest rates of hate crimes against LGBTQ people in the country. Enter the gripping documentary, Check It. Formed in 2009 by three gay DC 9th-graders as a means to defend themselves against bullying, the Check It gang now boasts over 200 members — and they are fierce! Anyone who attacks a Check It member thinking that because their intended victim is gay or trans there won't be any consequences is in for a rude awakening. These youth — many of whom have been rejected by family and on their own since the age of 14 or younger — have no fear of fighting for their de facto brothers and sisters.

[source: George Eastman Museum website, 2016-Oct-3]