Join us for a free screening of the acclaimed documentary feature film HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY, followed by a Q&A with award-winning director Sam Feder 🎤🎥
🗓 Wednesday, January 28, 2026
⏰ 5:00–7:00 PM
📍 Portland State University (location shared upon RSVP)
🥂 Reception with light refreshments begins at 4:00 PM, hosted by PSU’s Queer Resource Center 🌈
Come for the film, stay for the conversation—and be part of an important dialogue.
Heightened Scrutiny follows Chase Strangio, ACLU attorney and the first out trans person to argue before the Supreme Court, as he fights a high-stakes legal battle to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The film exposes the dangerous role of mainstream media in fueling anti-trans legislation, uncovering how biased coverage drives hate, endangers lives, and threatens democracy itself. With insights from journalists like Jelani Cobb, Lydia Polgreen, and Gina Chua, and activists like Laverne Cox, the story dismantles anti-trans disinformation and highlights its devastating real-world impact.
Sam Feder is a Peabody Award-nominated film director and writer. Feder’s films explore the intersection of visibility and politics along the lines of race, class, and gender. Sam directed the award-winning Netflix original documentary Disclosure (2020) and the widely acclaimed documentary Kate Bornstein Is a Queer & Pleasant Danger (2014). Feder was recently invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch.
RSVP here: bit.ly/4ssKoGC
For disability accommodations, please include them with your RSVP with advance notice.
This event is sponsored by the PSU’s 2SLGBTQ Health Initiative, the School of Social Work, the Queer Resource Center, Women Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, the School of Film, and the College of Education.