Happy Birthday marsha logo
By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 8 years ago

Watch the trailer for Happy Birthday, Marsha! A film about the real Stonewall

The filmmakers behind Happy Birthday, Marsha! – a short film about events leading up to the Stonewall riots – have released the film’s trailer, which you can check out here:

The outcry against and epic failure of Roland Emmerich’s whitewashed Stonewall has made it clear that there’s hunger for this story to be told on film in a way that actually respects those involved. Happy Birthday, Marsha! looks to be just that. Co-director Reina Gossett, after all, has done invaluable research on this time period and the organizing of trans women of color. Plus, this film stars trans women playing the trans women who were actually there. Emmerich’s white boy savior fantasy this ain’t.

The filmmakers are currently raising funds to complete the post production process on Happy Birthday, Marsha! and so they can submit the film to festivals. It’s so important that this story be told, and it’s so necessary that the work of these artists – people who are actually connected to the communities this story belongs to – is supported. And you can do just that! Click here to donate to the Indiegogo campaign raising funds to complete the film now.

Related: Check out our interview with the filmmakers.

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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