In the era of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Soldier's Girl told an urgent story about LGBTQ+ military service - Queerty

Soldier's Girl is a 2003 TV movie based on the 1997 murder of soldier Barry Winchell. Winchell was killed by two fellow soldiers after they learned he was dating Calpernia Addams, a young trans woman. The case became widely publicized and connected to the era’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy. The film follows Winchell as he arrives at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and befriends Justin, whose presence reflects the barracks’ toxic masculinity, sexism, and homophobia. The story centers on how discrimination and hostility in military life can escalate into lethal violence.

"The original TV movie Soldier's Girl is based on the real life murder of soldier Barry Winchell, who was brutally killed in 1997 by two fellow soldiers when they learned he was dating Calpernia Addams, a young trans woman. The case was widely publicized throughout the nation and became a talking point around the heated "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy of the '90s."

"Produced by Showtime and directed by Fellow Traveler s creator Ron Nyswaner, the film recounts that story as Winchell (played by Jane Fonda's son Troy Garity) arrives to his new post in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He quickly befriends his extroverted but emotionally unbalanced roommate Justin (Shawn Hatosy), who welcomes him into the social dynamics of life in the barracks, a place filled with toxic masculinity, sexism and homophobia."

"Of course, the queer community has had a complicated relationship with the military, an institution with many discriminatory policies and laws against us over the years. Yet it's also true it's had a lasting impact on the lives of many queer people that decide to enlist, for good & for bad."

Read at Queerty