It was only recently I saw a feature film about a trans man in a gay relationship for the first time.
I see a lot of queer cinema - I watched over 60 LGBTQIA+ films in 2023. I couldn’t believe it took me so long to find films made about us, for us.
Although I didn’t expect representation to mean so much to me, I was overcome with emotion while watching - and when I started feeling that way, I didn’t really want it to stop.
The first film I saw was Rūrangi - a film about a trans man reconnecting with his hometown, rekindling a connection with an old flame along the way. After that, I found two more: Mutt and Fanfic - both stories focusing on trans-masc experiences.
A pattern was forming: all three films came out in the 2020s, star trans actors, and both Rūrangi and Mutt were written and/or directed by transmasculine people. Is this the start of an era of films for trans men loving men?
Perhaps this isn’t entirely a surprise, given that journalists have also noted a shift in the perceptions of gender more widely since 2020. It’s a hopeful trend.
Before this, there was little progress. A few films were made during the 2010s about trans men-loving-men. However, besides Open, most of these titles cast cis actors. Representation was scarce, and our stories were largely told with a cisgender gaze in mind.
The gap in representation isn’t only shown by the invisibility of trans men in gay films but also by a lack of trans casting, writing, and directing more broadly.
So few of our stories being published means that our community’s diversity isn’t being fully represented. For example, there are practically no Trans for Trans (T4T) relationships represented in the media, whether in films or otherwise, despite their significance in the community.
This isn’t the fault of the films I mentioned before. They provide a diverse range of characters and stories. But it does highlight a real gap in the media landscape.
Clearly, our lack of representation isn’t because we don’t exist. According to the 2021 census, there are over 13,000 non-straight trans men in England and Wales - which could be an under-representative figure.
The problem isn’t exclusive to us. Other members of the trans community are also massively underrepresented in the media, with a GLAAD report finding that in 2022, only one major studio released a film with a trans character in it. Notably, this was the first time in five years that that had happened at all.
It’s demoralising to spend so long searching to see yourself. When a pattern of invisibility forms, it can feel lonely. To finally have some representation is deeply moving and validating.
It could only be made even more meaningful if trans stories continue being produced and distributed on a wider scale. I would love to see how truly vivid and varied our community is reflected on screen. I want to watch romance form on the backseat of a transmasc road trip, or between two rival sportsmen, or in some far-flung corner of space. That shouldn’t be asking for a lot. Our experiences are beautiful, interesting, and deserve to be seen.
Admittedly, representation can’t fix all our problems. The UK isn’t a kind place to be trans: gender-affirming healthcare is wildly inaccessible, and our rights are consistently under attack.
But we deserve to find comfort and escapism from it all in our own stories.
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