Two of the many people I met during last weekend's Trans*H4CK were longtime TransGriot reader StormMiguel Florez and Annalise Ophelian. In addition to the long, thoughtful conversations I had with both of them Friday night we talked about the documentary project they are filming and raising funds in a Kickstarter Campaign in order to complete it.
The documentary they are filming is called MAJOR! It's about one of our trans icons in Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, who is an internationally recognized human rights activist who transitioned back in the 50's, the Executive Director of the Oakland based Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) and a Stonewall veteran.
At age 70, she's still traveling the nation and the world lecturing, speaking and fighting for the human rights of the trans community. Miss Major testified at the United Nations about the abuses that trans women of color are dealing with and is a beloved elder stateswoman in the community.
I met Miss Major when I was invited to speak at the TransPride March and Rally in 2008 and she was the Grand Marshal for the event. Every now and then we end up in the same space like we were last year at the TransFaith In Color conference in Charlotte and when that happens, I don't hesitate in stopping what I'm doing and taking a few moments to bask in her wisdom and knowledge,
She'll also call and check in on me to see what's happening in my world in addition to her being one of the people I talk to when I want to know something about the back in the day history of the trans community.
This is a documentary film that needs to be completed because Miss Major's story is one that needs to be told and preserved for the benefit of ourselves and future generations. It would be nice if MAJOR! can be finished and shown in theaters while she's still here with us in this plane of existence to enjoy it.
If Annalise's name sounds familiar, it's because of the last award winning documentary she directed and produced entitled Diagnosing Difference, which looks at how medicalizing certain gender identities as "disorders" affects trans people. StormMiguel in addition to being a media worked at TGIJP for five years with her.
They have raised $11,611 toward their goal of $25,000 by the 9 PM EDT October 8 deadline as of this writing, so if you can contribute a little something to help StormMiguel and Annalise reach their fundraising goal, please do so. You can also check out the Major! Facebook page for up to date information about it.
Even $1, $5, $10, $20 or whatever amount you can afford will get them that much closer to making this film a reality.
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