PROGRAM

The LGBTQ Policy Center at Roosevelt House is pleased to present a screening of the documentary Heightened Scrutiny, followed by a conversation with the film’s director, Hunter College alumnus Sam Feder (’13 MFA). The film follows ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, the first out transgender person to argue a case before the Supreme Court, as he fights a high-stakes legal battle to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth (United States v. Skrmetti).

Following the full arc of this epic legal battle, Heightened Scrutiny explores the role of mainstream media in fueling anti-trans legislation—demonstrating how such biased coverage can drive hate and endanger lives. With insights from journalists like Jelani Cobb, Lydia Polgreen, and Gina Chua, and activists like Laverne Cox, the film dismantles anti-trans disinformation and highlights its devastating real-world impact.

Tracing the fight against anti-trans legislation all the way to the steps of the US Supreme Court, Heightened Scrutiny offers powerful, incisive, and informed resistance to anti-trans hate.

Sam Feder is a Peabody-nominated, awarding winning director and writer. He created the critically acclaimed films Disclosure (Sundance 2020), Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger (2014), and Boy I Am (2006). Feder’s films explore the intersection of media and politics along the lines of race, class, and gender. Their films have been programmed internationally at festivals, theaters, and museums including the Sundance Film Festival, The Hammer Museum, and The Alamo Drafthouse. In 2025, Feder was invited to be a voting member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch.

Erin Mayo-Adam, moderator, is the Director of the LGBTQ Policy Center at Roosevelt House, an associate professor in the Political Science Department, and a member of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Faculty and Curriculum Committee. She is the author of Queer Alliances: How Power Shapes Political Movement Formation and has published in numerous academic outlets, including the Law & Society Review, Law & Social Inquiry, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of LGBT Politics and Policy. Her research is situated in the fields of American politics, law and society, and political theory and bridges scholarship on social movements, interest groups and public policy, intersectionality, gender and sexuality, and migration and labor politics.

This event is co-sponsored by the CUNY LGBTQ Advisory Council and made possible in part by the generous support of the New York City Council and the CUNY LGBTQ Consortium.