In 'The Dads,' men bond over fishing and their love for their transgender kids

In August 1998, Dennis Shepard went fishing with his son Matthew for the final time during a family reunion in the Bighorn Mountains. A couple of months later, Matthew, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was brutally murdered. His death drew widespread attention to the fight for LGBTQ rights and hate crime legislation in the United States.

Now, more than 25 years later, Dennis is one of six fathers featured in a documentary short film that premiered Nov. 17 on Netflix.

Directed by Luchina Fisher (“Mama Gloria”), “The Dads” follows the elder Shepard and five fathers of transgender children — Stephen Chukumba, Frank Gonzales, José Trujillo, Peter Betz and Wayne Maines, whose daughter made history as TV’s first trans superhero on the CW’s “Supergirl” — who bond during a weekend fishing trip in rural Oklahoma. As they cast their lines into the river, the men find common ground on their unconditional love for their children, whose rights are at risk of being rolled back across the country and around the world.