Documentary Film SECOND NATURE Screening October 10, With a Conversation + Q &amp; A Raising Urgent Concerns Over Government Censorship of Science Headlined by Actor Elliot Page who will be joined by authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, film director Drew Denny and evolutionary biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden.&nbsp;Elliot Page and Drew Denny, the narrator and director of the documentary <a href="https://www.secondnaturedoc.com/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">SECOND NATURE</a>, will join trailblazing&nbsp;evolutionary biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden, authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson (And Tango Makes Three) and the national literary and free speech non-profit PEN America for an Oct. 10 online screening and conversation about government censorship related to the sciences. Proceeds will support a national tour of the film as a suicide prevention resource for LGBTQ+ youth. The&nbsp;critically-acclaimed film focuses on groundbreaking scientists whose research reveals truths about the animal kingdom, including same-sex behaviors and parenting. . The 3pm (ET) screening will be immediately followed by an interactive Q and A and conversation with Page, Denny, Roughgarden, Parnell and Richardson, moderated by Jonathan Friedman, PEN America’s Sy Sims managing director for U.S. Free Expression programs.&nbsp;&nbsp; Friedman said: “This documentary couldn’t be more timely and relevant. We are living in a country where scientists are subject to destructive ideological censorship and have to watch what they write or say for fear the government will retaliate against them – particularly as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community. This alarming reality extends to the federal government adapting a list of forbidden words to screen research projects. This obviously puts whole areas of research at risk, across public health, safety, biology, human development, and more.” As the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHeXSarM0st/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">U.S. government censors scientific terms</a> and <a href="https://pen.org/nonfiction-banned-book-list/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">public schools increasingly censor nonfiction books </a>including scientific titles, the screening comes at the culmination of <a href="https://pen.org/banned-books-week/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Banned Books Week 2026</a>. This year the Oct. 4-10 week is spotlighting the freedom to read and the harms of censorship. Censorship in both <a href="https://pen.org/report/the-bills-igniting-book-bans/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">school libraries</a> and <a href="https://pen.org/press-release/report-public-libraries-face-existential-threat-putting-books-information-and-people-at-risk/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">public libraries</a> has reached epidemic proportions with <a href="https://pen.org/banned-picture-book-list-2024/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">bans on picture books</a> (including And Tango Makes Three, a fact-based story about two male penguins raising a chick together) as well as <a href="https://pen.org/report/facts-fiction/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">non-fiction books</a>, including in the sciences, that explore themes with race and racism, gender identity, and sexuality. Book bans impact authors, educators, librarians, school boards&nbsp;– and, of course, readers. SECOND NATURE has been deemed appropriate for all audiences ages 11 and up by an independent librarian reviewer. Single tickets cost $25, including the post-screening conversation Virtual admission for 2 viewers watching together on the same screen costs $40, with discounts for larger groups including: Virtual admission for a host screening for 6-10 viewers in the same venue: $80Virtual admission for a host screening for 11-29 viewers in the same venue: $160Virtual admission for a host screening for 30+ viewers in the same venue: $250 All proceeds will benefit the SECOND NATURE impact campaign, a national tour of the film as a suicide prevention resource for LGBTQ+ teens, organized through Allies in Arts, a non-profit organization supporting women, BIPOC, and queer artists in all mediums through education, grants, exhibitions, and mutual aid.&nbsp; About SECOND NATURE Narrated by Elliot Page, SECOND NATURE follows trailblazing evolutionary biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden as she meets groundbreaking scientists exploring the 1500+ animal species who engage in same-sex sexual behavior and parenting, change sex, form matriarchies, and more,&nbsp;debunking myths that females are “inferior” and that being queer is “unnatural.”&nbsp; Exploring topics few students learn in high school biology classrooms, the film answers questions such as: Did you know that clownfish change sex from male to female? (So if Nemo’s mom had died in real life, his dad could have become a female!) Did you know that albatross, penguins and swans parent in same sex pairs? Or that bonobos, who are just as closely related to us as chimps, are matriarchal and have same-sex sex every day?! About the Partners About Drew Denny, SECOND NATURESundance Lab Fellow and Grantee Drew Denny is passionate about representing women and LGBTQ+ characters. Her one-woman-show turned Academy Award nominated podcast, Asking For It, explores her experience of intimate partner violence in queer relationships, and her feature documentary Survivor Made, executive produced by Roxane Gay, won a Silver Anthem award. She spent 11 years making Second Nature because it's the film she needed in high school in Texas where she was taught that females are "naturally inferior" to males and queerness is simply "unnatural." Like many survivors, she employs humor as a pleasurable protest against her harm doers and the systems that support them. She earned a BFA in Cinema and Television Production from USC and an MA in Aesthetics and Politics from California Institute of the Arts.&nbsp; About Elliot Page, Pageboy ProductionsAcademy Award ® -nominated actor, director, producer, writer and New York Times bestselling author Elliot Page is known for his indelible on-screen presence in both tentpole and art house films. His love for storytelling and passion for social justice have taken him behind the camera as a producer and documentary filmmaker whose work answers the call to action of a generation. A tireless champion of the under-represented, Page uses his global platform to shed light on important social and LGBTQ+ issues. Page’s work and advocacy are motivated and informed by the urgency of global issues which impact the most marginalized among us. With his production company, Page Boy Productions, Page develops and producesentertaining, original and socially responsible stories. The company seeks creators and content from underrepresented communities and uplifts collaborators who have been denied equitable access to mainstream Hollywood. Page and Page Boy Productions have a first-look television deal with UCP, a division of Universal Studios Group, to develop both scripted and unscripted television projects. About Dr. Joan RoughgardenJoan Roughgarden is an American theoretical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology" target="_blank">ecologist</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_biology" target="_blank">evolutionary biologist</a>. She has engaged in theory and observation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coevolution" target="_blank">coevolution</a> and competition in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anolis" target="_blank">Anolis</a> lizards of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean" target="_blank">Caribbean</a>, and recruitment limitation in the rocky intertidal zones of California and Oregon. She has more recently become known for her rejection of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection" target="_blank">sexual selection</a> and her work on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holobiont" target="_blank">holobiont</a> evolution.&nbsp; About PEN AmericaPEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at <a href="http://pen.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">pen.org</a>. About <a href="https://www.alliesinarts.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Allies in Arts</a>Founded in 2015, Allies in Arts supports women, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ creatives and youth. Their annual workshop, <a href="https://www.alliesinarts.org/transchool" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Transchool,</a> has supported 60 young trans writers and 20 trans authors to mentor them and is currently publishing<a href="https://co-conspirator.press/Transchool-Volume-2" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);"> their third anthology</a>. Their holiday mutual aid initiative <a href="https://www.instagram.com/transanta" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Transanta </a>has answered over 11,500 letters from trans youth in need and facilitated over $2.5 million worth of affirming holiday gifts. Through their <a href="https://substack.com/@drewdenny" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Make It Anyway</a> community on Substack, they offer weekly Writing Time, monthly Office Hours and Studio Visits, and Quarterly Craft Workshops.&nbsp;

