Calpernia Addams had a lot to say about Barry Winchell, his family, and the military during the Sundance Film Festival in January ... . Here's a portion of our conversation.
LF: What else can you tell us about Barry that isn't revealed in the film?
CA: He played the piano. He used to have long hair past his shoulders and played guitar in a rock and roll band. He and his mother, when he was a bitty boy, had to live in a car for a few days because of some troubles at home. Barry used to find money on the street and pick it up and take it to her, tell stories, and try to keep things together even at that young age when they had such hard times.
LF: Does Barry's family acknowledge you? You're all here attending the festival ...
CA: They do. I was really nervous about interacting with his mother [for the first time]. Even outside of issues of sexuality and gender, I was dating your son and then he was murdered. So it's really awkward but she's a psychiatric nurse and she's dealt with a lot of people in difficult situations and she's really open to me. The premiere here at Sundance has brought us closer together and it's opened a new level of dialogue between us.
LF: What do you think of the military? From all the underage boozing and bad behavior we see in the film, I get that there are a bunch of idiots running around in service of the country.
CA: It's a tough situation. I was in the navy for four years myself. On the one hand the military does have to have a sort of different life style. A little more control, a little more institutionalized because it's their mission. But the reality of it is there's a lot of lack of supervision. Massive alcohol use on base. Ridiculous policies like 'don't ask don't tell' which everybody agrees don't work and encourage service members to flat-out lie, which is unpatriotic. There's a lot of fatal flaws within a system that is supposed to be doing good.
LF: What sort of acknowledgment has the military given you in connection with Barry?
CA: Zero. Even at the trial [of the killers], I was like a ghost. I assume they had been instructed beforehand to not be rude to me, so nobody even looked at me or talked to me. That's better than being rude, I guess. I can't expect too much from them.
LF: Has justice been served in Barry's case?
CA: The Secretary of Defense, Colin Powell I believe, dismissed Barry's parents' lawsuit of negligence against the military. The army was judging its own case, which was deliciously convenient for them. They dismissed it, saying there was no wrong-doing. [What about the facts there was] underage drinking, the 911 system was down, and when Barry was killed nobody opened their doors in the barracks? Barry was screaming and there was a big ruckus and nobody opened their doors. You have to wonder what was happening there.
LF: You're currently living in Chicago [since this interview, Addams reportedly has moved to LA]. So are you done with Nashville now?
CA: I love Nashville and it will always be my home. But I've got things I want to do in the world. I want to produce short films myself and continue as an entertainer in film and represent transsexual women as they should be. So I think Chicago, NY and LA are better places to do that. But I'll probably be an old women in Tennessee in a rocking chair at 70 years old.
See www.calpernia.com for info.
