It's not often that the mainstream media covers transgender issues, but CNN will debut a documentary this week that will be worth watching to see the treatment of someone in transition is covered. In this case, it was the high-profile transition of Steven Stanton.
The former Largo, FL, city manager appeared to have the perfect life: a loving wife and son, an influential job. Stanton described it as "paradise." That dream world - "Steven's World" - all changed when Stanton's plans to become a woman were revealed. Stanton tells a dramatic story of public and private struggle during this transition. Interviews with Stanton's wife, teen-age son and co-workers, along with childhood diaries, personal journals, and family films, take viewers into the world of Steven as he transitions to Susan.
When local reporter Lorri Helfand, following a tip about Stanton's cross dressing and explorations of gender reassignment, called Stanton to confirm her story, the city manager's world came crashing down. Stanton, now facing a public professional and personal outing, was thrust abruptly into a media firestorm. A press conference and explosive community hearing ensued, ending Stanton's Largo city manager career, fundamentally altering his family forever, and forcing Stanton to make decisions about how he would live the rest of his life.
"For me...I just knew that what was inside, this presence...this feeling of being somebody other than what I was on the outside, was real and it's been something I've struggled with for many years of my life," says Stanton in the documentary.
CNN followed Stanton's life for more than two years. The resulting portrait is sensitively told in Stanton's own voice, with arresting candidness and honesty, and produced using natural sound. Stanton also recorded video diaries throughout the transition. The film was screened at seven major American film festivals to appreciative audiences. March 13 will be the film's television premiere.
As is the case with many of CNN's specials, there is a multimedia/interactive section for viewers. In its iReport section, the networks seeks transgender, transsexual or questioning iReporters to record and "share a message that you would like others to know about them on a sign and take a self-portrait holding it up." I'm sure Blenders will closely the treatment of this subject by a major cable news channel.
The former Largo, FL, city manager appeared to have the perfect life: a loving wife and son, an influential job. Stanton described it as "paradise." That dream world - "Steven's World" - all changed when Stanton's plans to become a woman were revealed. Stanton tells a dramatic story of public and private struggle during this transition. Interviews with Stanton's wife, teen-age son and co-workers, along with childhood diaries, personal journals, and family films, take viewers into the world of Steven as he transitions to Susan.
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