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A transgender woman with AIDS lies on her deathbed, and every time one of the nurses did a checkup, the nurse would remind her that she was going to hell.
Another transgender woman was molested by her psychiatrist at age 10 when she told him she was having a gender-identity crisis.
One transgender woman was forced to reuse needles for her hormone treatment.
These are just a few stories of injustice told in the documentary “Transgender Tuesdays,” shown at the Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival last Saturday.
This year’s festival features more than 90 short and full-length films from 26 countries. Topics run the gamut from a serious documentary about gay gangsters in Los Angeles to a comedy about a straight girl and her gay friend who are tired of dating other people and just want to have a baby. It runs through Sunday and will show films at multiple venues.
On closing night, audiences will vote for their favorite films in each genre and the best-rated movies will be recognized. Festival director Roberto Appicciafoco said the festival has gotten bigger and more popular every year since its inception in 2003.
“To see their (the LGBTQ community) lives represented on the big screen, whether it’s documentaries or feature films, that’s very important to them — to be represented when it’s an underserved community,” he said. “It’s been very positive.”
“Transgender Tuesdays” is the first film Mark Freeman has ever directed. The movie features patients of the Tom Waddell Health Center in San Francisco, the first ever hospital to specialize in transgender health care.
Originally, Freeman was a nurse practitioner at the clinic but decided to make the film to accurately represent the transgender community and the struggles transgender people faced trying to get basic medical care.
“I started doing half-hour interviews with 15 different people, and there were 12 of them that have never been on TV,” he said. “This is the real deal.”
After the movie on Saturday came a panel audience discussion about the stories and topics raised in the documentary. One audience member, a transgender man, thanked the filmmaker for “Transgender Tuesdays” because he said he has had similar struggles to get access to medications.
“I’ve had problems at Walgreens of all places,” he said. “I had a guy say to me, ‘We had to change you to a female today to get it (insurance) to go through’ in front of everybody. He could have just asked me.”
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Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico Director Adrien Lawyer said film festivals that feature movies like this are important because they offer viewers a glimpse into the LGBTQ community.
“Usually, when you see transgender people in a movie or on TV, it’s a trans-woman; she’s usually going to be a sex worker, a drug addict and be killed by a serial killer,” he said. “That’s not where you want your population to be reflected.”
Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Runs through Sunday
The Guild Cinema
General admission per movie $10
Visit swglff.com for a full schedule.
