Genderblend

It goes something like this: you’re at the local bakery ordering a loaf of white bread. The shopkeeper initially addresses you as “ma’am,” but when you thank her, she hears your deep voice and gets confused. Red-faced awkwardness and apologies ensue. Selm is from the Flemish part of Belgium, and doesn’t like to stand out, so everyday interactions like this can be exceptionally difficult. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to be within the range that’s regarded as “normal”?

The stories from a handful of young people who identify as genderqueer show we’ve still got a way to go in our Western, mostly white, heteronormative society. We follow them as they go about their everyday lives, in sometimes-woke discussions with the hairdresser, the casting agent, the manicurist, the doctor. Their conversations with filmmaker Sophie Dros cover lots more ground than standard “gender subjects” such as the male/female restroom dilemma, role models, and toys for boys and girls. Like everyone else, these young people are searching for true love and simply want to be accepted as people, not as “what,” but as “who.”