Tampa's International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival returns Thursday with a new name and the usual commitment to same-sex cinema. This year it's called Clip 19, noting the numbers of years this event has been a mainstay of Tampa Bay culture. The 11-day showcase is centered around Tampa Theatre, with a few screenings at Baywalk 20 in St. Petersburg and several parties in downtown Tampa and Ybor City.

Nineteen straight years of queer cinema; quite an accomplishment when you think back to its origins, when churches and family values groups -- even the Ku Klux Klan -- regularly griped about or picketed the festival. One measure of how far we've come as a society is the relative silence from protesters today.

This year's celebrity guest is Bruce Vilanch, the go-to guy in Hollywood whenever an awards show or a celebrity speaker needs jokes written. Vilanch was the subject of 1999's documentary Get Bruce!, in which everyone from Bette Midler and Robin Williams to Steven Seagal and Florence Henderson lauded his wit.

Vilanch will attend Thursday's VIP warm-up party and opening night screening of Ruby Blue, starring Bob Hoskins as a straight man wooed by a gay neighbor. Vilanch is really here to support Stewart Wade's teen comedy Tru Loved, screening Friday at 7 p.m., in which he appears. His pre- and post-show remarks should be hoots.

Friday's late show (9:30 p.m.) is a collection of lesbian-themed short films including, appropriately enough, Guinevere Turner's Late. Turner wrote The Notorious Bettie Page and the seminal lesbian hit, Go Fish.

Saturday afternoon's lineup accents youth, including a free 11 a.m. screening of the family-friendly sing-along flick, Dottie's Magic Pockets, followed by a short film collection at noon. Equality U (1:30 p.m.) is a documentary tracking a busload of gay college students visiting campuses with open discrimination policies. Then comes a collection of lesbian short films (3:30).

Saturday evening goes back to grownups with the seniors-coming-out documentary Out Late (5:30), Casper Andreas' drama Between Love and Goodbye (7:45) and The Kinsey Sicks: Almost Infamous, profiling the politically charged comedy revue troupe.

Sunday's lineup begins at noon with It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School and its sequel. At 2:15 p.m., Tampa Theatre will resound with music; A Song of Courage traces the history of gay and lesbian choruses, and the movie will be followed with live performances by Tampa bay's own Una Voce and Crescendo ensembles.

Sunday also features the stand-up comedy documentary Laughing Matters... Next Gen starring Andrea Meyerson, a collection of gay shorts (6:45), Avi Nesher's romantic The Secrets (9 p.m.) starring Fanny Ardant.

Clip 19 scales back to evening-only screenings during weekdays. Monday's Tampa Theatre highlight is Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon (7 p.m.), a biography of 1970s porn star Jack Wrangler. Meanwhile, Baywalk 20 will present black.womyn.: conversations with lesbians of African descent at 7:30.

Individual event tickets are $9. Festival passes are still available through the Clip 19 website.

Feel like getting out of the theater and onto the dance floor? Clip 19 will host its upscale gala Friday night at Don Vincente de Ybor Historic Inn in Ybor City. Tickets are $50 with food, drink and entertainment included.

Check back later for more information about Clip 19, a true treasure in Tampa Bay's culture.