I saw Gwen's story on Lifetime, and I was moved beyond words. I am not a trans gendered teen myself, however I hurt the way they do, only from hearing the horror stories, and seeing the pain. Honestly I cried like a baby during and after this movie, just because I saw how painful it can be to live as a trans gendered teen. As a 3rd party I don't know the whole story, however I do know that I am a proud trans gendered supporter, and I will continue to feel like a friend of Gwen in some ways. I would have loved to meet her, and in watching this movie I felt like we would have been friends, good friends! Congratualations to the family of Gwen, you should be very proud!

Outstanding film dealing with a teenager who was totally female in thought but was born in the body of a male and suffered each day in his tragically short life.J.D. Pardo is excellent as the conflicted youngster. Former Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl shines in the role of his mother who at first thinks that he will outgrow his obsession of being a girl only to find out that this shall be his way of life. She goes to bat for him all the way.This excellent film deals with a major societal problem regarding transsexual behavior. We saw it in "TransAmerica," and "Boys Don't Cry." While the ending is tragic, the film is well acted and creates a disturbing picture of what transsexual people have to endure in our society.

I had no idea this movie even existed until it was announced in the local newspapers a few days in advance. I made a special point of viewing it, as I had attempted to follow in the news the complex court case that took place many years after the tragedy.The movie was very well done. I think the music was a bit heavy-handed, ditto some of the "dream" sequences. But the writing was solid and the performances strong, especially the dual leads played by relative newcomer J.D. Pardo as Eddie/Gwen, and veteran accomplished actress Mercedes Ruehl as Sylvia. I also thought that Joey, Joey's ex-girlfriend, and Sylvia's other two children were well portrayed.I hope this movie will enlighten some viewers as to how difficult life for a transgender person can be and how real the phenomenon is. I have a middle-aged friend who recently became a male-to-female TS person (hormones, surgery, etc.), and it is not something that anyone would do because of a phase, a whim or any other trivial motivation.

Gwen Araujo was born some twenty years ago as a biological male and raised with a brother and sister in a single parent household. It was apparent as shown in the film that Eddie as he was known then was feeling that the anatomy given at birth was not matching what was felt inside. In the teen years, Eddie took the name of Gwen to show her real persona and that was what she presented to the world.If the Gwen Araujo Story has a weakness it's that their are no really developed secondary characters in the film. It is dominated completely by Mercedes Ruehl as Gwen's mom and J.D. Pardo as Gwen.But these are two very powerful performances indeed. Ruehl is a loving, caring mother whose own life experiences have left her ill equipped to comprehend what her child is dealing with. As for Gwen, she's an innocent adolescent, but a brave one. Not comprehending why she's the object of such hate and ridicule, but determined to present herself to the world as she sees herself. Pardo does a great job in capturing both parts of Gwen's character.Had this been done for the big screen we might have gotten a more well rounded film, but as a made for TV film this is definitely one of the better ones. Hopefully a couple of Emmys might be in the future for both Ruehl and Pardo.It is also to be hoped that this film will educate and enlighten the public about transgender teens and what they face in their daily lives.