Who's Intolerant?

The 1999 film Boys Don't Cry has been praised by many for its portrayal of the hostility and violence faced by transgender people -- a topic that has received much more attention in recent years than it had at the time. But Kimberly Peirce, the director and co-author of the film, has plenty of critics among transgender people and their advocates. Many say that the film's lead roles should have been played by transgender people (they weren't). Peirce's visit to Reed College last month for a screening of the film and a lecture has been the subject of intense debate there, and has set off national discussion in the last few days as social media picked up on what happened.