We Need Trans Coming-of-Age Movies Now More Than Ever
Sure, representation might have limits in changing the hearts and minds of those who hate us. But when it’s made for us and by us, it can let people know they’re not alone.
Earlier this year in New York City, home of NewFest, NYU Langone ceased care for trans minors. This decision was made after a Trump executive order demanded an end to this care from any hospital receiving federal funding. It was not a law — just a confused directive — and one of the biggest hospitals in the city complied. After widespread protests and condemnation from politicians, including State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and State Attorney General Letitia James, the decision was reversed. This victory proved the importance of fighting back against cowardly policy, but it also showed how fragile circumstances are right now for trans youth. Even in a place like New York.
As politicians in the US, the UK, and beyond use trans youth as a pawn for their ultimate goals of eradicating trans people, reversing progress for all queer people, and simply solidifying their political power, real kids and families are impacted. They are losing healthcare, they are experiencing worsened mental health, and, at best, they are having to upend their lives to move to places where it’s safer to be themselves.
There was a time when I might have said more media representation, truer media representation, could help fix these worsening conditions. I thought people were operating from a place of ignorance and a bit more understanding would adjust their stance. But after a decade of hypervisibility for trans people, including trans youth, I’m not convinced. If trans kids standing in front of legislatures, sharing their experiences and pleading for compassion, leave these people unmoved then a movie — even a really good one — won’t do anything either.
And yet, I still think queer coming-of-age movies are more important now than ever before.
Sure, representation might have limits in changing the hearts and minds of those who hate us. But when it’s made for us and by us, it can let people know they’re not alone. Queer people of all ages need that right now, but especially young people and especially trans young people.
That’s why I’m so excited about a documentary like Niñxs in this year’s NewFest program. Directed by trans filmmaker Kani Lapuerta, Niñxs follows Karla, a trans girl living in a small town outside Mexico City from childhood to adolescence. Unlike many other films that focus on trans youth, Lapuerta allows his work to be a collaboration with his subject. It makes for a film that captures the specific challenges of being a trans child and teenager while also being grounded in the priorities of a child and teen that go beyond transness. While I hope cis people watch it, its primary audience seems to be other trans people, adults who can relate to Karla’s story looking back and other teens who can relate to her with urgency.
There’s also I Wish You All the Best, Tommy Dorfman’s long-anticipated adaptation of Mason Deaver’s novel. The film follows Ben, a nonbinary teenager who is kicked out of their home and goes to live with their older sister in Raleigh, North Carolina. There they find an alternative to the close-minded beliefs of their parents and receive support from new family both biological and chosen. (Including a quirky art teacher — classic!) Movies shouldn’t have the burden of representation, but when every anti-trans headline is telling a story of its own there’s a relief to this sort of counternarrative. Ben’s story can provide some much-needed hope.
Anyone with taste that leans more irreverent than sentimental will find a lot to love in Siobhan McCarthy’s She’s the He. While still keeping plenty of heart, this comedy has an over-the-top premise that unmasks the absurdity of conservative fearmongering. Following two straight guys who pretend to be trans to get girls — only for one of them to realize she is trans — the film takes one of the primary anti-trans talking points and turns it into a hilarious, very trans coming out story. No, men aren’t pretending to be trans to get into girls locker rooms. But this film dares to ask, what if they were? It’s as sharp in execution as it is risky in concept and the result is a satire that will resonate with and inspire rebellion in trans people from adolescence and beyond.
There are even more trans coming-of-age stories in the shorts programs and for the eighth year in a row NewFest is collaborating with NYC’s Department of Education for a screening of the Queer Teen Power shorts program open exclusively to LGBTQ+ students and school staff. I love this emphasis on audience, this assertion that work about queer youth should be for queer youth.
Our current political and social moment is not ending any time soon. The world — including New York City — will continue to be a difficult place for trans teenagers. But cinema can make them feel less alone. It can encourage all of us to stand in our identities and seek the communities we deserve. We can gather together, we can watch together, we can witness together. Our stories can keep us going until we succeed in making the world one that trans people of all ages deserve.
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