By Nick A. Zaino III Globe correspondent,Updated June 30, 2022, 1:48 p.m.
“The Sympathy Card” is a big film for Petey Gibson. It provides a couple of firsts — first lead role in a feature film and first producer credit. Gibson plays Emma, a lesbian dying of cancer who pushes her wife, Josie, to meet and have sex with other women. It’s a complex role, and Emma doesn’t always come off as altruistic. The film, which is available Friday on Amazon, Google, Apple, and Vudu, balances emotional depth with light touches of romantic comedy.
It’s a triumph for Gibson but also presents a unique situation. “The Sympathy Card” was Gibson’s last hurrah playing female-presenting roles. After it wrapped in 2018, Gibson began the process of medically transitioning. (The film had its festival run curtailed by COVID and finally had its local premiere at Wicked Queer: Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival in April.)
In the run-up to its wider release this week, Gibson has been doing promotion as a trans man for a movie in which he plays a lesbian.
“I feel incredible now as a trans man,” he says, speaking by Zoom. “So personally, it’s complicated to then tell everyone in my life [to] go watch this movie where I played this woman named Emma. Especially as people get to know me now, but I’m incredibly proud of it.”
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