Gloria Allen is a Queen Mother in the Trans Community
Sometimes, within the paths we ultimately choose to take, there is a discovery that well exceeds the expectation of the journey. Producing the award-winning documentary “Mama Gloria” was such a moment.
I was at a professional crossroads. It was early October 2018 when I declared to my career coach that I wanted to set my sights on becoming a working producer in 2019. I was putting it out to the universe. A few weeks later, I got a call from my friend and director, Luchina Fisher. Seemingly out of the blue she asked if I would produce a documentary with her in Chicago. She was making a film about Gloria Allen. I had never heard of her but knew she was an activist in the trans community. And just like that, my wish came true a couple of months early. But with this opportunity came much more than a chance to grow professionally. I was soon to be offered relevant life lessons from Mama Gloria for both Luchina and me.
Luchina explained that her connection with Gloria began with an introduction from E. Patrick Johnson when Gloria was seeking an author to write her memoir. Luchina imagined it as an uplifting documentary for the trans community and beyond. She also connected to the story and saw it as a love letter to her own trans daughter, Gia. Gloria was 73 at the time of our shoot. She was eager to have her life documented to give strength to those to follow in her footsteps. We followed Gloria around her Chicago neighborhood, where she ran into a few of her former charm school students. As a trans person, she felt the need for her community to benefit from social etiquette and training. So, in her 60s she started Mama Gloria’s charm school. Sometime later it was produced as a play.
“The only time I entered a closet was to get me an outfit and a pair of pumps!”
It was uplifting to witness how these decades younger adults held her in high esteem, like a Queen Mother.
Gloria’s senior residential building and the Center on Halsted have constructed years ago. During that time, I was working in San Francisco for Gensler, the architectural firm that designed it. I left Chicago after my divorce. I never thought I would return, let alone film a documentary in an apartment complex that was one of the first of its kind for the LGTBQ aging community. I am well versed in the difficulties of aging in America, but those difficulties are multiplied for people like Gloria. We chronicle this issue within the documentary. Gloria and others speak to it directly.
She wanted the world to know her story and what it means to be a trans elder and to have lived this long. The statistics for Black trans women are grim. So, the fact that she is still with us and can tell her story is pretty amazing.
Someday my prince will come
While preparing for the shoots and listening to Gloria speak about her life, I observed that she never complained and still looked forward to meeting her Prince Charming.
As we filmed her in her kitchen, preparing her dish for the monthly potluck dinner, Gloria reminded me of a grandmother. I kept trying to find an inkling of the person she was before she transitioned. It dawned on me that I was witnessing humanity, which transcends color, race, sex, religion, etc.
“I never felt that people would treat me like the way they treating me now. I feel like Snow White. Just kissed and woke up.”
Then, we filmed in a church, and I remembered that God is about love. We are all divine spirits, and Gloria has chosen the path of love in spite of the hate surrounding her. She’s shown young people how to be proud, how to love, and how to live a bold, fulfilling life.
The production of the film is now long complete and it continues playing the festival circuit. I continue to be so proud of the project and of my friend, Luchina, as well as the film’s editor, Caroline Berler, for capturing the humanity of our Mama Gloria. In the process, I know that just as we have served to tell her story, we, along with all her sisters and brothers have been blessed by the charms and wisdom of this Queen Mother. The film has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award and is now streaming on PBS.