TRANS the Movie
“Transgender issues are the last frontier in civil rights,” declared film Producer Mark Schoen Sunday night. Schoen was visiting Boulder this past weekend as he drove from the West Coast to the East Coast conducting private screenings of his most recent documentary, Trans. Schoen has a long history of film making, including 30 sex education videos with the Sinclair Institute. Wanting to go beyond helping individuals and couples have steamy sex lives, he has since launched his sex education site, Sex Smart Films. Spearheading media literacy regarding essential social issues in sexuality, Schoen’s goal with Trans was to put transgender issues under the microscope, challenging viewers to regard gender beyond just a genital assignment.
Because the film is yet to be publically released, we hosted a free “private screening,” followed by a riveting discussion group. As Marcus Shoup, Program Director of Out Boulder, stated quite accurately, “It was a blockbuster hit—the perfect blend of pain and hope.”
The movie chronicles the lives of numerous transgendered persons of all ages and backgrounds.
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Some people had stories of humor and hope, supported by loving and accepting friends and family. Some lost spouses, children, friends, and jobs. And far too many lost their lives. Homicide rates and hate crimes are unprecedented because transgender people are too often thought of as subhuman. The suicide rate for the general public is between one and two percent. In the transgender population, that number soars to 41 percent—and that’s a low estimate.
The movie takes us into the personal lives and journeys of people exploring gender beyond the binary. We see a little sassy seven year-old assert her femininity even though she has a penis under her skirt. We see a Navy flight surgeon journey from male to female, saving her sperm before her operation, and using it ten years later to impregnate her spouse who gives birth to biological twins. We see this same flight surgeon become one of the country’s premier plastic surgeons, helping hundreds of transgender people transition to their preferred gender. We see men and women brave the loss of their friends and family to be true to themselves and live authentic lives.
Trans encourages viewers to open their minds, and open their hearts. When all human beings have permission to live into their highest human potential, then we no longer live to survive, but rather truly start to thrive. And that’s Schoen’s mission. Giving people permission to thrive as sexual beings—as human beings.
www.TranstheMovie.com
To read Dr. Jenni's archives of sexuality QnA, see Sophisticated Sex at: http://www.boulderweekly.com/articles.sec-123-1-sophisticated-sex.htm
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