A moving public service announcement (PSA) from a project to prevent trans suicide depicts a father learning to accept his trans daughter.

The two-minute video opens with the father – a farmer – driving a tractor. It then shares that more trans teens have attempted suicide since states passed anti-trans laws. The father stops driving to examine a photo of himself with a male-presenting child. The pair are wearing matching camouflage jackets and the photo says, “Holter and Dad, Father-Son Team 1st Place, Archery.”

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The father gazes contemplatively at the photo. The video then cuts to him entering the house, where his child waits in the kitchen, now presenting as a girl.

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The father immediately apologizes for something he said earlier. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. If you want to change your name, if you want to wear a dress… I don’t know the kind of support you need, but let’s get you some for all this, this transgender stuff.”

The girl’s face brightens. “Wait, are you serious? Dad, what is this?”

“This is me supporting you,” he replies. “This is me saying I love you. This is me not losing you.”

The pair embraces as the dad looks near tears. He tells his daughter he loves her, and then after a pause, he calls her by her new name: Holly.

The video was created by the Not Losing You Film Project, a non-profit working to prevent trans youth suicide and support rural LGBTQ+ youth during the 2024 election.

The website explains that the filmmaker, James Lantz, “protested and was arrested at the Pennsylvania State Capitol to bring attention to the five trans and non-binary youth suicides that have occurred in the same Pennsylvania county where many anti-LGBTQ legislations in Pennsylvania were sponsored, supported and pushed by GOP Majority Whip, State Senator Ryan Aument.”

Lantz’s advocacy work can also be found through his web series, Angry Gay Grandpa.

The onslaught of legislative attacks against trans youth has caused a mental health crisis among the group. A study published in September revealed that anti-transgender laws have a direct, causal relationship with youth suicide attempts and that attempted suicide rates increased by as much as 72% following the passage of such laws.

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.

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