Why Can't I Be Me? Around You

When Albuquerque’s Rusty Tidenberg, auto mechanic and drag-racing aficionado, came out as transgender, she began a remarkable personal journey through identity and self-discovery. Followed for eight years by filmmaker Harrod Blank (son of Les Blank), Rusty guides us through the aftermath of her transition, as growing acceptance among her straight-talking Southwest community still doesn’t ease her romantic and professional woes. Interwoven with lively tales of gender-nonconforming individuals in the art-car community of which Blank is a part, WHY CAN’T I BE ME? AROUND YOU is a sensitive and unpredictable love letter to people who fight to be unapologetically themselves.

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