Donna is a heart-warming documentary that follows trans activist, performer, and former Cockette, Donna Personna, as she learns, later in life, to live her most authentic trans life and to reconnect with her family as a woman. “This is who I want to be and who I want to show the world”
Donna was born into a religious Baptist family with 13 siblings in suburban San Jose, California, in the late 1940s. Born as Gussy, she was a quiet boy, known as a ‘sissy’ and didn’t feel she fitted in. Her family knew there was something different about Donna as she was the only family member who couldn’t kill a chicken. Donna left San Jose for San Francisco’s Tenderloin in the 1960s when she was 17, never looking back as she fully immersed herself into the city’s queer counter-culture utopia, becoming one of the legendary Cockette performers. Donna had various names – Gussy, Gus, and Gustavo, before finally arriving at her true trans woman identity, Donna, in her 50s. The thinking behind her delayed transition was to protect herself and her religious family. Now aged 73, and still on stage, her family have never seen her perform or met her dressed as a woman, and she wants to change that.
The documentary begins when Donna is offered a chance to co-write a play about an often-overlooked episode in queer history, the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, in which the transgender women Donna knew stood up against police harassment. She writes a character to be played by a young transgender activist. The play is well-received by the press and audiences. Praised for her writing and emboldened by her new friends, she heads out of the city to be reunited with her sister, Gloria. This meeting goes well and she slowly begins to reconnect with more of her family.
Director Jay Bedwani has created an intimate portrait of an inspiring, energetic woman who shows us it’s never too late to begin living our true lives. His trademark style of quiet observation shows a remarkable woman who wins over her family with a combination of warmth, friendship, gentle humility and strength. His candid study is well shot and produced and focuses on a true-life well-lived in the present with a nod to the future.
This is a beautiful, poetic piece of work. A true San Francisco story. Donna is very likable. As she says, “When you’re free to be yourself, you can be magnificent.” Recommended.
Review: Ris Fatah Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
