TL;DR
- Documentary ‘The Dads’ explores family safety amid anti-trans policies.
- Producers emphasize love and support for trans children.
- Political climate raises questions about leaving the U.S.
- Hope remains with supportive officials like Rep. Sarah McBride.
- The film captures a year of challenges for LGBTQ families.
Happy Wednesday, all. Audience Editor Edgar Ramirez is back in your inbox, and while I try to keep this newsletter as light as possible to prevent news fatigue, some news you can’t mask. Like being confronted with this question: Should you leave the U.S. for your family’s safety? That is at the heart of “The Dads,” a new feature documentary executive produced by NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.
The film, Christopher Wiggins writes, follows a community of fathers of transgender and nonbinary children over the course of a single, whiplash-inducing year: from cautiously optimistic retreats in rural Maine and Minnesota, through the 2024 election, a cascade of executive orders under President Donald Trump, the collapse of gender-affirming care at hospitals even in blue states, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in “Skrmetti,” upholding Tennessee’s ban on care for minors.
“We were never trying to make it about fleeing the country,” producer Stephen Chukumba told The Advocate. “That’s just what happened as we were filming.” And it’s hard at times to offer words of support to these and all families when you read these types of headlines coming out of Idaho or Ohio, or a certain political party is creating childish things with AI.
At the same time, when the LGBTQ+ community has officials like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Delaware) in its corner, it’s hard not to feel some optimism that things can and will get better. To be clear, that’s not to say “The Dads” doesn’t offer optimism. When Wiggins asked Chukumba what he would say to parents of trans kids watching the film and fearing for their family’s future, he kept it simple: “Love your kid, love your kid, love your kid. That’s it,” he said. “There is nothing stronger. There’s nothing more powerful. There’s nothing more affirming than the love of a parent for their child — and that is life-saving advice.”
Stay safe and stay celebrating Pride, folks. Zohran Mamdani’s Pride Month message to LGBTQ+ New Yorkers: We’ll protect you from Trump. For some parents of trans kids, leaving America no longer feels unthinkable. Republicans run bizarre AI deepfake ad showing James Talarico singing about trans kids. University creates memorial scholarship for transgender student killed off-campus. Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance; JHVE Images via Getty Images. Opinion: My trans daughter found safety at school—Congress wants to take that away. Jordi Salas.net/Shutterstock. Idaho says it can use DNA testing to enforce anti-trans bathroom ban. James Nielsen/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images. Ohio man sentenced for killing beloved Cincinnati trans woman. Sarah McBride gets the last laugh after Nancy Mace’s devastating election loss: ‘Happy Pride, Nancy.’ Martin Sylvest Andersen/Getty Images. Idaho Solicitor General Michael Zarian said law enforcement won’t necessarily need a warrant either. Those closest to Laura Schueler expressed grief and sadness after the sentencing of her 19-year-old killer. The fake Talarico is shown singing a parody of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. The Dwyane Wade-produced documentary The Dads follows fathers of transgender children confronting anti-trans policies and a question few imagined they would ever have to ask.