(Interview produced by Zachary Barr, originally aired November 20, 2009)
"Two Spirits," a documentary airing tonight on PBS stations, tells the story of a young gay man in a small western town who was beaten to death because of his sexuality. This is not the story of Matthew Shepherd and Laramie, but of Fred Martinez, who lived in the southwestern Colorado town of Cortez
Fred-- he sometimes went by Frederika-- was Navajo, and the film "Two Spirits" shows he found acceptance from family members, who held the traditional Navajo belief that someone with both male and female traits is to be celebrated, not shunned. Martinez died in 2001, when he was 16. We talked with the director of "Two Spirits," Lydia Nibley, in late 2009, when the film first came out.
[Photo: Lydia Nibley]
