Powerful New Documentary Sheds Insight On Plight Of Transgender Inmates

Filmmaker George Zuber hopes to offer “a timely and essential awareness of the injustices befalling transgender people every day in our justice system” in a poignant new documentary. 

“Where Justice Ends ,” which will have its world premiere at Miami’s OutShine Film Festival this Friday, examines a number of the troubling challenges experienced by trans inmates in prisons across the country. (Catch the film’s official trailer above.) 

A number of well-known trans rights activists including CeCe McDonald , Miss Major and Ashley Diamond were interviewed for “Where Justice Ends.” Collectively, Zuber hopes the participation of those stars will be helpful in getting viewers to see the film as a reminder that trans people are, simply, “fellow human beings searching for the same love and happiness we all do.” 

“One of the biggest challenges we faced in completing ‘Where Justice Ends’ was selecting from the many stories of transgender people from across the country in order to create a concise and impactful film,” he said. 

Recent studies, for example, find that trans people are 10 times as likely to be sexually assaulted by their fellow inmates and five times as likely to be sexually assaulted by staff. Meanwhile, many are also denied trans-inclusive medical care, and are assigned lengthy stays in solitary confinement.  

Zuber who previously explored transgender issues in the 2013 educational film “Just Gender ” is mindful of the rollbacks members of the trans community have experienced with regard to their personal rights under President Donald Trump . As such, he hopes audiences leave the film with a better sense of how the “injustices faced by the most vulnerable transgender people ... urgently need to be understood.” 

“I believe that this film shares a timely and essential awareness of the injustices befalling transgender people every day in our justice system,” he said. “That said, most transgender people don’t need to see this film to understand that story — they live it daily.”

“The message of ‘Where Justice Ends’ lies at the intersection of two critical subjects that demand our immediate attention — prison reform and the injustices that befall heaviest on transgender people in those prisons,” he continued. “I sincerely hope that this film will make at least a small contribution to change.”