Vashti Harris
May 11, 2024
Stephen Chukumba is gearing up to join his “The Dads” cast-mates at Saturday’s 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards, where their documentary will be among 11 receiving special recognition.
“The Dads,” released in November on Netflix, is an 11-minute film about five fathers of transgender children who go on a fishing trip in rural Oklahoma, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
The dads — all from different states — join Dennis Shepard, the father of Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old Wyoming college student who died on Oct. 12, 1998, after being abducted, brutally beaten, and tied to a fence by his assailants, according to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
During the weekend getaway, the dads discuss their love, hopes and fears for their trans kids, according to Netflix.
Chukumba, a single father of four from Trenton, told Mosaic that he wanted to be part of the film “because when I was looking for support, I didn’t see any Black families going through what we were going through.
The GLAAD Media Awards honor individuals and media projects that have fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ+ people and issues, according to GLAAD’s website.
“What people see in the media has a huge impact on how they treat others,” said Tony Morrison, GLAAD’s communications director. “GLAAD brings diverse stories to global audiences and to local communities through media that build understanding and acceptance.”
With 33 categories and 310 nominees, the awards’ East Coast celebration will kick off on Saturday at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel at 5:30 p.m. TV personality Ross Mathews will host the show.
On March 14, GLAAD announced recipients for 16 of this year’s 33 categories during its West Coast ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The recipients included Oprah Winfrey, who received the Vanguard Award, according to GLAAD.
Each year, GLAAD presents non-competitive Special Recognition Awards to media projects that do not fit into one of the existing categories. According to its website, for this year’s awards, GLAAD is presenting Special Recognition honors to 11 media projects that spotlighted diverse segments of the LGBTQ community in innovative ways.
Chukumba, a Communities Healing Together coach for Garden State Equality, will attend the awards ceremony with the documentary’s director, Luchina Fisher, and fellow cast member Peter Betz.
He called the GLAAD Award “an immense honor and validation for... all transgender youth, parents, caregivers, and families.”
“This (recognition) is a testament to the power of storytelling in shedding light on our experiences, challenges, and triumphs,” said Chukumba, an LGBTQ+ advocate, “and it serves as a beacon of hope and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community.”
Fisher agrees.
“The film is a love letter from these fathers to their trans and LGBTQ children. Fisher said in an interview with Deadline. “Yes, they talk about their fears and concerns for their children’s safety. ... But, they also laugh and experience the joy of being together on this journey while inviting others to join them.”
Chukumba was attending a meeting for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council (PTEC) in Washington when Shepard, Wayne Maines, and Frank Gonzales discussed taking a fishing trip. They thought it could be a way for fathers of transgender/gender nonconforming youth to bond over shared experiences.
Chukumba said Fisher, a council member at the time, proposed that she tag along because she thought the conversations among the fathers would be amazing to capture and share.
“She felt it was a way of normalizing the experiences of fathers, whose voices aren’t always heard in discussions about trans youth,” Chukumba said. “When I learned about the trip, I told them that I wanted to attend along with a few other fathers, Peter Betz and Jose Trujillo.”
Each dad lived in a different state — Chukumba was from New Jersey, Betz was from New York, Trujillo was from Arizona, Maines was from Maine, and Gonzales was from Texas.
Chukumba said the cameras followed them on the trip as they fished on the river, shared meals and told stories around the campfire.
For his part, he said he wanted to be an example for others, especially fathers with transgender kids.
“I also knew, from my experience, that there weren’t a lot of fathers on the front lines of this struggle for liberation and equality for trans youth,” he added. “I wanted to show fathers that there is a place for them in advocacy and activism.
“I wanted to show fathers that strength and support can be vulnerable, that you could be afraid for your child but not paralyzed by that fear, that there is strength in community,” he added.
To watch clips of the upcoming award show, check out GLAAD’s Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter) pages.