TransTainment for 5/3/21

Elliot Page

Elliot Page is comfortable at last. Since he announced he was a man he says that a lot of things that had been very quietly bothering him have disappeared. He said in an interview with Vanity Fair, “I feel a significant difference in my ability to just exist — and not even just day to day, but moment to moment.”

Coming out as transgender has also turbo charged Page’s creativity. He has written a screenplay, is making music, and has another project he can’t reveal at this time. Page also said, “This is the first time I’ve even felt really present with people, that I can be just really relaxed and not have an anxiety that’s always pulling.” Those who have Apple TV can watch him in an interview with Oprah Winfrey which premiered last week.

Talent Search for Trans Teen Character

Pixar, the company behind the Toy Story movies, is looking for a 12 to 14-year-old who can “. . .authentically portray a 14-year-old transgender girl.” That seems like they are willing to audition cisgender actresses for the role but we hope they will see the advantages of casting a trans girl for the part. The character’s name is Jess, who is “compassionate, funny, and always has your back.” If you are the legal guardian of a child who fits the role you can contact the casting department via email: [email protected].

Ezra Furman Comes Out

Musician Ezra Furman has come out as a trans woman. Furman is the singer from The Ezra Furman and the Harpoons band. In a statement she made last week on Instagram she said, “I wanted to share with everyone that I am a trans woman, and also that I am a mom and have been for a while now (like 2+ years),” she wrote. “About being a trans woman: for my own reasons I have been hesitant to use these words, especially the ‘woman’ word. I have often described myself as non-binary, which maybe is still true (I’m just gonna sit with that question for the moment).”

Trans Character on ABC Show

A character on the ABC show A Million Little Things, Eddie, is in rehab and gets into the habit of playing cards with a character named Jackie. As they spend more time at cards they get into conversations. In one conversation Jackie offers this advice, “Maybe, like me, there’s a beautiful person inside. You just have to find her and let her out.” Of course the implication of that sentence is that Jackie wasn’t always presenting herself to the world as a woman, and, she recognizes a sister when she meets one. Jackie is portrayed by trans actress Bobbi Charlton. Learn more about her and her character from Distractify.

Backstreet’s Back!

In a dress! Backstreet Boys member A.J. McLean has a new video in which he appears dancing around a dollhouse alongside transgender models Nahla Wyld and Carmen Carrera, partying amid flowers and feather boas. The song is titled Love Song Love which was was written by Mitch Allan and is meant to celebrate the transgender community.

Rae Spoon is a writer and singer-songwriter based in Vancouver. They have  been battling cancer and while they are now cancer free they must remain hospitalize for complications. In a phone interview from the hospital they talked to Straight.com about the new book they’ve written, a young-adult novel titled Green Glass Ghosts. The book’s narrator is a queer, guitar-playing musician who arrives in Vancouver in 2000 at the age of 19. Semi biographical,  perhaps? Learn more about Green Glass Ghosts and Rae Spoon from Straight.

Never Too Late

Trans man musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland has found new fans with the re-release of his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies, music that he feels was transmitted to him by a muse. The Philadelphia-born multidisciplinary artist lived and worked for decades in Canada, and is now experiencing fame for the first time at 76 years of age. In Canada Glenn-Copeland worked providing music for kid television. He worked on (for thirty years) a Canadian program called, Mr. Dressup. It resembles the American show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Today, the artist still lives in Canada with his wife. His work is getting new attention thanks to a Japanese record collector who extolled Keyboard Fantasies. Learn more from American Songwriter.

Doco on Gloria Allen

Gloria Allen

Shea Diamond

Luchina Fisher’s documentary Mama Gloria, is a celebration of transgender icon Gloria Allen. Allen, now in her 70s, blazed a trail for trans people like few others before her. She comes from Chicago’s South Side drag ball culture of the 1960s, and overcame traumatic violence to become a proud leader in her community. She pioneered a charm school for young transgender people that served as inspiration for the hit play Charm. The documentary film about her life features an original song called Presence of a Legend which was written and performed for the film by another trans woman, Shea Diamond. Co-written with Eren Cannata and Justin Tranter (Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber), Presence of a Legend comes on the heels of several 2020 single releases. Learn more about Shea Diamond from American Songwriter.

Patti Harrison in a Cisgender Role

Patti Harrison

Patti Harrison, 30, is an actor and comedian who just recently moved from bit parts and supporting characters to her first starring role in a feature film. That film is Together Together, one of the breakouts of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s a dramedy starrings Harrison as a 26-year-old barista named Anna who is hired as a surrogate mother by Matt, a single 40-something app designer (Ed Helms) who really, really wants a baby — and a connection of some kind with the woman who’s having it. The community complains often about cisgender actors portraying transgender characters. In this case we find a transgender actress playing a cisgender woman. You can learn more about how she landed the role in The  New York Times.

Tags: featured, Musician, news, Transgender

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment