Transhood

Directed by Sharon Liese
Featuring Avery Jackson, Jay, Leena and Phoenix
Running time: 1 hour and 36 minutes

by Matthew Crump

“Why are we filming with you?”
“Because I’m transgender… Doop!”

While growing up is a universal process, the life chapter of “childhood” is altogether unique. In considering this contradiction, director Sharon Liese delivers an optimistic documentary that weaves the lives of four distinctive children together under two similarities: they all live in Kansas City, MO and they are all growing up transgender.

Filmed over the course of five years, Transhood tracks the highs and lows of four transgender youth: Jay, Leena, Avery and Phoenix. While all of them share the same letter in LGBTQIA at the start of filming, their lives and experiences couldn’t be more different. They are all of different ages, genders and at different stages of their transition when we meet them. 

The documentary allows us to watch these children navigate everything from the routine, like haircuts and doctor visits, to large family disruptions, like weddings, divorces and even being outed. Of course, while something like going to the salon with your grandmother might seem mundane, for a transgender girl like Leena, the significance of it can’t be understated. It’s scenes like these that Liese uses to construct these children’s long-term narratives.

The range of emotion and platform of visibility that each child experiences over the five years is also vast. While teenager Leena pursues a dream of modeling at a small-town Kansas City modeling agency, 9-year-old Avery is gracing the cover of a special issue of National Geographic titled “Gender Revolution.” Yet, some of the most revealing and vulnerable moments in the documentary are born on a much smaller scale. Jay pouring over instagram DMs being sent to him of his old yearbook photos for example, or Phoenix’s mother breaking down in between bites of birthday cake, fearing that she may be the mother of not one, but two transgender children.

It becomes clear early on in the documentary that, just as much as the film is about growing up being transgender, it is also about raising a child as such. The parents in the documentary are the sideline protagonists, providing valuable insight into the joys and challenges that come with having a transgender child. 

The parents also provide helpful insight debunking common misconceptions about raising a trans child, one example being that children who transition before puberty do not receive medical interventions; it is simply a social transition (i.e. clothes, pronouns, etc.). Another piece of particularly poignant advice in the documentary comes from Avery’s mom, saying, “That’s why it’s important to let your child explore. If they end up being trans, they’re trans. If they don’t, all they got from you is that you love them enough to give them a chance to figure it out.” 

However, no matter how informative or inspirational Transhood is, there is one more commonality the children share that limits the film: the parents. There reaches a point in the documentary where it becomes so focused on the adults, that some of the children's stories seem to take a backseat. Beyond that, while each of them grapples with parenthood in different ways, overall the parents are supportive and affirming of their child’s true gender, something that is still a rare privilege even in 2020. 

It’s unfortunate that something which should be a human right must be labeled as a privilege, but the harsh reality for many trans and gender non-conforming youth is much less accepting and forgiving than anything the documentary is able to depict. Take one look at the percentage of homeless youth that identify as LGBTQIA and you will understand the gap that Liese was unable to fill.

Even so, there is still enough variety of experience to excuse the film’s slight rose-colored lens. It also must be said that the film makes an intentional effort to document the large-scale changes that happened between 2014 and 2019. From policy shifts with the HB2 bathroom bill and Trump’s presidency, to national news like the Pulse Nightclub shooting or the murder of trans woman Tamara Dominguez, we see the toll the American political climate takes on the kids. At one point, leaving Avery to make the heart-wrenching decision to not lead her local pride parade, saying, “I don’t wanna go anymore. I don’t wanna die.” 

Yet, for every trial and hardship these children face, Liese balances the narrative with celebrations and tender moments, such as Jay getting his name changed on his birth certificate or Leena breaking the fourth wall on her first date to ask the cameraperson, “Isn’t he nice?” In spite of the potential idealization of growing up trans that the film depicts, at the heart of Transhood are four unique lives that deserve to be seen. Telling these children’s stories is undoubtedly a progressive milestone towards teaching other trans children, as well as their parents, the intricacies of living one’s truth.

Available to watch now on HBO and HBO Max.

Read more from Matthew Crump in the fall 2020 print issue of Moviejawn available to order here.