Fiona Dawson


Fiona Dawson is a bisexual advocate, Emmy-nominated documentarian and creator of the media project TransMilitary. Dawson spoke at the 25th annual Houston Transgender Unity Banquet. Dawson has served on the National Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign and the Board of Directors for NLGJA - The National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association.

Awards

Dawson started the Transmilitary project when she realized the Clinton administrations, "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, had allowed Lesbian, gay, and bisexual peoples to serve in the military but trans people were still outright banned from serving. The project was created to present a perspective of what this policy looked like at the ground level, to those actually serving in the military and was commissioned by the New York Times, and produced by both Dawson and SideXSide Studios. The film highlights Servicemembers, Partners, and Allies for Respect and Tolerance for All members Logan Ireland and Laila Villanueva. This film was nominated for “Outstanding Short Documentary” at the 37th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

''TransMilitary''

Expanding on the 12 minute op-doc project, Transgender, at War and in Love, Dawson and Gabriel Silverman created the full-length documentary which follows the same military couple. In 2018, the full-length documentary received the 2018 SXSW Audience Award. The original ban was lifted in 2016, however, Trump has been attempting to reinstate it.

Life

Dawson is originally from Britain and emigrated to the U.S. She is a white, cisgender, bisexual woman who now lives in Brooklyn. Dawson is passionate about pursuing projects that attempt to end discrimination.