On September 10, 2021, Alana McLaughlin stepped into a mixed martial arts cage as part of Combate Global’s card and became the first transgender woman to compete in a professional bout since Fallon Fox left the sport in 2014.
The result was a hard-earned second-round submission win over France’s Celine Provost. It was also a touchstone for transgender people amid the growing legal challenges over trans rights in sports and in public life.
McLaughlin’s journey and its impact is chronicled in the newly released documentary “Unfightable,” which opens Friday in a limited theatrical release in New York through September 19, followed by release in Los Angeles, September 20-26. The film will also be available on the ViX and Fuse TV streaming services later this year.
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The 1-hour, 37-minute film tells story behind the story, much of it in McLaughlin’s own words. It begins with a child growing up in South Carolina trying to find her way, yet knowing at their core who she is. A journey that went from surviving the frontlines of anti-queer America to surviving the frontlines of military fighting in Afghanistan, to coming home and coming into their own and finding a place in MMA.
“It was just a great story with all these challenges through her life,” Unfightable director Mark Perez stated as what drove him to make the film. “It takes takes a lot of guts when all these people are basically screaming at you online and calling you names.
“What I wanted to do in the film was to first humanize Alana and tell her story,” he continued. “I wanted people to know the person and understand the person, and a little bit of their background, and then hear all this hate. I think it hits people in a different way.”
Alana McLaughlin Then and Now
McLaughlin narrates her story with poignance and a biting wit in chronicling her path and making observations on being trans and an athlete in these times. Interviews from those closest to her, including MMA legend Fallon Fox, in addition to array of those commenting on her drive to the first fight.
The story extends to the promoters making the fight happen to advocates and adversaries dissecting what it all means at a deeper level. The story has a pace that is a mix of biography and drama, with some light moments mixed in.
McLaughlin said her goal in telling the story is passing hope along to other trans people, especially those seeking their chance to be in sports despite the current backlash against trans women in female sports.
“I hope that they see that as hard as things are that we can still plant our feet and start swinging,” she said. “It’s possible, even as difficult as things are, and we can make some kind of difference.
“It’s frustrating that there is regulatory stuff not going our way. I just hope folks can take some kind of comfort in seeing that it’s been done.”
The release comes just a month after issues surrounding trans inclusion were on stage at the biggest sporting events of this year.
The fallout from the controversy in the women’s Olympic boxing tournament, with gold medalists Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-tang — both cisgender women who’s trans identity was erroneously questioned — is still fresh. Italian para athlete Valentina Petrillo, the second out transgender woman to compete in a Paralympics, was a target of prominent anti-trans voices through the last two weeks.
“I was disappointed with a lot of the media coverage,” McLaughlin commented when asked about boxing situation. “The rampant speculation and the wild claims being made by [a] certain billionaire children’s book author. There is also a definite disappointment for some friendly folk who were defending Imane, but don’t show that same energy for trans athletes.”
McLaughlin noted those incidents along with continued criticisms surround trans inclusion in sports since her debut and the seeming indifference within the public at large amid these debates.
“There is a fear that trying to push for trans inclusion and trans rights will somehow negatively impact their own,” she said. “You look at some of the prominent queer media organizations and supposed queer rights orgs that are stepping back from trans rights entirely. They are more inclined to appeal to advertisers and be entertainment powerhouses that standing up for trans people.
“I don’t want to drive away potential allies, but right now our current allies aren’t doing enough.”
Since the fight, McLaughlin has taken other moves forward in her life. She relocated from Portland, Ore., to Pittsburgh in the last year. At the same time, she is still in the gym and staying sharp for an opportunity for her next fight, which would be her first since that night in Miami three years ago.
The wait is another piece of the frustration and hope.
“I’m still looking for a fight. Until I can’t do it anymore, that’s what I’m trying to do,” she said. “Sitting in the corner, keeping quiet and letting it pass you by doesn’t help you in any way.”
While preparing for the next fight, McLaughlin hasn’t stayed quiet on social media or out in the world. She has also inspired trans people, whether they are a young person stated school… or a 50-something finding the courage to come out to family.
The latter is a scene in the film, and that 50-something is me, meeting McLaughlin two years ago and sharing with her the importance in my own journey of the image of her entering the cage with the trans flag proudly outstretched.
For her, such stories are the greater value of sharing her story.
“It’s humbling,” she said. “That’s the kind of personal impact that surprised me. That is what makes the entire project worth it. If that’s able to give anyone a little push to be able to live more freely and openly, that’s literally the best thing to come out of this project.”
