An update from Eric Rockey of Pink Boy in October 2016:
What has happened in Jessie's life since the end of the film?
There have been a lot of changes in Jessie's life since we finished filming. Of course the biggest change is that she socially transitioned to identify as a girl full-time. That happened about two years ago. Since then things have been going well and she has continued to find acceptance in her neighborhood and at school. Dancing and dressing up in fancy outfits continue to be a constant in her life, though! She's doing really well.
How has the film been received in Jessie's home state of Florida and across the country?
The film has played all over the state of Florida at film festivals, including Orlando, Key West, and Fort Lauderdale (where it won an award at the MiFO LGBT Film Festival). There has also been a lot interest in Jessie's hometown. BJ has been lending out DVDs of the film to people in the community and has had difficulty keeping up with demand! Her church is also planning on a screening in the near future, which I'm very excited about.
Across the country there has been a huge outpouring of love for the family and the film wherever we screen it. It's played at festivals across the country (and around the world) and people have responded for the most part with love and acceptance. There have been exactly two instances where someone has come up to me after a screening and said negative things about the content in the film, and in both cases it turned out that there were some unresolved issues around gender identity in those people's families, so it appeared that the film triggered something in them. Which also is good - my goals for the film are to have it help people examine their feelings around the subject of children with different gender identities and hopefully raise awareness.
Do you see a shift or change in the awareness and understanding of gender nonconforming children?
It does seem like people are becoming more and more aware of and hopefully understanding gender nonconforming and transgender children. I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and told me that their child goes to school with kid with an expansive gender presentation. It happens all of the time now. To me it feels like the same cycle that happened with awareness and acceptance of lesbian, gay and bisexual folks is repeating - there is more exposure of these kids in the media and online, more people are coming out, and this in turn causes more acceptance and awareness, and more exposure in the media. The fact that there is a famous transgender teenager with a tv show (Jazz Jennings) is a huge sign that the reality of these kids is making its way into our culture..
In what ways have you seen or do you hope to see Pink Boy add to conversations about gender identity and the LGBT community?
My hope is that Pink Boy allows people to have the visceral experience of stepping into Jessie's high heeled shoes for a day and to see that she is just a kid, and that this desire to want to dress up in girl things is not necessarily a fleeting whim but can be a deep-seated identity issue. I also hope that it helps viewers learn that the parents are really not the cause in these situations. In the best case, as we see with BJ and Sherrie in the film, they are supportive followers of their child's identity, and in the worst case (thankfully not seen in the film), they are judgmental, shaming or worse. BJ had no interest in having Jessie (Jeffrey at the time) wear dresses or do other girl things. She was hoping for a son to do boy things with. She adapted and grew into her role as the mother of a very fabulous feminine child, but it was definitely not something she was pushing for.
What are you working on next?
I'm in the middle of research for my next documentary, following a few different possible stories.