Take Action Spotlight: Heightened Scrutiny

Take Action Spotlight

ACLU attorney Chase Strangio prepares to argue a landmark civil rights case in front of the Supreme Court—a case that will determine whether transgender youth can access lifesaving gender-affirming care in Tennessee, and which is sure to have far-reaching legal consequences for years to come. But Strangio’s fight doesn’t stop at the courthouse steps. Along with a cast of other trans rights advocates, journalists, and scholars, Strangio confronts an American media environment that often frames trans lives through bias, erasure, or spectacle. Heightened Scrutiny contributes meaningfully to Jewish conversations on justice, identity, and the ongoing fight for equality. Director Sam Feder (Disclosure, Nonfiction Shorts Jury, SFJFF 2024) not only tells a timely legal story—he creates a meditation on visibility, resistance, and the power of narrative. Heightened Scrutiny stands out for its access, clarity, and urgency, presenting a rare portrait of advocacy under pressure. It is an urgently needed film about trans rights, to be sure, but also about the systems—legal, medical, and media—that shape public understanding. —Johanna Gustin

Sam Feder is a Peabody Award-nominated director and producer whose work explores the intersection of visibility and politics through the lenses of race, class, and gender. An antizionist Jewish filmmaker, Sam is best known for directing the Netflix Original documentary Disclosure (2020), which garnered critical acclaim for its exploration of trans representation in media. Sam also directed the widely praised Kate Bornstein Is a Queer & Pleasant Danger, continuing their commitment to centering underrepresented voices and challenging dominant narratives.