Documentaries, Shows, Films, Interviews, and Games.

You can read my full review here. This show has a trans male character named Drew, who is portrayed by American actress Zelda Williams. His characterisation is pretty decent, all things considered, but the show comes with some pretty heavy trigger warnings.

Overall, I found Faking It so insufferable and poorly-written that I skipped around and exclusively watched Noah's scenes. (Noah is played by White American trans actor Elliot Fletcher.) It's pretty stereotypical, but still good in terms of the representation it offers. All of Noah's dialogue is as cliché and predictable as everything else that every character says, but issues referenced throughout his storyline include homelessness, disclosure, transphobia, and the separation of gender and sexuality. That's worth something, despite the quality of the program. The writers conjure Noah's transphobic brother out of nowhere, in S03E10. He deadnames, misgenders, and insults Noah, then backs off (with unrealistic restraint) when Noah is defended by his cis gay boyfriend. All in all, a cheesy but sweet few episodes.

For various reasons, this show is not my cup of tea. Elliot Fletcher (a White American trans male actor) plays Trevor, a trans male character who is just as flawed as the rest of the dysfunctional, frequently abusive cast of characters. I haven’t watched the whole show, so you ought to approach it with caution in lieu of an actual review to guide you, but it does get points for casting a trans man in a trans male role. Trevor sticks around for a couple of seasons and is the love interest of a cis gay man.

You can read my full review here. Taylor Mason, a non-binary main character, very much breaks the mould of an otherwise typical drama show, and is played by a White American non-binary actor named Asia Kate Dillon. Their adversaries, even when plotting how to take them down, continue to use their correct pronouns. The consensus is generally that Taylor’s business practices and dealings are fair game to criticise, but their gender is not. I really enjoy that aspect of the show, and the fact that Taylor is portrayed as an intelligent, capable person who isn't afraid of conflict. They are misgendered a few times by antagonistic and ignorant characters, and also by their father, who is struggling to accept their gender.

This bonkers series is six episodes long. It follows best friends Twiz and Tuck as they embark on a chaotic, unpredictable roadtrip. Twiz is a masculine gender-variant person with Tourette's syndrome. Tuck is a trans man with a past career in adult films, who loves adopting dogs. They are both White Americans. The series oscillates between crass, explicit jokes and activities, and softer, more meditative scenes. They talk about finding family beyond your biological relatives, affirming yourself through surgery, and being in the grey area between (and outside of) male and female.

This documentary really allows the personalities of the interviewees to shine through, and is the furthest thing you can imagine from the sanitised, one-dimensional, stereotypical depictions of transmasculinity that movies like 3 Generations offer. The final episodes include some heartbreaking moments, particularly when Twiz discusses his father's transphobia and hostility.

You can watch episode one here.

This American soap opera has a trans male character played by trans actor Alex Blue Davis, between S14E04 and S16E10. You can read about his coming-out scene, and the character's whole arc, here.

I began watching this short film with expectations of something nice or enjoyable, and I was really shocked by how awful and anxiety-inducing it was. A trans man named Evan (played by White trans actor Jesse Todd) reconnects with his past bandmates to announce that he's written a book about his time performing with them. The casting of a trans man in a trans role doesn't really make up for how crap this was to watch. There isn't even a happy ending. You get some horrendous bigotry chucked at you and then, boom, it's over.

There was one particular moment I really didn't appreciate (amongst the misgendering and unapologetic transphobia), when a cis woman touched the trans man's chest and asked "is this real?" referencing his post-surgery body. I'm not a fan of women touching men's chests without consent and prior discussion, especially because the reversed gender dynamics are immediately recognised as sexual harassment/assault. Women getting away with that kind of uninvited physical contact, no questions asked, is something that pisses me off. There's a reason that men are held accountable for even briefly touching a woman's chest without consent. Women need to be held to the same standard.

This is a very sweet, and very short, film about gender non-conformity in youth. A trans boy, played by White American trans boy Isaiah Stannard, tries to fit in with girls and then realises he would be much happier skating with other boys and young men. Again, very short, but nonetheless affirming and very relatable for trans men such as myself.

