Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr
You're always a little bit scared, but you're never deterred.
The brilliant short documentary from the New Yorker and Kimberly Reed gives us an inside look into the eye of the Montana storm, as Representative Zephyr stood sentry on Seat 31, rather; the bench outside of the capitol, until even that was occupied by those seeking to silence and malign her even further.
Zephyr is emblematic of the wider fight across the USA to maintain civil liberties for all, and for trans people specifically. It's infuriating and heartbreaking, and uplifting and brilliant and instructive all the same. She is but one hero of many in the fight, but what an elegant and strong hero she is. What an honour it is to share the earth with voices so dedicated to the protection of others. Docs like this remind us – how can we be pessimistic when there are so many of us still here?
I also was not aware that Erin Reed, a prominent political voice that I know primarily from TikTok, was her partner, so that was a gorgeous cameo, and I cried watching the proposal at the Queer Prom.
Trans people will live forever.
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