Acting While Trans: A Look Back at 2011 for Transgender Actors in the Media
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laverne-cox/transgender-actors-2011_b_1162279.html12/23/11
Laverne Cox
I started off 2011 by attending the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. I was only there for a few days but got to see the films Becoming Chaz and Gun Hill Road. I left the film festival feeling infinitely inspired as an actress, artist, and trans woman. I was certain that the game would be forever changed for trans folks in the media because of these two films. Chaz Bono, the subject of Becoming Chaz, of course, went on to have a groundbreaking year for transgender visibility. Harmony Santana, the transgender actress who plays Michael/Vanessa in Gun Hill Road, has won critical raves and public adulation for her moving performance as a teen struggling for paternal acceptance as she begins her gender transition. She was recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role. She is the first trans woman to be so honored.
