A new documentary film exploring the lives of four transgender Americans living in the so-called “red states” debuted the very same day the Equality Act passed the House, the day the first-ever transgender nominee faced a Senate confirmation hearing, and on the same day this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference got underway.
How fitting that CPAC will be the scene of former President Donald Trump’s first public speech since flying off to Mar-a-Lago last month, and that he will be greeted by a golden statue of himself. It’s almost as if, for conservatives, nothing has changed.
That’s also true for trans Americans in the Republican-controlled regions of North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, and Idaho, where anti-trans legislation is flourishing or in the works: nothing has changed.
“What got us Trump,” said Shane Ortega, one of the trans people profiled in the film, “has still not been reconciled.”
Trans in Trumpland by director Tony Zosherafatain, streaming on Amazon Topic, is a four-part exploration of those red states, which begins exactly where the battle lines have been drawn in the never-ending debate over transgender identity in the U.S.: inside a school, where a trans boy describes his trauma.
“I’m fine with people knowing that I am trans,” says Ash. “But that information is mine to give and I don’t want to give it.” He describes his feelings on his first day of high school, after an administrative error outs him to his classmates in North Carolina. “A sinking sense of dread and horror,” he says. “I kind of just wanted to end my life.”
“The series encapsulates a time period in our country that we need to continue to reflect on, certainly over the next year, if not into the more distant future,” Zosherafatain told The Daily Beast. “The series is reflective in that it summarizes the past four years under Trump for a variety of Americans. In addition to anti-trans hate, the series also investigates Trump's anti-immigration policies, racism, and xenophobia.
“I definitely wish Trans in Trumpland could have come out before the election in November, but sadly our post-production process was not yet completed at that time,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but I’m also uncertain that ‘Trumpland’ will go away anytime soon, given that so many red states have this enduring commitment to discriminatory laws.” (Trans in Trumpland was executive produced by actress Trace Lysette, activist and pioneer Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Instagram sensation Chella Man.)
Zosherafatain, himself a trans man, said he decided to document each state based on how hard it was to be a trans person living there: North Carolina and Ash and his mother Daisy; Houston, Texas, to talk with Rebecca Chapa-Garcia, a Mexican American trans woman; Mississippi, where Zosherafatain met Evonne Kaho, a Black woman executive running a nonprofit organization benefiting the trans population of her hometown of Jackson; and Ortega, a Native American Iraq War veteran and former U.S. Marine who transitioned while on active duty, now living in Idaho.
Ortega said he chuckled at the thought that he is now “trans in Bidenland.”
“As a Tuscarora Indian, living in my ancestral territory I haven't seen a real change yet. This land will never will be anyone's land, but the indigenous peoples of the ‘Americas,’” Ortega told The Daily Beast. “I am relieved, like most, to have Trump out of office. The man is a sociopathic narcissist, but he was the wound we needed to start the healing process. I felt the American mythology we tell ourselves on these occupied indigenous lands built by stolen people, would never have self-started the real work for human rights equity.”
Zosherafatain looked back at his journey and noted that the real work to which Ortega referred is a shared experience among all the trans people he interviewed for his film.
“Being ‘trans in Bidenland’ must feel different for them due to Biden's pro-trans Executive Orders, they're still stuck in vehemently anti-trans states. Will those states now change and overturn their laws?” he asked, rhetorically. “I hope so, but nothing is certain. I remain hopeful, but sadly don't think we're in the clear yet.”
Trans in Trumpland can be viewed by both U.S. and Canadian audiences on Topic through Topic.com and Topic channels through AppleTV & iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android, and Amazon Prime Video Channels.
