Trans Media Arts — Transgender Entertainment News
Wellllll howwwwdiieee everyone! Welcome to another edition of Transgender Media Arts! My name is Amanda and I reckon I’ll rustle ya up some good stories about transgender people in the media. I’ve got me way too many stories and it’s time to move this cattle out. They are eatin’ up all of my fields! So let’s round ’em up and git ’em on out!
Three things, Ruby Rose and Batwoman, and lesbianism… there’s a story right there. Batwoman is coming to the CW network with gender-fluid Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black) playing Kate Kane, Bruce Wayne’s cousin. Set three years after the mysterious disappearance of Batman from Gotham City, and the city is once again overrun by thugs and gangs, Kate has to become Gotham’s new savior/vigilante. But, she is no man, and does not want people to think that she is The Caped Crusader himself. So, after brutal training and a dishonorable discharge from the military, Kane stumbles into the Bat Cave along with Luke Fox, the son of Lucious Fox and finds all she needs to become Gotham’s new hero, Batwoman! The show will air this Fall at 8pm on Sundays. Check out the trailer:
Michael D. Cohen
Michael D. Cohen, who plays Schwoz on the popular Nickelodeon show Henry Danger, has come out as being transgender. Although he identifies as a man, and not transgender, he knows where he came from and knows who his “people” are. Even though he transitioned 20 years ago, he is not shying away from the transgender community saying, “This crazy backlash and oppression of rights is happening right in front of me. I can’t say silent.” Cohen has written a book called 4 Cubits Make a Man. He will be performing it in a one man show in L.A. June 30th to July 3rd.
Calenna Garbä is a self-taught Argentinean musical artist and transgender advocate. At the same time she was trying to figure out her gender identity, she used a pencil and an old keyboard to learn music. Her musical and personal journeys have many twists and turns, but those trials have helped her become a professional pianist. “Music was the anchor that allowed me to get by. I owe everything to music,” she says. Calenna Garbä received the Argentine “Estrella de Mar” Award for the best show for the 2017 season (“Calenna Clásica Liggera”). She was the first transsexual woman to receive the award in this field. She recently played in Washington, D.C. at the Argentinean Embassy. Here is a video of one of her pieces:
Indya Moore, 24, is making history as the first trans woman to be on the cover of Elle‘s June magazine. Indya appears on the television Pose on FX. Indya, who prefers they/them pronouns, worked their way from a foster home at 14 to having 200,000 Instagram followers, a hit show and now a modeling career.
Veteran character actor Philip Keung is also a trans actor and stars in the directorial newcomer Jun Li’s groundbreaking transgender drama Tracey, a big step for mainstream cinema in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is still very transphobic in general, but this film, actor, and director hope to change that.
Quinn Christopherson, a transgender singer-songwriter in Anchorage who is Athabascan, has won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest, a national contest, with a wonderful video and song about his experience with life. Quinn’s entry apparently astounded the judges with the powerful song and video of Erase Me, about a trans man coming to terms with the power of his voice.
Dana International
At the Eurovision 2019 international song contest, Israeli diva, and winner from 1998 Dana International, was welcomed back to the show to perform and saying, “We all deserve to be loved,” as she dazzled the crowd in Tel Aviv.
Natalia Marie Melendez is the first trans woman mariachi musician. The Los Angeles Area resident performs with Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the world’s first openly LGBTQ mariachi group. “Being that I am the only transgender female in the world that plays mariachi music, it has been difficult,” says Melendez. “There is definitely a machismo culture in mariachi.” But she is hoping to change all of that for future mariachis by her sheer presence in the culture. Learn more and watch a video on the ABC 7 website.
Big news! TGForum contributor Raquel Swann was kind enough to allow us to publish 24 chapters of her book Metamorphosis last year. Raquel has let us know that you can now pre-order a copy of the book from Amazon and it will be available in June. If you want to learn how the story ends go to Amazon now to place your order.
Eve Lindley
Actor Jason Segel is in Philadelphia to work on an AMC Anthology called Dispatches From Elsewhere. In it, a transgender actress, Eve Lindley will play a museum worker. The AMC show will be 10-episodes and is now casting for all positions in and around the Philadelphia Area. Anyone interested in getting involved can go to the Greater Philadelphia Film Office website. Read more about the show here.
Whooooweee!! That was a barnyard full of info there! I am fixin’ to go to turn in for the night. See you next time. I hope y’all come back now! Ya hear?
Category: All TGForum Posts
About the Author (Author Profile)
I am a transwoman originally from Pittsburgh, PA. I have been living full time for 5 years. I work in retail but am an artist/Graphic Designer and aspiring writer. I tend to address the controversial in my writing. I would love to change the world one article at a time. I moved to The San Francisco Bay Area to start over, again. But recently moved back to the East Coast. The adventure continues...Subscribe
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