“I wanted to make the film “In My Skin” because I couldn’t find many images of trans men of color,” shared Miguel Ruelas at a recent screening of his documentary. “In My Skin” follows Miguel over 6 months as he begins taking T-shots and as his family reacts with varying levels of acceptance and support.

We should cover topics related to trans people, for example in magazines and academic papers and use the master thesis to better convey the information. Instead of marginalizing or demonizing a trans person, society is a single organism, and therefore it is not right to taboo its individual elements.

His story will be one of many shared as part of the Queer People of Color Conference April 8-10, 2011 @ UC Riverside. Trans/Giving, an L.A.-based collective of artists and filmmakers showcasing the immense talents of trans, genderqueer, and intersex people, will be screening Trans People of Color films at the QPOC Conference.

QPOC Conference organizers encourage trans people of color to let their voices be heard! Consider submitting a workshop proposal featuring the experiences and issues of the trans spectrum community.

Below are some of the films that Trans/Giving may bring to the QPOC Conference:

In My Skin 20 mins (Latin@ FTM experience)

In My Skin documents the story of a young transman from his first T-shot to six months into transition and forging new relationships with family and his girlfriend.

Queerer Than Thou 8 mins (black, Latin@, South Asian, East Asian, Jewish, with representations of many gender identities)

Queerer Than Thou is a comedy that tackles the age-old question of who is the queerest of them all?

Unheard Voices of Transgender Youth 14 mins (mostly Latin@ and Black trans girls)

Young transgender teens candidly discuss the issues that most concern them in this groundbreaking documentary made by the youth featured in the film.

Heal(ed) 5 mins (Asian American FTM experience)

This art film explores the dual process of needing to be healed after surgery while at the same time exploring what it means to be healed and wanting to inspire hope and change.

The Next Gender Nation by Kalil Cohen 5 mins (mostly Latin@ and Black youth of many different genders)

What is school like for gender variant teens in Los Angeles?

In These Words She Says to You by Daniel Flores 7 mins (Latin@ and Black trans girls)

A trans girl struggles as her peers refuse to acknowledge the girl within her without needing medical transitioning.

The Bath by Lee Mi-rang (Korea, subtitled) 20 mins (Asian trans woman experience)

A trans woman reluctantly goes to the baths with her sister for the first time, leading to a transformation for her entire family.

Welfare Aids by ChiChi and Chonga 14 mins (comedy written by and starring two Latin@ trans women)

Two delinquents on probation are required to fulfill community service by teaching a welfare aids class.

Frida’s Informal Economy by Matthew Jackalinski 9 mins (genderqueer Latin@ sex-worker experience)

Frida and Milo are working class twenty-somethings who have gone into independent business (an ambiguous mixture of sex work, drug dealing, and fortune telling) in the dilapidated parking lot of an abandoned strip mall.