Journal of Religion & Film Volume 21 Article 38 Issue 1 April 2017 4-1-2017 Two-Spirit Mexica Youth and Transgender Mixtec/ Muxe Media: La Mission (2009), Two Spirit: Injunuity (2013), and Libertad (2015) Gabriel S. Estrada California State University Long Beach,
[email protected] Recommended Citation Estrada, Gabriel S. (2017) "Two-Spirit Mexica Youth and Transgender Mixtec/Muxe Media: La Mission (2009), Two Spirit: Injunuity (2013), and Libertad (2015)," Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 21 : Iss. 1 , Article 38. Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss1/38 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Religion & Film by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Two-Spirit Mexica Youth and Transgender Mixtec/Muxe Media: La Mission (2009), Two Spirit: Injunuity (2013), and Libertad (2015) Abstract Independent directors Peter Bratt, Adrian Baker, and Avila-Hanna create differing trans-border queer Indigenous media that resist Eurocentric cic-heteropatriarchy. While Bratt’s feature-length narrative film La Mission (2009) features a masculine Mexica gay teenager who survives fused homophobic and trans*-phobic violence, Baker’s short animation Two Spirit: Injunuity (2013) makes stronger trans* and two-spirit Mexica youth identity affirmations. Avila-Hanna’s short documentary Libertad (2015) offers the clearest transgender narrative of the three films as it focuses on a California transgender Mixtec immigrant activist who is coming of age as a woman with the aid of hormones and gender affirming surgery. This article’s trans*- and Indigenous-centered film analysis complements their three works.