TransMilitary is a groundbreaking documentary that premiered in 2018. Directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson, this film tells the stories of four transgender people, who serve in the U.S. military, while also exploring the broader issues of discrimination, government policy, and social justice facing transgender individuals in the country.
The film begins by introducing us to each of the four main subjects: El Cook, an army sergeant, who is currently serving in Afghanistan; Logan Ireland, an Air Force staff sergeant based in Wichita, Kansas; Jennifer Peace, a Navy lieutenant stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Laila Villanueva, a former Marine, who is now working as a civilian scientist in San Antonio, Texas.
Throughout the film, we get a glimpse into their daily lives: performing their duties as soldiers, sailors, and airmen, hanging out with their families, dealing with the challenges of coming out to their colleagues, and navigating the often-oppressive gender norms of military life. The directors manage to successfully balance these intimate, personal moments with broader sociopolitical issues such as the impact of the Trump Administration's ban on transgender troops and the ongoing struggle for transgender people to gain full civil rights in America.
The film highlights how transgender service members have been subject to harassment, discrimination, and abuse throughout their careers, with many being forced to hide their true identities or even being discharged for openly coming out. The documentary goes on to examine the Trump Administration's announcement that it would ban all transgender individuals from serving in the military. The announcement, which came via Twitter, sparked outrage among the trans community with many of the individuals commenting on the potential impact of Trumpâs policy decision on their own lives.
However, despite the many obstacles, the subjects of the documentary are shown to be resilient, passionate about their work in the military, and committed to fighting for their rights as trans individuals. They share their experiences and the impact of being able to serve openly and honestly about their gender identity. One of the powerful scenes follows El Cook on the ground in Afghanistan, discussing her fear for her job with her support network after learning about the President's announcement, and the potential impact it could have on her military career.
TransMilitary is a thought-provoking and timely exploration of the complex issues that transgender people face in the United States, especially as it relates to their rights within the military. The film's ability to humanize the issues and contextualize them within individual stories makes it an incredibly powerful tool to change minds, hearts and to help people understand the real-life consequences of discriminatory policies.
The documentary is structured around a series of interviews with trans individuals with interludes of policy experts like Sue Fulton, former Army captain, and current commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which provide a broader political context of the issues they face.
Overall, TransMilitary is an incredibly powerful exploration of the intersection between gender identity, military service, and societal norms in the United States. Through the personal stories of its protagonists, it brings to light the many challenges that transgender service members face daily and the need for institutional change that meets their specific needs. The film is a reminder that, while progress has been made in the fight for transgender rights, there is still a long way to go, with more work needed to remove the systemic and institutional barriers they face.
TransMilitary is a 2019 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 32 minutes.
It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.5.
