New doc follows Newton native Chase Strangio, the first openly trans person to orally argue a case before the Supreme Court

Boston Globe

30-01-2025

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Strangio attended Sundance to promote 'Heightened Scrutiny,' a new documentary directed by Sam Feder ('Disclosure') that follows Strangio during the months leading up to his
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The case, which challenged Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors, was historic: It marked the first time an openly transgender person had made oral arguments before the Supreme Court.
The court is expected to provide a decision
Feder got the idea to make the film early last year, when he noticed a wave of articles in mainstream media outlets — particularly left-leaning ones — debating gender-affirming care. This surge of media coverage, the film notes, seemed fixated on framing transition care as potentially harmful to adolescents by focusing on the possibility of health risks or regrets.
'The first entry into the film was really looking at the coverage and how the coverage is connected to the criminalization of trans bodies,' Feder, who is also trans, said during the same interview at Sundance. 'We're losing our allies, because mainstream media is telling them that you can debate our lives — that we're an idea, not an identity.'
Strangio added, 'The heightened scrutiny of our lives, our bodies, and our health care is the problem. It is not untrue that medical care for trans people carries risks. It's just that all medical care carries risks.'
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From left: Chase Strangio, Sam Feder, and Ash Hoyle attend the "Heightened Scrutiny" premiere during the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Ray Theatre on Jan. 27 in Park City, Utah.
Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty
The film, which also includes testimonies from journalists and luminaries like Gina Chua, Laverne Cox, and Jelani Cobb, drives its point home by considering a 2018 health report issue of The Atlantic. The cover story was '
These analytical segments accompany observational sequences trailing Strangio both in professional settings and simply going about his daily life. We see him attend advocacy events, practice his oral arguments, and take in the presidential debate alongside friends, including the
Strangio lived in Boston while attending law school at Northeastern University. 'Even before I went to law school, I definitely, politically and intellectually, thought of law in the United States as a system of violence,' he said. 'I think of the work as: The law is always imposing violence upon us. How do we push it away from us in order to do the more liberatory work?'
In one scene, Strangio attends a meeting to oppose anti-trans attacks at the school board level in New York City, where both Strangio and Feder currently reside.
'Sam started coming to the meetings as a person' rather than as a filmmaker, Strangio said. 'We're trying to bring people just to bear witness, so people are more attuned to the idea that there is no such thing as a safe jurisdiction in the United States from the encroachment of far-right policies.'
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During the meeting, viewers meet a spunky 12-year-old transgender student named Mila. The film shows her speaking up at the assembly and later taking the podium outside the Supreme Court during Strangio's oral arguments. Feder also depicts Mila in more personal moments, like during a family dinner where Mila's mother grows emotional while vocalizing her unwavering support for her daughter.
Feder noted that it was important to him to incorporate Mila's story in the film. 'No movement is created by one person. Chase has done incredible work that no one else has done, but this is about a community,' he said, adding that while much of the coverage of transition care has focused on kids and adolescents, they have rarely been afforded a voice of their own in the struggle.
'People are busy. They don't have time to do their own research,' the filmmaker added. 'They will run with a good line that they read in a newspaper article. I see part of my job as creating a space for context, so you're walking out with a larger picture.'
Natalia Winkelman is a film critic based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Follow her @nataliawinke.
Natalia Winkelman can be reached at