"Born to Be" New Documentary Entertains, Enlightens with Empathy for the Transgender Community

By: Steve V. Rodriguez

The “T” in LGBTQ+ for the Transgender community continues to be the focus this week as we celebrate Transgender Awareness Week (November 13 - 19) which should continue beyond the recognized week especially as the world sees violence towards the community on the rise, legal rights either not being recognized or stripped away by the current administration to sadly, suicide also rising.

Tania Cypriano’s new documentary “Born to Be” shines a light on the Trans community and the tremendous great lengths many Trans people embark on to obtain personal acceptance of who they identify as which often involves gender-affirming surgery. Although, the film states clearly and early on in the film that not all individuals who identify as Transgender desire or want this type of surgery, there is still a sub-group of the community who see this as a necessary road to embark on to complete their identity. For some this can also include feminization surgery, for Trans women to achieve the visceral external face that matches the internal identity as is the case of Mahogany featured in “Born to Be”. 

At the center of “Born to Be” is Dr. Jess Ting, a Juilliard-trained bass player-turned-trailblazing surgeon, who today leads Mount Sinai Hospital’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery. Ting who co-parents his two children fell into gender-affirming surgery when no one else wanted to embark on this type of surgery in New York that many Transgendered people were desperately seeking. Upon learning that many Trans people resort to suicide, and against many of Ting’s colleague’s wishes, he quickly began learning about the Trans community, their needs while developing empathy for their identities. Ting’s answer of “Yes” to learn more about ‘gender-affirming’ surgery had him learning extremely challenging surgeries that had no text book science to back it up.

In addition to Dr. Ting, Cypriano’s “Born to Be” puts a face on a diverse array of Trans people seeking gender-affirming surgery while shedding a personal lens on their unique stories that will educate and enlighten viewers. In addition to Mahogany, mentioned above, Cashmere also shines and entertains in “Born to Be” as she recounts her time on the streets turning tricks to survive while painting a picture of how extremely dangerous her lifestyle was in 90’s New York City, that she never forgets. Her shout out to the now infamous, Marcia P. Johnson is a beautiful nod to the trailblazing activist. 

Some of the great insights that come out of “Born to Be” are the growing rise of the Trans community who are seeking gender-affirming surgery, the evolving science of perfecting this type of surgery to minimize complications and achieve aesthetic results, as well as the incredible amount of effort, time and money that goes into this life-changing transition that is both physical and mental. According to Dr. Ting - 1 hour in the Operating Room can translate to 10 hours of work outside, plus 20 hours of after care. This isn’t a surgery anyone embarks on lightly to say the least. 

“Born to Be” educates viewers with empathy and ends with a message of hope for the Trans community, and for helping to  bridge that long over due gap of LGBTQ+ into mainstream culture. 

Opening Virtually Nationwide Wed., Nov. 18 New York (Film Forum), Los Angeles (Laemmle) Philadelphia, San Francisco Additional cities Nov. 20: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Tucson & more

Panel Hosted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation

Thurs., Nov. 19 - 8pm EST

Dir. Tania Cypriano (she/her) and subjects Dr. Jess Ting (he/him),

Jordan Rubenstein (they/them), and Mahogany Phillips (she/her) will participate

in a virtual panel discussion moderated by Indiewire critic Jude Dry (they/them).

RSVP: https://hrc.im/BorntoBeTAW

Or tune to YouTube Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NT2gc7eQfQ