This movie was clearly made with a great deal of love. It's arguable that it was made with too much love, as if there ever could be any such thing. Or maybe "love" is not the right word, and "civility" is. My point, alas, is that as a movie, "The New Black" never really catches fire: as I said above, it's very engaging, but it never gets to urgently compelling. Things do pick up when Richen takes up the story of the young new-gospel singer who once went by the name of Tonex, whose coming-out was a galvanic moment for the community.
One does feel churlish for taking a text to task on account that it's conscientiously nice, but Richen's even-handedness, while commendable from a community activist point of view—the point is to build bridges, I presume—does her movie few favors. That said, if you're looking for insight, context, poignancy, the movie does offer all of the above.