Tongues Untied is about the silence that envelops the lives of black gay men. This exhilarating work is a loquacious attempt to break free of the homophobia and racism that mute the possibilities for human fulfillment. Riggs creates a poetic pastiche that has the emotional uplift of gospel music and the sobering impact of reportage. The words of gay poets, personal testimony, rap tableaux, dramatic sequences, and archival footage are woven together with a seductive palette of video effects. Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, condemned Tongues Untied, but rather than seeking to ban the film, cynically encouraged its broadcast on PBS. Wildmon's real target was Riggs's funding source, the National Endowment for the Arts. Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan would find his own Willie Horton in Riggs and the film.