The push for greater recognition of trans and non-binary talent on screen has led several awards shows to question how to recognize queer talent, with mixed results.
Voting began last week for the Emmys, which last year saw the first openly transgender performer nominated for a lead role — Mj Rodriguez, for her role in the drama series Laid. She is also the third transgender performer to be nominated for an Emmy, after Laverne Cox and Rain Valdez.
In Canada, the Toronto chapter of the actors’ union renamed some of its awards to be more inclusive, but critics claimed the categories were still mostly defined by binary terms.
In an industry that is finally starting to open up to underrepresented artists, challenges continue in mainstream productions, as well as the awards shows that honor them, says New Brunswick-born actress Tricia Black , known for CBC comedy Pretty Hard Cases.
“We’re in a time where so many people can finally be who they really are and express themselves in so many different ways,” said Tracia Black, who uses the pronoun iel.
“It means we have to be more considerate of each other when it comes to how we are seen. But in the gaming world, it’s hard, and it often makes you wonder, “Where do I fit in?” »
A beginning “
Last year’s Emmys were the first to allow actors to be recognized with the gender-neutral title “performer” on their certificate of nomination and trophy. Also last year, the Gotham Awards eliminated the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, replacing them with primary and secondary categories.
Earlier this year in the music industry, the UK’s BRIT Awards also opted for more inclusive categories, while the Grammys scrapped all gendered categories in 2012.
In Canada, Toronto’s Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the largest branch of the Canadian Performing Artists Union, allows members to submit nominations based on the character’s gender or how an artist identifies himself personally. They include “outstanding performance – non-binary or feminine” and “outstanding performance – non-binary or masculine”. ACTRA said the category changes were made in consultation with the queer committee outACTRAto.
However, the star of the television series Sort Of, Amanda Cordner, who was named for portraying the non-binary character 7ven, said the categories remained mostly binary despite the title change. Having a category devoted to “best performer” would have made more sense, Amanda Cordner said in an interview after the nominations were announced in January.
Montreal-born, Emmy-winning actor and writer Jo Vannicola, who identifies as non-binary, is part of ACTRA Toronto’s LGBTQ+ committee. He calls ACTRA’s decision a “beginning”.
Vannicola, head of outACTRAto, hopes ACTRA will open more categories next year.
At this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, non-binary co-star Amanda Cordner and Bilal Baig, co-creator of Sort Of, chose not to submit their performances for the awards due to “disappointing” binary acting categories, executive producer Jennifer Kawaja confirmed in an email to The Canadian Press. Beth Janson, CEO of the Canadian Academy at the time, said “that’s something we want to work on.”