It would be easy to associate the subjects of the documentary with the people in other docs about self-reinvention -- the realness-craving drag kids of Paris is Burning, for example, or the folks who role-play as animals in Born in a Barn. The four transgender college students profiled in Transgeneration are uncomfortable in their physical and social skins; they risk ostracism; and they look back on the lives into which they were originally born with detached disbelief. But the difference between them and the other people who want to change themselves is huge: these kids have the nerve to get off their asses and do it. They're not in drag, and they're not role-playing; they're actually becoming something new.

The documentary -- which will be broadcast in a more complete, 8-episode format this September [update: it's airing starting September 20th at 9pm on the Sundance Channel, and in 2006 on Logo] -- follows TJ, Raci, Gabbie, and Lucas, four transitioning college students. Their lives are a mix of college stuff and gender-angst; one moment, someone's looking for their homework, and the next moment there's testosterone injections to worry about. It's a lot for them to handle, and during a visit home, Lucas admits that he just wants to "get over the gender sh*t ... and move on." All the students handle their transitions uniquely, and often with an attitude that matches their schools': At Smith College, Lucas is unassuming and frank, at Cal State LA, Raci stresses endlessly about how the other students perceive her.

The four subjects were present at the screening, and the audience went nuts for them -- standing ovation, gushing audience comments, etc. TransGeneration will probably make these kids into national heroes, even though that's not their intent -- they're not transitioning because they wanted to be trailblazers, they're doing this for themselves. But trailblazers they are, nonetheless: as Lucas watches 10-year-old home videos of himself as a young girl, it becomes clear how much has changed; and we can't even begin to imagine how different the world will be in another 10, thanks to the decisions of folks like these.

Transgeneration