Somewhere in the deep south in 1941, a baby is born between the sexes and the family must choose, boy or girl? The doctors call it Adrenogenital Syndrome… intersex… sexually ambiguous… Mother calls it, “devil’s work”.
LARRY BENSON, assigned by his Father to live as a male, is the son of a tobacco farmer and his Father’s right hand man. Since the age of 12, weekly testosterone shots have left Larry powerful, small, and quick to anger and throw the first punch. A thirty-year old man, truly uncomfortable in his own skin… Especially when his uncertain status is questioned, Larry fights with a rage that puts others in the hospital. He is sterile, and has been rejected by the U.S. Army because of his indeterminate sex. He suffers from crippling headaches. Perhaps all associated with the male hormones.
In spite of his bravado, Larry has always exhibited feminine inclinations, including a keen eye for fashion and design. He has long shared his interest in fashion with his AUNT PEG, a free spirit and sharp dresser who was also out of place in their rural community, and now lives in California.
Larry has a romance with child-like LILY, a "big" girl who was his childhood best friend. It is she who holds and rocks him when his headaches become unbearable. Lily works in her father’s grocery store and well, simply loves Larry. And for Larry, Lily is his world…
The rural south, a tobacco farm, 1971… The deep south is anything but an understanding environment in which to realize that a mistake has been made.
Larry’s mother loves him, knowing his… difference. Her sister, Aunt Peg, knows he would have a better chance in California. Lily, herself different, loves Larry. Larry’s Father, wanted a son.
Mistake explores gender intimately, displaying a compassionate view of everyone involved, and the choices they had to make. And the consequences they could not avoid.