Did you know that clownfish change sex from male to female? (So if Nemo’s mom had died in real life, his dad could have become his mom!) Did you know that albatross, penguins and swans parent in same sex pairs? Or that bonobos, who are just as closely related to us as chimps, are matriarchal and have same-sex sex every day?!  Narrated by Elliot Page, Second Nature follows trailblazing Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Joan Roughgarden as she meets groundbreaking scientists exploring the 1500+ animal species who engage in same-sex sexual behavior and parenting, change sex, form matriarchies, and more,  debunking myths that females are “inferior” and that being queer is “unnatural.”  SECOND NATURE — everything you didn’t learn in high school biology.

English

Second Nature: Gender and Sexuality in the Animal World

Elliot Page narrates this hilarious and heartwarming romp through the animal world, following brave scientists fighting censorship to reveal the truth about our nature.

PEN America presents a special Banned Books Week screening of Second Nature featuring a virtual Q&amp;A with Elliot Page, Dr. Joan Roughgarden, Director Drew Denny, and Authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, moderated by Jonathan Friedman of PEN America

PEN America Presents: Second Nature Benefit Screening, Feat. Live Q&A with Elliot Page

Second Nature with Live Q&A featuring Elliot Page

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Elliot Page narrates this hilarious and heartwarming romp through the animal world, following brave scientists fighting censorship to reveal the truth of our nature. SECOND NATURE - everything you *didn't* learn in high school biology.

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