The final installment of the Independent Lens documentary film series season will be aired Tuesday, June 28 at 6 p.m. at the Main Branch of the Long Beach Public Library, 101 Pacific Ave.
"Two Spirits" is a look at the life and death of Fred Martinez, a Navajo boy who believed he was part girl and became the victim at 16 of a brutal hate-crime murder.
Lynn Nibley's film is described a revealing look not only at Martinez's death but the largely unknown tradition in many Native American cultures that holds places of honor for people of integrated genders.
According to press materials "Two Spirits explores issues of national concern including the bullying and violence commonly faced by LGBT people, and the epidemic of LGBT teen suicide, and reveals the range of gender expression that has long been seen as a healthy part of many of the indigenous cultures of North America, and of Navajo culture in particular."
The airing of the film will be followed by a panel discussion. Panelists are Dr. Gabriel Estrada, Professor of Latino/Chicano Studies and American Indian Studies at CSULB; Porter Gilberg, of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Greater Long Beach; Lee Williams from Alpha Omega Nu Fraternity for Transmen; and Danielle Nava, Director of Programs at The California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ). Moderator is Teresa Gomez, Coordinator for the City of Long Beach Humanity Dignity Program
Information about the film is available online at www.pbs.org/independentlens/two-spirits.
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