TransMilitary Film Debuts at Vanderbilt On Thursday, Dec. 6

Please join Tara McKay, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Health, and Society, and Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, Professor of Anesthesiology and Director of the Vanderbilt Program for LGBTQ Health, as they present the new documentary film TransMilitary at Sarratt Cinema on campus at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5.

One of the film's stars, Laila Ireland, a retired transgender army combat medic, will be in attendance and hosting a Q&A after the film screening.

Around 15,500 transgender people serve in the U.S. military and must conceal their gender identity because military policies ban their service. 2018’s SXSW Audience Award in Documentary, TransMilitary chronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace, and First Lieutenant El Cook) that put their careers and their families’ livelihoods on the line by coming out as transgender in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve. The ban was lifted in 2016, but with President Trump now trying to reinstate it, their futures hang in the balance again as they try to defend their country’s freedom while fighting for their own.

Principal photography of the film was shot by Dr. Ehrenfeld during his U.S. Naval deployment to Afghanistan in 2015.

For any scheduling updates, be sure to visit this link.