Educational Media Reviews Online

Transgender Tuesdays is, at first glance, about a nighttime clinic opened in 1993 at the Tom Waddell Health Center in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. The documentary provides useful information about the beginnings of the clinic itself (such as descriptions of the struggle to gain initial support for the clinic and lists of health care professionals who have served there), but its scope goes far beyond the historical details of one clinic in San Francisco.

Director Mark Freeman presents the history of the transgender community in three parts: “The bad old days” (a very thorough description of each decade from the 1960’s to the 1990’s), “A clinic grows in the Tenderloin,” and “Finally there’s a future.” The most valuable aspect of this documentary is that it provides cultural context: the healthcare available to transgender people in the mid- to late-twentieth century was often abusive, if not simply uninformed. Was it possible to not just accept transgender clients but truly serve them, seeking out ways to treat their unique health care needs and attempting to remove barriers which previously kept them from seeking care? These were the thoughts of leaders who intentionally set out to learn how to provide excellent care to transgender clients so they could share an effective model with clinics throughout the U.S.

This film encourages viewers to put a familiar face on the need for high quality transgender health care. Twelve clients of the clinic share their life stories and how they encountered the Tom Waddell Health Center. Each one stresses how important having affordable, knowledgeable health care is to their health and happiness, but viewers will also appreciate how simply sharing public space at the clinic helps spread accurate health-related information and prevents injury, abuse, and disease.

Transgender Tuesdays will, of course, be a valuable addition to libraries supporting gender studies or GLBT studies curricula, but health sciences librarians and instructors should also consider adding it to their collections and courses.

Awards

• Audience Selection Best Documentary Award, Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival