Video presents personal stories of trans community

One of the most potent weapons in the arsenal of marriage equality activists was the personal stories of same-sex couples and their families, and LGBT advocates are hoping that the power of transgender people's personal stories will have a similar impact on the effort to pass a transgender rights bill. A trio of organizations working to pass the legislation - the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and MassEquality - produced a 10-minute online video called "Everyone Matters" featuring the stories of four trans people working in different fields and talking about the impact that discrimination has on their lives.

The video can be viewed online at the MTPC website, and will be screened publicly at the MTPC lobby day April 7 at the State House. Gunner Scott, executive director of MTPC, said copies of the video would also be distributed to every lawmaker on Beacon Hill.

The three organizations originally planned to use the video to tell the stories of transgender people who had been fired because of their gender identity and expression, said Scott, until GLAD attorney Jennifer Levi suggested that it might be more compelling to focus on trans people who are successful in their field but who worry about being targeted for discrimination.

"Jennifer started to think about what it would be like to have a video of people who haven't experienced that and have a fear of that happening and what a loss that would be to society," Scott explained. The video includes interviews with Dana Zircher, a software design engineer for Microsoft; Enoch Page, an anthropology professor at UMass Amherst; Alishia Ouellette, a Danvers firefighter and EMT; and Jesse Pack, an HIV prevention and education counselor at AIDS Project Worcester. Levi also appears in the film to talk about the need for legislation to protect transgender people from discrimination. The transgender rights bill would add gender identity and expression protections to the state's hate crime and non-discrimination laws.

For many lawmakers, said Scott, the video may be their first exposure to the stories of transgender people who are successful in their careers and wary that they could be the target of discrimination or hate crimes. He added that the video also provides an important message to the transgender community. Too often the only public images of transgender people are victims of hate crimes or discrimination, and while telling those stories is important, Scott said, "We also need to see some positive things in our community as well."

The video may have an impact beyond even Massachusetts as MTPC will be distributing copies to advocates in other states to help them in their own advocacy efforts. Scott said the video is one example of the success of the collaboration between MTPC, GLAD, MassEquality and other coalition partners to pass the transgender rights bill.

"We've kept this coalition going for a couple of years and this is some of the product of building those relationships, which is beneficial for the whole community," said Scott.

Click here to watch the video.