By Michelle Tirado
June 8, 2009

The clock is ticking for Two Spirits: Sexuality, Gender, and the Murder of Fred Martinez, an award-winning documentary that explores homophobia and the powerful story of a transgender Navajo teen who became one of the youngest hate crime victims. The producers need to raise $19,000 to finish the film, and they must do it fast.

Fred Martinez was what the Navajo call nádleehí, translating to “one who constantly transforms.” People like him, a person with a male body and female spirit, are not something to frown upon, according to Navajo culture. On the contrary, someone with a broader understanding of gender is considered gifted.

The two-spirited Martinez was 16 years old when he was murdered in 2001 — bludgeoned to death with a rock by 18-year-old Shaun Murphy of New Mexico. Murphy later boasted to his friends that he had "bug-smashed a hoto [homosexual].” In 2002, Murphy was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In addition to the death of Martinez, Two Spirits looks at the history of Native two-spirit people and how they were respected, particularly by the Navajo. The greater goal of the film, however, is to educate society on how multi-gendered people enrich lives and why people must be free to be their true selves.

The film, a production of the Fred Martinez Project, has garnered national acclaim and support. In 2008, it was the recipient of the 2008 Monette-Horwitz Distinguished Achievement Award for outstanding activism, research and scholarship to combat homophobia.

More than 50 organizations have committed to using Two Spirits in violence reduction programs, safe school initiatives, suicide prevention programs, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) equality programs, in racial and gender equality efforts and in support of civil and human rights.

The film has numerous partnerships, including several Native organizations, such as the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute and the Oklahoma Native American AIDS Coalition; the U.S. Office for Civil Rights; the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs; the Human Rights Coalition; and many more.

Two Spirits was screened for small test audiences during the editing process, said Lydia Nibley, the film’s executive producer and director, and the feedback pointed to it already changing lives and attitudes.

“A number of youth at risk for suicide have expressed that they finally feel seen and that they can use information from the film to combat homophobia in their communities and in their own families,” Nibley said.

She knows the film will provoke controversy in some settings; in others, she believes it will get people talking about homophobia and support progressive change.

The film is not quite finished. The audio mix, color correction, mastering and other technical fixes still need to be done, hence the urgency to raise the $19,000.

Back in March, the producers sent out a call for help. As of early June, they have not been able to raise a penny. Nibley said they got a pledge for $5,000 from a source she could not name, but the check has not been received yet.

Two Spirits has two important deadlines looming. It had been granted early acceptance to Frameline33, the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, which takes place June 18-28, 2009. It is also going to be screened at the Outfest Festival in Los Angeles, which kicks off on July 9, 2009. Nibley said the film must be finished for the Outfest screening.

Nibley understands that the tough economic times may be preventing people from contributing money to the film. That is why they are open to another option: finding someone who can join as a producer.

Even if the funds are not raised or another producer with a big checkbook is not found before the Outfest screening, the film’s makers will not be giving up.

“It has taken five years to get to this point, so there is nothing that would cause our determined little team to abandon the film,” Nibley said.

To learn more about Two Spirits, go to the project’s Web site: www.twospirits.org. A trailer of the film will be available at the site some time in June. The Two Spirits team is also in the process of launching a Facebook presence.