Protest for Ticked Off Trannies in NYC

A rally and vigil Tuesday evening in New York City will demand that the Tribeca Film Festival remove the controversial "hate-crime revenge fantasy" film, Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives, from its lineup later this month.

Organizers, who include Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Trans People (MAGNET), say the film by director Israel Luna "makes light of violence and rape against trans women, exploits the high-profile murder of teenager Angie Zapata, includes the pejorative term 'trannies' in its title, inaccurately depicts trans women's identities as drag queen 'performers' and 'caricatures' and misrepresents the lives of an extremely disenfranchised group who suffer violence at alarming rates."

Luna told the Dallas Voice he wanted to make the film because "the gay thing's been done" and the trans population is "under-represented and misunderstood." He said he made the movie to shine a light on violence and murder against trans people.

But MAGNET organizer Ashley Love says Luna's attitude toward trans people is an about-face from interviews he's given in the past and that the film doesn't do a good job of representing the violence trans people face.

"The topic isn't treated with the sensitivity, understanding, or seriousness that it merits," Love tells The Advocate. "The film, through camp and jokes, detracts from the tragedy of violence and murder against trans people. Therefore it seems highly unlikely that people will come away from the film with an understanding of the lives of trans people, the seriousness of this issue, and why the systemic violence happens."

Last week Luna said he would alter the film's trailer to exclude actual hate-crime victims, including Zapata and Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, in response to the criticisms from groups such as MAGNET and GLAAD.

The rally and vigil, postponed from last week due to heavy rain, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Tribeca Cinemas. Find more information here.