TransLash Media, a non-profit organization, is teaming up with the National LGBTQ Task Force on a three-part film series to bring visibility to transgender and non-binary individuals in the fight for abortion rights.
The campaign, called Trans Bodies, Trans Choices, features brief films celebrating trans individuals and documenting their experiences navigating abortion access, legal hurdles, and more. The first film was rolled out on March 14 and additional installments will be released on March 21 and March 28.
The film series comes at a time when the Supreme Court is considering a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks. Following last year’s oral arguments in that case, there are fears that the Supreme Court’s conservative wing is poised to keep the law in place, putting Roe v. Wade in serious jeopardy.
“At TransLash we believe in telling trans stories to save trans lives,” Imara Jones, the founder and CEO of TransLash Media, said in a written statement. “There is nothing more essential to our existence than the ability to control our own bodies. This includes reproductive health, fertility, and abortion access. However we are often invisible when it comes to the discussion about reproductive justice, including choice. With the impending decision by the Supreme Court, we felt it was vital to underscore what’s at stake for trans communities in this debate, especially those at the intersection of race, disability, and economic justice. That’s why we launched Trans Bodies, Trans Choices.”
The first film, “My Abortion Saved My Life,” focuses on Cazembe Murphy Jackson, an Atlanta-based Black trans activist who conveys how access to abortion saved his life. The second film, “I Didn’t think I’d Make It,” chronicles the experiences of an individual who overcomes barriers to abortion access in New Mexico. The final showing, “Trans Bodies, Trans Choices,” demonstrates the need for inclusive abortion care.
Others joining the initiative include the National Network of Abortion Funds, National Birth Equity Collaborative, and Women’s March.
“Reproductive rights are human rights,” Kierra Johnson, the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, said in a written statement. “We all have a right to respect, dignity and to have our full humanity affirmed. At the National LGBTQ Task Force we have long worked at the intersection of reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights, as an issue of bodily autonomy and sexual freedom that affects us all. We are thrilled to partner with TransLash and amplify the stories of our trans and non-binary siblings who find themselves under attack and as we fight back against attempts to roll back reproductive rights from the state level all the way to the Supreme Court.”
The series will conclude on March 23 with a virtual town hall event co-hosted by TransLash Media and the National LGBTQ Task Force. Further details on that are forthcoming.
Watch the first film below:
