Around 15, 500 transgender people serve in the U. S. military (notably the largest transgender employer in the U. S. ), where they must conceal their gender identity because military policies ban their service. TransMilitary chronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace & First Lieutenant El Cook) defending their country’s freedom while fighting for their own. They put their careers and their families’ livelihoods on the line by coming out as transgender to top brass officials in the Pentagon in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve.
Fiona Dawson is an Emmy®-nominated and award-winning filmmaker. She is a proud bisexual, cisgender, immigrant woman from the LGBTQ+ community who uses media to advocate for equality. Following her Emmy®-nominated short New York Times op-doc "Transgender, at War and in Love," Fiona was honored by President Obama as an LGBT Artist Champion of Change and her feature documentary, "TransMilitary," premiered at SXSW 2018 winning the Audience Award. Fiona’s company, Free Lion Productions, produces "NOW with Fiona" multimedia content all centered on sharing positive LGBTQ+ stories of kindness and courage in the face of adversity. Fiona loves to build, speak, and produce to make good things happen.
