TransGeneration
Encyclopedia
TransGeneration is an eight episode documentary
series depicting the lives of four transgender
college students during the 2004/2005 school year as they attempt to balance college, their social lives, and their struggle to merge their internal and external selves while gender transitioning.
Two of the students are transitioning from male to female and two from female to male. All four are living on campus at four different colleges.
TransGeneration is shown on the LGBT
television network Logo
, was broadcast weekly on the Sundance Channel from September to November 2005 and released as a feature film at some festivals
and independent theaters.
When the show was nominated for and won Best Documentary at the 2006 GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Awards, the four cast members were invited to attend.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
series depicting the lives of four transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
college students during the 2004/2005 school year as they attempt to balance college, their social lives, and their struggle to merge their internal and external selves while gender transitioning.
Two of the students are transitioning from male to female and two from female to male. All four are living on campus at four different colleges.
TransGeneration is shown on the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
television network Logo
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
, was broadcast weekly on the Sundance Channel from September to November 2005 and released as a feature film at some festivals
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
and independent theaters.
Cast
- Andrea Gabrielle Gibson aka Gabbie (born Andrew on April 22, 1985 in Colorado SpringsColorado Springs, ColoradoColorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
) is a male-to-female college student attending the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado at BoulderThe University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, where she majors in computer science. Gabbie has struggled with her identity since high school. She began taking hormonesHormone replacement therapy (male-to-female)Hormone replacement therapy for transgender and transsexual people changes the balance of sex hormones in their bodies. Some intersex people also receive HRT, either starting in childhood to confirm the sex to which they were assigned, or later, if this assignment has proven to be incorrect...
and living as a woman during her freshman year in college. She is a resident assistantResident assistantA resident assistant , commonly shortened to RA is a trained peer leader who supervises those living in a residence hall or group housing facility...
on campus, where she receives special accommodation by having a single room with her own bathroom. She becomes actively involved in campus-based LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
activities, while anticipating her upcoming genital reassignment surgery, for which her parents have agreed to pay. - Raci Ignacio aka Raycee (born Roy on February 8, 1985 in the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
) is a male-to-female college student attending California State University, Los AngelesCalifornia State University, Los AngelesCalifornia State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
on a merit-based scholarship. She moved to the United States at the age of fifteen and is dealing with hearing impairment, speaking English as a second languageSecond languageA second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
, and being away from her mother for the first time, in addition to her transsexualismTranssexualismTranssexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender...
. She tries to fit in as a normal girl and is reluctant to reveal that she is trans. - Lucas Cheadle (born Leah on November 3, 1982 in OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
) is a female-to-male transsexual attending the all-female Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
in Massachusetts. His best friend is also a female-to-male transsexual who has been undergoing hormone therapy for several months. Now, in his senior year, as a neuroscience major, Lucas is beginning to feel that it is time to start the physical side of his transition, and he begins taking testosterone injections. He is afraid to come outComing outComing out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
to his father, who had divorced and moved away since Lucas was nine, even though he is out to his mother and brother. - Trent Jackson Jourian aka TJ (born on June 6, 1981 in CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
) is a female-to-male transsexual attending Michigan State UniversityMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
. He is a graduate student of ArmenianArmeniansArmenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
descent who grew up in CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. He is attending college on a Fulbright Scholarship, and currently pursuing a degree in Student Affairs Administration. Outgoing and involved, he is very active in the transgender community on campus. As TJ plans to visit his family, which he sees as unsupportive, over the summer break, he realizes that he must confront his family for the final time, and may never be able to return home again.
When the show was nominated for and won Best Documentary at the 2006 GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Awards, the four cast members were invited to attend.