'Transparent' Cast Speaks Out on Trump's Transgender Rights Reversal
When Trump withdrew federal protections for transgender students on Wednesday, revoking their right to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identity, it was a shocking reversal, especially since Trump had previously promised to protect LGBTQ rights.
One group of high-profile people who wanted to share their outrage about this was the cast of Transparent, Jill Soloway's Amazon series, which tells the story of a transgender woman, Maura Pfefferman, and her family.
"It's fucking serious," Gaby Hoffmann, who plays Ali Pfefferman on the show, told ELLE.com at the Women in Film pre-Oscar party in Los Angeles on Friday. "It's a serious, scary, crazy motherfucking time, and at every turn we are being attacked and oppressed, some more than others. This past week it was our trans community friends."
"I'm seriously dumbfounded that this administration thinks that's one of the first things that needs to be done in the first 100 days," Amy Landecker, who plays Ali's sister, Sarah Pfefferman, said. "That's making America safe? They clearly know nothing about transgender youth. If you knew a transgender youth, I will tell you, the first thing they don't want is to be getting undressed in front of other people. It's hard enough when you're that age, let alone if you're transitioning. So this idea that somehow girls aren't safe because a child who was born with the assigned sex of male will be in the locker room? That kid will want privacy-that kid, like any other child changing at that age in a locker room, is going to want privacy."
Transparent is currently shooting its fourth season. The atmosphere on set the day they heard the news was grim, Hoffmann said.
"We were having a table read that day, and we had a woman visiting, a trans woman, who used to work at the White House and now works as a human rights campaigner, and she gave a lovely speech about how our show has been very helpful to her in her life. So we were trying to keep a positive attitude, but it's devastating. These are laws that are meant to degrade [trans people] and rob them of their humanity. It's really scary and really sad, and ultimately galvanizing...I hope."
As Landecker said, this new rule has far-reaching implications. "It is a civil rights issue," she said. "We're talking about discrimination. There is no portion of this society that's discriminated against more than trans people. There is not, statistically, so it's absurd to me, and very upsetting."
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