Emma McIntyre
The Sundance Film Festival often showcases some of the best new queer and trans talent, and that is definitely true this year. One such film was trans filmmaker Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s directorial debut, Mutt, about a trans man named Feña rekindling his relationship with his father, straight ex-boyfriend, and younger half-sister over the course of a day. Mutt introduced the world to Puerto Rican transmasculine actor Lío Mehiel, whose performance as Feña would win them the coveted U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Acting.
For Mehiel, being the first out trans actor to win the award reminded them why they are in the film industry. “Three artists I deeply admire — Jeremy O. Harris, Eliza Hittman, and Marlee Matlin —made up the jury. And as it was my first role in a feature film, it felt like they were giving me a meaningful nudge of encouragement like, ‘Hey, keep going with this. We believe in you,’” Mehiel says.
They have already shot their next feature film, In the Summers, costarring Sasha Calle, Residente, and Leslie Grace. And they are ready to continue showing the varied and unique lives trans people live.
“Right-wing conservatives want people to be afraid of anyone who is different from them, because a population that is afraid and distrusting of one another is a population that is easier to control,” they say. “Trans people like me…we fall in love, we get our hearts broken, we miss our families, we get tired of our families, we want to build a beautiful life for ourselves, and sometimes we feel like failures just like anyone else.” @lio.mehiel
Storytellers
Randy Wicker
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Photo by Brendan Fay
Over the last 65 years, LGBTQ+ advocate, journalist, and archivist Randy Wicker has achieved many firsts. In 1962 he organized a radio broadcast that caused the Federal Communications Commission to rule that homosexuality was a legitimate topic for on-air discussion. In 1964 Wicker organized the first public demonstration for gay civil rights in the United States, which took place in front of the U.S. Army Induction Center in New York City. Also in 1964, he was the first out gay person to participate in a live television show when he answered calls on The Les Crane Show.
“I’ve always been a truth-telling journalist willing to confront power and champion unpopular causes,” says Wicker. “That is what motivated me to join the New York Mattachine Society in 1958 and be the first self-identified homosexual to speak out on radio in 1962.”
Now 85 years old, Wicker shows no signs of slowing down. This year Wicker launched a petition to remove the statue of Gen. Phil Sheridan from Stonewall National Park — because of Sheridan’s massacre of Indigenous people. He also served as a grand marshal at this year’s NYC Pride March.
Recently, he donated his archives to the National LGBTQ+ Archives. “My archives are titled ‘The Randy Wicker & Marsha P. Johnson’ archives since Marsha P. Johnson lived with me for over a decade and was the house mother of my extended gay family,” says Wicker. “Twenty-five years of my Christmas letters contain many stories about her.”
Though much progress has been made thanks to Wicker’s work, he is adamant that the fight continues, especially in other parts of the world. He notes that “genocidal hatred and religious intolerance” run rampant in many societies. “We must help LGBTQ+ people overseas improve their circumstances!” @randolfewicker