Frontlines: Challenging the Last Bastion of Prejudice

‘I Am’ is a short clip with potentially long-term effects. A conversational piece, it features four Irish people speaking of their lives as transgender people.

“I felt I needed to step up and do something like this,” says Sara Phillips, who is featured in the video. “I think we, as trans people, need to stand up and say that we are visible. It allows younger people to see that we can live fulfilling lives; that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) had been interested in making a video like this for a number of years; seeing it as a way of connecting with trans people in this country, but also with the Irish public at large. Broden Giambrone, Chief Executive of TENI, felt it important that their message was distributed as widely and succinctly as possible.
“We were really aware that there wasn’t that much representation of trans people in the media,” he tells Hot Press. “I know that when I first I came out, I was searching for representations that depicted my own experience and there was nothing.”
It was vital to connect to people in a visual capacity. “When you can put a face on it, and people start to relate to the individual, then you can see why these things are important.
“When someone actually knows a trans person, they’re perspective is totally different.”
To portray a more realistic account of what being trans in Ireland is like, TENI linked up with director Anna Rodgers and producer Zlata Filipovic of Invisible Thread Films. Giambrone is full of praise for the filmmakers.
“So much of our work has to focus on the negative elements,” Giambrone points out. “We have to talk about high rates of suicidality, or discrimination, or the violence and harassment that can be an everyday occurrence for transgender people in Ireland. But at the same time, I was very conscious that you don’t want to present this experience as inevitable doom and gloom. We thought it good to focus on the positive side.”
The video’s release has been timed to coincide with TENI’s campaign regarding gender recognition legislation, which is due to be introduced in the coming months. “While we’re delighted that it’s moving forward, there are still issues with it,” says Giambrone. “The legislation won’t change everything, but it will provide protection for trans people. Legal recognition that is so important for their day-to-day lives; every time you need to show an identification document, it’s vital. But it’s also symbolically important, because the state then shows that it acknowledges that trans people exist in Irish society.”

‘I Am’ can be watched online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkdVbbr407k
For more on TENI, visit www.teni.ie