Leah Perri/Winonan

Winona State University kicked off the Collaborative Queer Film Series this past week: a four-film series that will be showing at 6 p.m. every Thursday night at the Winona Arts Center.

The goal of the series is to educate the Winona community on different LGBT issues such as identity confusion, sexual transformations and social injustices that many LGBT people face every day.

The film series is a new initiative brought to Winona by Winona State’s women’s and gender studies program and the Seven Rivers LGBT Collective.

Director of the women’s and gender studies program Tamara Berg helped organize the event.

“This film series enriches the diversity in our community and opens a dialogue about LGBTQ issues,” she said.

Thursday’s screening featured the 2011 documentary film “Gun Hill Road,” directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green.

The film follows the identity confusion of a young transgender Latino man, Michael (Harmony Santana), as he faces discrimination and rejection from his family, friends and community in his hometown, the Bronx.

Santana received the Best Supporting Actress Award in 2012, becoming the first openly transgender actress to receive this major award.

After the film, student members of Winona State’s Fighting for Our Rights and Gender Equality (FORGE) club, including president Courtney McCaw, led a discussion with the attendees.

“This film [was] emotional and troublesome but an accurate portrayal of the terrible things that many LGBT people face,” McCaw said. “They can be isolated, rejected, discriminated, and are more prone to be killed or kill themselves.”

Students were able to share their opinions about the film, discuss major themes and reflect on the injustices that many transgender people face.

The next queer film screening is on Thursday, March 6, and will feature “Pariah,” followed by a discussion led by Winona State faculty organization GLBTA committee.

“I want [students] to feel an emotional impact from these films and be moved enough to do something,” McCaw said. “Maybe it’s standing up for someone, maybe it’s to getting involved in activism, maybe it’s getting the courage and bravery to come out and be themselves.”