The Making of Mary. Her Journey from Pain to Purpose.
By Mary Almy
It started back in September with a phone call from a friend of mine living in Cleveland whom I have not heard from in at least a year. After catching up a for a short while she told me that she had called because she was approached by a videography group, she was working with who had asked her help with finding a Transgender person who would answer some questions for a senior citizens group. They had questions after several of them had grandchildren who came out as trans or gender nonconforming, and they were not sure how to respond. As she was my friend, of course I agreed to help, not sure what to expect.
The group reached out to me and after explaining what they were looking for we agreed to do a brief virtual interview which they would record. We did the video which included discussions around the normal question of pronoun use, questions around possible safety issues for their grandchildren, and some religious based questions. The videographers thanked me and said they were pleased with what we had.
Several weeks later they called me back to inform me that they had shown the video to several groups, and it was met with excitement and approval. They also said they had several people asking for a more in-depth video that included my story as a Trans woman of faith with a supportive spouse who was an ordained minister. That began the Process of creating Mary. From Pain to Purpose. It has truly been a humbling, and at times scary process. The thought that anyone would want to hear my story, I mean there are so many Trans identifying people out there whose stories are just as important if not more so than mine, continues to boggle my mind. It has been a scary process as I have shared some deeply personal issues knowing that when this gets published it will be seen by strangers and I will have little control over who sees it. It has also been a deeply enriching process as I have worked with this truly awesome crew who have cared for every person being interviewed, meeting people who lifted Betsy and me up with their support and care, People who had never met us before Hearing from other members of the community saying how proud they were of me for taking this step. My hope and dream for this video is that it may help educate and that it might make the process easier for someone else.
To watch the trailer, visit: https://youtu.be/SUFzXyAx0NI
