In a summer before marriage equality, high schooler Adam gets permission to stay with his big sister, a college student in New York City. Unknown to their parents, she is a lesbian, and her social circle consists of activists in the lesbian and trans communities. Hanging around that group, Adam is mistaken for being a trans man. When he starts dating a women he met at a party, he does come clean about his age, but has to frantically study to keep up his masquerade as a trans man.
There is emphasis within the community that what matters is gender identity in the head, and not what is physically present "down below". There is a poignant scene at the Trans Camp swimming hole, where body-affirming participants go skinny-dipping, while Adam sits alone on shore, fully clothed. Adam is, effectively, fish out of water, as he lives a lie in order to pass as trans and have a relationship.
I saw this at the Inside Out LGBT film festival, with director Q+A. The screenplay was adapted from a novel by the original author, who then hired a trans director to direct it. Their toughest casting problem was for the title role. Because it had a sex scene, they could not cast an actual 17-year-old, but had to find someone who looked the part of one, who hadn't overdosed on "T".
This film is recommended for those who are not too disturbed by a cast full of trans and lesbian characters, while interested in knowing more about it.
There is emphasis within the community that what matters is gender identity in the head, and not what is physically present "down below". There is a poignant scene at the Trans Camp swimming hole, where body-affirming participants go skinny-dipping, while Adam sits alone on shore, fully clothed. Adam is, effectively, fish out of water, as he lives a lie in order to pass as trans and have a relationship.
I saw this at the Inside Out LGBT film festival, with director Q+A. The screenplay was adapted from a novel by the original author, who then hired a trans director to direct it. Their toughest casting problem was for the title role. Because it had a sex scene, they could not cast an actual 17-year-old, but had to find someone who looked the part of one, who hadn't overdosed on "T".
This film is recommended for those who are not too disturbed by a cast full of trans and lesbian characters, while interested in knowing more about it.