In a world where it seems all too common to hear about a non-binary child dying after being beaten at school or about Holocaust denier JK Rowling challenging hate crime legislation, it can be easy to forget that the trans and non-binary community is in fact made up of human beings deserving of respect, safety, and the same protection under the law many of us take for granted. The conversation about trans and non-binary folx seems to be more dominated by the hack authors, Neonazi psychos, egotistical comedians who used to be funny and bloody-handed politicians trying to silence and kill them than it is by any of the actual trans or non-binary people whose lives and well-being hang in the balance. Continuing to support publicly proud bigots actively looking to hurt a marginalized community with your money, words, eyeballs, or whatever else, is certainly a choice you can make, but as my high school Spanish teacher used to say, “Tell me who you walk with and I’ll tell you who you are.”
Similar to when I listed charitable organizations that are fighting the fight on behalf of our trans and non-binary siblings everywhere, I want to take this time to recognize and recommend some great media and even some great creators. Instead of filling our heads with nastiness some moronic bigots won’t stop spewing, let’s lift some voices we don’t usually hear. It can be easy to view trans and non-binary folx through the lenses that attack them, so I want to shout out some great recent work and great artists from this community fighting for their lives. Maybe, in some small way, we can normalize a place for this kind of media in our ecosystem and give the voices of trans and non-binary folx the same weight we give to their attackers. This is by no means a complete list and I am but one silly queer with his handful of recent personal favorites. If you have others to recommend, please pop them in the comments!
Queer As Folk (2022) | Peacock
This revival of the 2000 Queer As Folk was a wonderful surprise. Instead of painfully shallow softcore Cinemax tales of annoying white gays, this one-season wonder was a celebration of queerness. With a powerful ensemble cast of characters living, loving, and learning in Philadelphia, Queer As Folk featured a diverse crew of different racial, sexual, and gender identities. It was also fearless in its depiction of sex and trans bodies. I have to highlight Jesse James Keitel, a distant relative of Harvey Keitel, who gives the performance of a lifetime. Her character Ruthie is electric as she takes on the challenges of adulthood, starting a family, and questioning what she wants from her relationships.
Sort Of (2021-2023) | Max
This gem of a Canadian series is maybe one of my favorite shows ever. Bilal Baig (who also co-created the series!) stars as Sabi, a non-binary millennial who works as a child caretaker by day and a bartender at an LGBTQ+ bar by night. Much of the show is a slice of life-style look at Sabi’s existence with all the work drudgery, heartbreak, and unexpected sweetness that comes with it. Much of Sabi’s struggle is about self-actualizing and reconciling their identity with their family’s Pakistani culture and Muslim traditions. It’s an emotional ride with plenty of bittersweet surprises and a really well-drawn cast of characters that feel raw and human in an unvarnished way.
Q-Force (2021) | Netflix
An animated super-spy comedy featuring the voices of Gary Cole, David Harbour, Sean Hayes, Laurie Metcalf, Matt Rogers, Nicey Nash, Stephanie Beatriz, and Melissa Villaseñor?! Yes, please! This show is a silly little blast that lasted for one rollicking season of action and smart queer jokes. Special recognition is owed to casting trans comedian and actor Patti Harrison, who you may know from several I Think You Should Leave sketches and a very fun appearance on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Harrison voices Stat, the team’s blithely misanthropic hacker and tech expert. Usually, Harrison’s comedy is a whirl of gonzo wildness and it’s a lot of fun to see her channel that energy differently here. Trans folx are usually given dour or tragic art and Harrison is a fantastic reminder that it doesn’t have to be that way.
Monica (2023) | Hulu
As our own Jason Adams put it so well, “Two more woefully under-sung performances of the year belong to Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson in this family drama, which sees the title character coming home to care for her dying mother even though they’ve been estranged ever since Monica ran away as a teenager and transitioned.” It really can’t be understated the emotional depths Lysette goes in what should’ve been her breakout performance. She’s been here and there on shows like Transparent and Q-Force above, but Monica is the first time I’ve seen her given this kind of showcase. Lysette and Clarkson are naturals together and their chemistry will give you chills.
Kokomo City (2023) | Showtime
This movie deserved so much more attention than it got. A bracing warts-and-all look at the lives of trans sex workers that leaves nothing out, Kokomo City immerses viewers in its sumptuous black-and-white world. As Jason said before, Kokomo City “is one of the most visually arresting movies of 2023.” The style gives the sprawling web of relationships we explore a heightened, almost dream-like feel at times without sacrificing the painfully human lens through which we view it all. I hesitate to give too much away as the magic of this movie lives in its ability to surprise you, but this film is a fearless treasure that must be seen.
Disclosure (2020) | Netflix
Netflix has effectively monetized the trans struggle for liberation into a “both sides” issue where they can play to the transphobes with one release and play to trans people and their allies with another. That said, Disclosure is an incisive documentary that does what so many members of the media forget to do when covering “the trans debate” and actually talks to trans people. Disclosure centers the perspectives of trans creatives working in Hollywood and unpacks years of harmful tropes and portrayals of trans people in film. The documentary draws a clear connection between negative depictions in media and negative treatment in real life and is uncompromising in doing so. America has treated its trans citizens pretty abysmally and it’s refreshing to see that confronted head-on.
The Matrix (1999) | Netflix
Is it so surprising that a philosophically-minded dystopic action film made by the two most famous trans directors in America would be seen as queer art? Lana and Lilly Wachowski imagined a dark world where identity is subsumed beneath a grayish-green conformity and in which taking a 1990s-era estrogen pill is the gateway to truth. The directors even admitted that the original idea behind The Matrix was to be a metaphor for gender identity. For me, it feels like the biggest accidental joke got played; the “red pill” has come to be associated with incels and manosphere misogyny and to imagine their meager ethos crumbling in the face of that revelation is the greatest Schadenfreude.
