What do yo think about the whole should straight/cis actors be able to play gay/trans characters ?
keep in mind that whatever my own personal experience is with gender, i don’t identify as trans, nor do i experience transphobia or transmisogyny. so while i feel like my answer is appropriate for both straight actors playing gay characters and cis actors playing trans characters, i can really only speak from personal experience as a (functionally) cis lesbian
so like many other issues i’ve talked about on this blog, i think it’s a mistake to discuss this issue in an absolute way, as in “cis/het actors should never under any circumstances be able to play gay/trans characters” (i’m not accusing you of framing it that way btw, i’ve just seen that idea fairly frequently, both as a straw man and as a genuine stance)
if we lived in a utopia free of oppression (at least on the axes of gender/sexuality—it’s not my place to determine how this issue would/should play out with regard to race, for example) i don’t think cis/het actors playing gay/trans characters would be an issue tbh. the reason it’s an issue in our current society is specifically because lgbt people are oppressed on the axis of gender and/or sexuality. while there’s something to be said for the fact that a cis/het actor wouldn’t be able to understand the lived experience of a gay/trans character the way a gay/trans actor would, i don’t think that’s necessarily a problem on its own. that’s what acting IS—playing a character who isn’t you, whose experiences differ from yours on at least some level (or else you would be acting as yourself)
imo it’s an issue of visibility/representation, and of the voices and perspectives of marginalized groups being silenced, in addition to the obvious negative impacts of consistently refusing to hire gay/trans actors. when cis/het actors get hired to play gay/trans characters, gay/trans actors are disenfranchised both materially (not getting hired for jobs can obviously lead to financial trouble, and decreased chances of getting hired for future jobs bc of a lack of star appeal or w/e) and as a group, because lgbt people don’t get to participate in telling our own stories. when the primary narrative of what and how lgbt people ARE is determined by the people who oppress us.......i mean i think the problem with that is more than clear
