Transformed Documentary was recently released, telling the story of detransitioner Billy Burleigh. In the documentary, Burleigh shares his story of redemption in the hope of shedding a light on the reality of transgenderism.
The American Spectator’s Grace Reilly spoke with the film’s Director, William Hearn, in an exclusive interview.
William Hearn is the Director of Homer Cinema, a filmmaking and photography studio. He is a Christian, and is passionate about making a meaningful change in the world through film. He is from Boise, Idaho, but grew up in South Asia.
Grace Reilly: What inspired you to make this documentary? And additionally, can you explain its goal and main message?
William Hearn: The goal of the film is to help protect children and young people from the transgender movement.
Today, specifically in America, there is a large influx of children reportedly being diagnosed with gender dysphoria. And, no matter how that arises, it is still a problem. So, the question is: What are we going to do about that?
The main answer to that is being pushed in the culture is to transition medically and physically. That is very problematic on many levels. And so, our film follows the story of Billy Burleigh. He actually had gender dysphoria as a child and transitioned. His transition took place right out of college and he lived as a trans-woman for around seven years. He ended up seeing the light and receiving Jesus Christ as his savior, and was finally able to see through the confusion and lies of what he was experiencing. This led to his detransition.
The film additionally features Luka Hein, who also detransitioned. Notable biologists, theologians, and commentators were also interviewed in the documentary including Carl Truman, Will Witt, Paul McNulty, and Jan Dudt. They tried to provide a redemptive answer to gender dysphoria, rather than an answer that leads down a path of brokenness.
GR: What a powerful story. It is true that the reaction nowadays in our culture is to push not only a mental, but also a physical transition, and that is also being encouraged by medical professionals and psychologists. So it makes sense that we are hearing more stories of regret and complications, as the long term effects of transgender surgeries unfold. In Billy’s story specifically, why is the message of redemption so important?
WH: With Billy and with others, the main answer [to his gender dysphoria] that was provided, was to transition. The whole idea is bringing your body into conformity with your psychology. That’s the very abstract view. There is a very real problem where people of all ages, but especially children, are being mutilated and having surgeries performed on them. And all of it causes irreversible damage.
After Billy received the Lord he realized that Romans 12:2 says ‘and be transformed by the renewing of your mind,’ which is what we named the film after. We need to bring our heart and mind to understand what is true, and that was the beginning of Billy’s redemptive journey.
GR: Why is it important to reach people with the story and information in this film?
WH: Most of us know people who are transgender or are headed in that direction. We care about them and we want the best, so we want to warn people who may be going down this road and attempt to protect them from the pain that it brings. Billy goes into this, explaining that his body does not work the way it should in a lot of ways. My team wants to tell Billy’s story to warn others from going down the same path.
GR: From watching the film, redemption was a key message Billy delivered in telling his story. He made clear that if someone has gone down the path of transition, there is hope to be found. Billy chose hope and turned his life around, regardless of the irreversible physical effects of his transition.
As we discussed before the interview, recently the film was banned on Filmhub for being “transphobic.” Can you explain what happened?
WH: Yeah, the film is streaming now on our website. But, one of the platforms we were trying to get it on was Filmhub, which is a platform that distributes films to other places such as Amazon and Apple. The whole idea behind their company is to allow individual filmmakers to be able to reach a larger audience. Recently, our film was refused access. They told us it was because it broke their content policies by being “transphobic.”
It is really strange because the film tells the story of a detransitioner. Billy very openly cares about people who are considering transition and he wants to help them avoid brokenness. It was in no way “transphobic.”
GR: Right, and because this side of transitioning is a reality for many, it should be part of the conversation. Billy’s perspective is clearly valid as he lived through the whole transition and detransition process.
WH: Yeah, and I think the bigger problem is Filmhub trying to hide the truth by closing down a side of the story that needs to be told.
The Documentary can be streamed here.
A current intern at The American Spectator, Grace Reilly is a rising senior at Grove City College, where she is a marketing fellow at the Institute for Faith and Freedom. In her role as a fellow, she is the host of the Post-Roe America Conference Series and Meet the Scholars and co-host of the Liberty Mail podcast. Grace has appeared on Fox News, Newsmax, and America’s Voice News, in addition to a variety of podcasts, radio, print, and television in her home state of Connecticut. Follow her on Instagram @conservativegrace and on Twitter @conservgrace.
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