The Stroll filmmaker Kristen Lovell is an unstoppable force of trans advocacy

Here & Queer is an interview series hosted by Peter Knegt that celebrates and amplifies the work of LGBTQ artists through unfiltered conversations.

Kristen Lovell has proven herself a remarkable example of how one takes control of the narrative. For far too long, trans stories have been told by outsiders — something Lovell experienced herself in 2007 when she was featured as a subject in a documentary about queer homeless youth called Queer Streets. 

"At the time, I was dealing with survival sex work and homelessness and just trying to figure out my place in the world," Lovell says. "When I was approached about the documentary, I was in the process of trying to have some semblance of a life to clean up and get off the streets. And I was determined to do that as myself, as the trans woman that I am. And it was hard. It was a long journey."

That journey would ultimately lead to Lovell to making her own documentary, The Stroll, an extraordinary and definitive history of New York City's Meatpacking District as told by the transgender women of colour who created its history. It debuted at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it earned Lovell and her co-director Zackary Drucker an special jury award "for clarity of vision." And now it's being released for everyone to see: it premieres on HBO (in the U.S.) and Crave (in Canada) on June 21st.

The title of The Stroll references an area in the Meatpacking District where trans women of colour congregated as a means of survival. Now a gentrified, corporate area of Manhattan, the film takes through the era before that, when trans women of colour lived, worked, loved and died on its streets.

"Historically, it's been a place where trans women have congregated to engage in sex work or survival sex work, for that matter," Lovell says. "In the timeframe in which the film takes place, there weren't a lot of employment opportunities or the level of acceptance and visibility that we have today."

One of the many illuminating elements of The Stroll is how well it shines a light on the transphobic powers at play in the situations its subjects faced. One specific person in that regard is none other than RuPaul Charles, who is featured in archival footage proving himself very much part of the problem. Lovell was unaware of the footage until she starting to do some digging.

"I was aware of Ru's stance on trans people, especially in regards to their show," Lovell says. "And so I just found [the footage] so patronizing in how they were just gallivanting through The Stroll... I just found it so disheartening because at the end of the day, you may be a performer or entertainer, but you have benefited for years off of transness. You know what I mean?"

Lovell said one of the main reasons she wanted to make the film was so that those that came after her could be aware of their own history.

"I did it for this generation that's coming up now that still do not have a broad sense of their history as a people," she says. "I know I didn't when I was coming up. I had to research and learn all of this stuff — the different types of trans people in different cultures."

Lovell says that though the struggles and fights that she and her trans community have had to endure for decades are very much "still there in different forms," she remains hopeful.

"We're a resilient community that perseveres through any adversity that's thrown at us," she says. "The world was a different place 20 years ago. Right? I thought I'd seen the worst of it then. But I don't live in fear. I don't let legislation and politicians dictate my happiness. You know what I mean?"

"They can throw me in a jail cell. They can tell me that I'm not a woman or not a woman enough. But it's not going to stop who I am."

The Stroll begins streaming on Crave in Canada and HBO in the United States on June 21st.