'Moving Isa' is Business Insider's documentary short about a mother moving her trans child out of Texas

"Moving Isa," a documentary short produced by Business Insider's News & Documentary team, premiered in July 2023 at Henrietta Hudson.

• "Moving Isa" follows Violet Augustine, a mother who moves her transgender daughter Isa out of Texas.
• The short, from Business Insider's News & Documentary team, premiered in 2023 at Henrietta Hudson.
• It was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy award, and also received a nomination at the GLAAD Media Awards.

In July 2023, "Moving Isa" premiered to its first public crowd. 

The documentary short, produced by Business Insider's News & Documentary team, follows 6-year-old Isa and her mother Violet Augustine, who made the difficult decision to pack up their life in Texas to move out to California after Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order in February 2022 that directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care, categorizing it as child abuse.

"Moving Isa" received a nomination at the 2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards in the outstanding soft feature story: long-form category. The short was also nominated for the award for outstanding online journalism — video or multimedia at the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards.  

"Moving Isa" isn't focused on the politics, though the film briefly touches on the context of the move. Rather, it's a portrait of a family: a daughter, who's confident in her own identity, and a mother, who needs the freedom and support to best care for her daughter. 

The premiere took place at Henrietta Hudson, one of New York City's queer bars, which was highlighted in the 2021 BI video "Why Lesbian Bars Are Disappearing." In attendance were representatives from the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, media advocacy organization GLAAD, the Ali Forney Center, Christopher Street Financial, Callen-Lorde, AMC Networks, and LGBTQ+ affairs at JP Morgan Chase. 

Sipping on Dirty Shirleys and queer-made Dyke Beers, attendees mingled during a happy hour. But as "Moving Isa" began, the mood became more sentimental. Viewers chuckled at Isa's on-screen antics, fitting for a 6-year-old, and nodded together during more cutting moments. In a queer, intimate space like Henrietta Hudson, the premiere was a communal experience.

"While the hostile attacks on transgender children may seem wrong, they can still feel abstract to many people," Dr. Joshua Safer, the executive director for the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine, told BI. "The film demonstrates that the victims are people in our communities who could be any of us."

In an interview following the premiere screening, Augustine said that she ultimately decided to allow BI to document her and Isa's move in order to raise awareness, feeling some "guilt" that they had left the fight in Texas. Still, she worried about putting Isa in "harm's way" or outing her when she was still young, though the pair had regular conversations about the documentary.

"At the end of the day, I just decided that I know my child," Augustine told BI. "I know she's proud of who she is, and one day she's going to be giving anyone the middle finger who has anything to say about it."  

Augustine told BI she hopes that, if Isa watches the documentary when she's older, she'll be able to see her grandfather's love for her preserved in the film.

"I would love to hope for her being like, 'Oh my god, my mom's awesome,'" Augustine said, laughing. "But I know that won't happen for like 20 years."

"Moving Isa" is available to stream on the Business Insider website.