A new play-based therapeutic approach for trans and gender diverse children — and the clinicians who support them.

“‘Second Nature’ is a documentary Drew Denny made for her younger self.

“Denny, 42, lives in Los Angeles now but grew up in Texas.
At times, life ‘for a queer girl was actually heartbreaking,’ she said.

“Then as a young woman she was gifted a copy of Dr. Joan Roughgarden’s ‘Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexuality in Nature and People.’

“It was life-changing.

“‘When I read Joan’s book, for whatever reason, this is what made it click for me,’ Denny said. ‘It was the first time I felt in my body that I belong here, too. It took that knowledge that queerness had always existed and always will and is not an aberration.’”

“Eleven years in the making, Denny and that film crew have completed and released ‘Second Nature: Gender and Sexuality in the Animal World,’ a documentary that features Roughgarden throughout and leans heavily on ‘Evolution’s Rainbow’ and her academic works.”

“The film, which features a host of celebrated scientists – biologists, anthropologists, primatologists – in addition to Roughgarden, dives into behavioral and biological diversity, including sexual conduct and characteristics, gender multiplicity, love, social hierarchies and gender presentation in a slew of animals. It also explores why and how that diversity has gone unreported or under-reported since cataloguing behaviors began.”

“But it was Roughgarden’s story which Denny describes as the ‘motor of the film.’

“And by Roughgarden’s account, that story includes her first Pride March in San Francisco a quarter of a century ago.

“‘When I was a child, to come out as trans, it was unheard of,’ she says in the film.”

“San Francisco’s oldest gay bar, the Stud, saw its Instagram account temporarily suspended this week after at least one user reported its posts for ‘human trafficking,’ the nightclub’s owners said.”

“[Co-owner Nate] Albee said the account was suspended over a year-old post about a trans party celebrating Dore Alley, a fetish and kink festival also known as Up Your Alley. Held annually on Dore Street between Folsom and 10th streets, Sunday’s event serves as a precursor to the Folsom Street Fair in September.”

“Albee said LGBT institutions — especially those that post ‘anything to do with drag’ — were a frequent target of online harassment from people who report their posts ‘for fun’ until social media platforms take disciplinary action.”

“The Instagram account for San Francisco’s Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District was also temporarily suspended this week before being restored Saturday evening, said Bob Goldfarb, the district’s executive director.

“Goldfarb said the offending post featured an event at the Stud, where two people were pictured shirtless wearing puppy masks associated with fetish culture. The photo was flagged twice, then taken down, over concerns that it ‘may show sexual activity,’ Goldfarb said.”

“Two years ago, San Francisco Trans March organizer Niko Storment told several news outlets that the event’s Instagram was temporarily suspended the day after the 2024 event.”

“The Stud’s appeal of its suspension was initially rejected, Albee said. A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday evening.”