Film Screening: ‘Growing Up Trans’

Dec 7@ 7pm in Piedmont, and Dec 9@ 3pm at The New Parkway,474 24th Street, Oakland

In the opening scene of the film 9-year-old Lia Hegarty is on a surfboard splashing in the ocean. From the sun,sea and her gleeful little-girl calls as she catches a wave, the sound and images move to her bedroom, where she declares,”I am transgender. I was born male, and I identify female. But I like to say I’m a girl stuck in a boy’s body.”

In taking a look at transgender children, Filmmakers Miri Navasky and Karen O’Connor go deep inside the lives of these children, their families and friends, tracing their path toward gender identity. Told from the perspective of parents, doctors, and the kids themselves, the documentary takes a powerful look at this new generation, exploring the medical possibilities, struggles and choices transgender kids and their families face today. The film gives viewers a chance to observe not only how amazingly self aware the youngsters are, but also how easily accepted they appear to be by their young friends. The experiences of these real people provide a striking contrast with the media obsession with celebrity, abuse or bathrooms.

Chief among the decisions facing these families is whether to take “puberty blockers” that delay an individual’s maturation to give them more time before making more permanent decisions about hormone therapies, and then, whether to take hormone therapy.

“The triumph of Growing Up Trans is that it makes viewers feel the struggle, suffering and some of the victories for the children and their parents even as it provides a world of information on coming-of-age transgender.” – David Zuriwak, Baltimore Sun

The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion of transgender children and their parents.

Free; no need to RSVP.