Silas Howard

Early life

Howard grew up in southern Vermont. His working class parents were often considered “freaks” for always doing things differently, a term he uses with a positive connotation. Even though he lived in a small town, he had access to art and culture which made him aware of his queerness at a very young age and urged him to widen his horizons. So in the early 90's, wanting to find people he could connect to, he moved to San Francisco where an aunt of his was residing.

Early 90's

He arrived in San francisco in the early nineties, in the midst of the AIDS crisis. Still struggling with his questions of identity he didn't find his place in old-school gay bars but soon found his crowd with the queer punks.

He started a band with some friends of his called Tribe 8, an outspoken dyke punk band, that engaged with subjects such as S/M, nudity and transgender issues. He was their guitarist. For a decade they toured in the States, Canada and Europe. Howard loved traveling around and “finding queers everywhere”.

Back in San Francisco, he associated with Harry Dodge, a former band member and they opened a cafe called Red Dora’s Bearded Lady Café where artists could come in and expose their art. It was situated next to a gallery that a friend of his who was diagnosed AIDS and had a few years to live decided to open in order to curate shows aimed at a queer audience. Surrounded by art, punk music, drag and queerness, he was an active component in the representation of alternative movements and give a voice to people who were often considered the marge of society. He eventually moved from music to cinema, in order to continue to do so.

Shift to movies in the early 2000’s

At 28, Howard decided to team up with Harry Dodge again, but this time to write, direct and act in a film. He wanted to do a movie that puts the world he knows on big screens. By Hook or by Crook was exhibited in 2001, after a three year long struggle. Although the shooting phase only took three month, it was a lot of work to get the necessary funds since translating transgender issues on screen was considered a big risk. But it didn't stop them to go though with it.

“We totally home-schooled it, we maid this feature film without having made a short or anything, because we’re like, we have the urgent need to tell this story, to have these different faces on the screen.”

And the big risk paid off since the film was awarded in a few festivals, is written about and is taught in queer cinema classes.

Falling in love with visual storytelling and the power it has, Howard decided afterwards to get a MFA in directing in UCLA and graduated in 2008.

Howard is also the first trans director in the Emmy Award Winner Show Transparent, second season. The creator Jill Soloway wanted trans director to be able to tell their own stories. It was the first time he worked on a production with such a big budget but immediately fitted right in with the rest of the cast and crew bringing an energy that cultivated a space where they could truthfully translate the diversity of the trans experience.

He is also currently a visiting lecturer at Cornell University.

Personal life

Although Howard spent most of the early nineties rebelling against a lot of norms and trying to render queerness visible in the midst of the AIDS crisis, it was only when studying in UCLA that he transitioned. He presented as a female butch lesbian for most of his adult life and while his friends and fellow filmmakers were very supportive, his family had a harder time with the transition. He had a complicated relationship with his mother who had a hard time accepting her kid's evolution, but she eventually did. Moreover, during his transition, his father was terminally ill, so despite everything that separated them, they found common ground which helped both of them cope with what they were going through.

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Actor

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