QueerTown. . . Based on actual events. He came from an upscale Bay Area neighborhood of lush gardens and canopied trees but had no answer for how he ended up in the parched, desolate oilfields of Kern County. Eli worked long hours in oppressive heat, slinging chain and slapping pipe, alongside uncouth men on a 40 foot oil derrick called "Widowmaker." At the end of each dangerous work day, Eli ended up sore and thirsty. He satisfied his thirst in the bars and honky tonks along North Chester Avenue where women were uncomplicated, beer was always on tap and the music soothed his inner ache. Eli's life takes a wicked turn on a foggy night when he stumbles upon a bruised and beaten Natalie O'Malley, sitting on the sidewalk in front of her house. He offers to help, never realizing that his kind gesture would propel him onto a trajectory of raw passion over which he has no control. While he navigates his tangled love affair over rough terrain, a dark storm looms on the local horizon. Eli's sister, Janey tells him about the Lords of Bakersfield. She insists that the Lords are involved in the disappearance of Derek, the 14 year old boy, she had taken in. He's quick to understand that a major confrontation is in the making and he'll very likely be smack dab in the middle of it. A powerful and influential group of men who use their status and money to hide their diabolical acts have gone too far, by intruding into the 'Dale, a six square mile hamlet, north of town. Eli calls on the close knit community of river rats to force a showdown with the Lords. The confrontation is tantamount to hitting a beehive with a stick. To pull off his plan of going up against the Lords, Eli needs a solid game plan. The entire culture of the town has been corrupt for so many years, that opposing the status quo proves to be a deadly affair. He has little support because the townspeople, the judicial process, law enforcement and businessmen are all guilty. Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring about a shift in momentum. A fumbled punt, a chance meeting or just a seemingly insignificant event serves as the game-changer. The beginning of the end for the Lords took place on the night Eli accompanied his non-recovering alcoholic friend to an AA meeting. When his river rat friend gave what seemed to be an incoherent speech to his fellow winos, his rambling words hit a nerve with the listeners and set in motion the most powerful force on the planet; angry mothers. Once the mothers took charge, the townspeople found their backbone, ripped off the nasty scab that concealed the evil doings of the Lords and began to turn the town right side up. But then it happened ... Triumph went to hell.