Ithaca College

The Center for LGBT Education, Outreach & Services has partnered with Cinemapolis, Ithaca's independent movie theatre, and Planned Parenthood’s Out For Health: LGBT Health & Wellness program and to present the inaugural Transuary program. The three part program will feature screenings of award-winning documentaries that highlight some of the issues facing transgender people in the 21st century, accompanied by discussions, information, and local resources.

The series kicks off on Wednesday, January 16th at 7 pm with a screening of Man Made. It continues on Saturday, January 19th at 2 pm with Call Her Ganda, and finishes up on Wednesday, January 30th at 7 pm with Transmilitary.

The series sprung from a casual conversation between Luca Maurer (director of IC’s LGBT Center), Ithaca College alumnus Brett Bossard (Executive Director of Cinemapolis) and Maureen Kelly (Vice President for Programming & Communication at Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes) at one of Ithaca College’s “Brains in a Bar” programs featuring Maurer’s expert knowledge of LGBT history. “Luca just uttered the word ‘Transuary,’ and I was sold,” says Bossard. “We’d been looking for an excuse to work together on a project, and that catchy title, along with the abundance of new documentaries covering a myriad of perspectives on transgender life, made this series an easy way for the three of us to collaborate.”

We’re launching Transuary with the goal of increasing awareness, empathy, and action. The challenges that face transgender people aren’t about being trans, they’re about living in a society that stigmatizes and discriminates against them. 

Each of the films are fresh from the festival circuit, where they have garnered multiple awards. Man Made follows four transgender men as they take a variety of life paths toward stepping on stage at Trans FitCon, the only all-transgender bodybuilding competition in the world (held in Atlanta). Call Her Ganda presents the David & Goliath tale of three women pursuing justice for Filipina transgender woman and alleged sex worker Jennifer Laude, who was murdered in by a U.S. marine in 2014. TransMilitary chronicles the lives of four members of the U.S. military (the country’s largest transgender employer) who put their careers on the line by coming out as transgender in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve.

All screenings will be held at Cinemapolis, 120 East Green Street in Downtown Ithaca. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Cinemapolis.org.

Cinemapolis is a non-profit media arts organization, encouraging central New York residents to explore the power of film to entertain, educate, and to celebrate the human experience. Attracting more than 70,000 patrons annually, it is Central New York’s premiere art house cinema, presenting a year-round program of first-run independent, international, and locally produced films alongside special programming to engage and enrich the community. 

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Luca Maurer at lmaurer@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-7394. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.