This documentary is pretty tough to watch, because cis family members are allowed long monologues that involve misgendering Zo and using his deadname. That said, their perspectives are somewhat balanced out by scenes where Zo talks about what he went through, and is currently going through. The film feels messy, upsetting, difficult, and complicated in a way that is very authentic to the early-transition stages. I wouldn’t call it a cautionary tale, in the typical sense of the term, but it is a very unvarnished look at the ways a family can react when a trans man begins his journey. Ultimately, the documentary ends on a positive note, and you’re not left feeling depressed or hopeless. I almost view the film as gentle warning to early/pre-transition guys, who might not know what to expect from their family members, and may not be able to see beyond conflict to the more accepting feelings that cis people might struggle to express. If you're in the mood for a sweeter, more comforting look at the early-transition period, I'd suggest watching Krow's TRANSformation instead. (Krow's mother mourns privately, while also actively supporting her son.) That being said, I'm always in support of films that show the journeys of trans men of colour, and that's what Change in the Family is. You can watch it here.

In this gorgeous video, Indigenous twins Taz and Raja are interviewed and filmed at the beach together. They talk about the difficulty of being separated after living their early lives together in a foster home, and Taz talks about his struggles with coming out, homelessness, loss, and suicidal thoughts. The film becomes joyful as Taz discusses figuring out his trans Brotherboy identity, and Raja talks about finding happiness in singing.

Coby is about trans manhood, and features extensive interviews with a now-deceased White trans man (Jacob), his partner, and his family. The film alternates between modern, feature film-quality footage of himself in his daily life, and archives of video diaries that he took throughout his transition. Viewers get to see him in his youth, with a higher voice and a smaller body, and his subsequent boyhood as he began to grow facial hair and change into a man. I’d definitely recommend this documentary to other trans men, and to families who are trying to adjust. His mother's transphobia was difficult to watch, but very realistic to what many of us face from our own mothers. My hope would be that transphobic mothers might pause before rejecting or attacking their own trans sons, if they see the impact Jacob's mother had on him.

Christian Sonderegger, Jacob's brother, directed this documentary and would later co-write the film A Good Man (2020), with characters based on Jacob's own transition and journey. Having watched A Good Man and absolutely hated it, that does cast this documentary in a slightly odd light, but it's still good in isolation. You can watch the trailer here.

I really, really enjoyed this film. The protagonist is an initially headstrong, arrogant young woman who is beginning to explore her sexuality, and also growing up as a person. Her aunt could possibly be asexual, though that’s a personal interpretation rather than a definitive fact. The main love interest of Cyd is a gender non-conforming person named Katie, played by White American non-binary actor Malic White; the director has mentioned that the character would have come out as non-binary after the conclusion of the film, and a small scene commenting on the character’s gender identity is a nice subtle way of indicating this. The film tackles themes around suicide, harassment, violence, and self-harm, but it’s still really enjoyable. And there’s a happy ending! I would say that Katie is relatable for butch lesbians and many transmasculine people overall.

Despite criticism from the trans community about the way Skyler Jay (a White American trans man) was treated in S02E05 of the rebooted Queer Eye show, he reportedly had a very good experience, and has described the ways in which the episode didn't reflect how happy he was both behind-the-scenes and during filming. You can read more here.

Scott Turner Schofield (a White trans actor) stars as Robin, a trans man who doesn’t have the language to explain his gender, but lives as a man nonetheless. A really beautiful picture of trans male persistence even without any community resources! And a major motion picture that featured a trans male lead, which broke records. I found the main storyine pretty boring, as I was mainly watching for Schofield's appearances, but it's a solid movie if you're into that type of romance genre.

This is a short film about internalised transphobia, lashing out at others due to inner turmoil, and being in denial. A trans man (played by White American trans man Elliot Fletcher) is misgendered and deadnamed by his closeted sibling, who secretly presents femininely when in the company of their accepting girlfriend. The shame of their own identity leads them to mock their brother but, after personally encountering transphobic harassment, they at least attempt to have a conversation with him. The film ultimately ends on an unfinished, open note, with no apologies offered for the earlier misgendering/deadnaming. But it’s a good short film that shows how self-hatred can manifest, and that even gender-diverse people can act in toxic ways. You can watch Brother X here.