TransTainment October 19, 2020
Daniela Vega
The transgender star of the Chilean Academy Award-winning 2017 drama A Fantastic Woman, Daniela Vega, has joined forces with Mexican actor Yalitza Aparicio to host a four-part documentary series about Latin American women who have survived state and gender violence. The series is called Peace Peace Now Now. Vega spearheaded the production and executive produces.
Vega and Aparicio have both been fierce advocates for the rights of the marginalized, the invisible.
Said Vega: “I’m thrilled to see how this project has evolved after two years in development. The characteristics and humanity of each host has enriched the stories of great women who defied wars and violence for years.” “It was an honor to meet them and bring their stories to the world,” she added.
Vega hosted the first episode where she visited the City of Women in Colombia, a town made up exclusively of women who survived the displacement by military forces in Colombia.
Learn more about the series from Variety.
Girlhood
Jazz Jennings
The National Museum of American History is featuring an exhibition called Girlhood (It’s Complicated) which will run until Jan. 2, 2022.
A subsection of the exhibition titled “Embracing Yourself” features transgender reality TV star Jazz Jennings, the star of the TLC reality series I Am Jazz. Jennings first received national attention during an interview with ABC News’ Barbara Walters in 2007 at the age of 6 in which Jennings was referred to as “one of the youngest known cases of an early transition from male to female.”
“By embracing themselves, girls break barriers every day to change our culture’s definitions of girlhood. For many, these rules just don’t fit,” the Smithsonian description of Jennings reads. “Jazz Jennings is one of those girls. She shares her girlhood with millions of Americans on television and reminds us that girls can be assigned male at birth and that girlhood comes in many forms.”
The description continues, “Jazz always knew she ‘was a girl trapped in a boy’s body.’ As a toddler, she felt a roar of emotions at not being able to communicate what she was experiencing. Jazz’s family listened, learned, and supported her. Together, they work to support all transgender children through the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation.”
Even though the exhibition has already opened you can check it out online.
Laverne Cox for Gold Bond
Actress Laverne Cox, perhaps best known for her role on the Netflix hit Orange Is the New Black, has partnered with skincare brand Gold Bond on the new marketing campaign #ChampionYourSkin and is using the platform to highlight the transgender community and the non-profit Trans Wellness Center in California. Get more on the story from Cheddar.
Ms. Cox will be appearing in the horror satire movie Bad Hair directed by Dear White People director Justin Simien to begin streaming on Hulu on October 23.
Miss Intercontinental 2020
Arielle Keil
While many girls dream of being beauty queens, New Zealand’s Arielle Keil had to wait years to be allowed to compete.
Until 2012 it was against the rules for transgender women to compete in pageants — and even now, almost ten years on, there are only a couple of pageants which allow trans women.
One of these is Miss Intercontinental — a title which Keil won and made history.
The 26-year-old is the first transgender woman to take home the prize she has spent years fighting for.
“For the longest time it was my dream, and now it’s my reality,” she said.
Keil was raised in an extremely conservative Catholic family. When she announced she was going to transition to female in 2012, she was given an ultimatum by her father.
“I was given the option to stop transitioning or get out — so I said ‘okay, I’m out.'”
It took a long time to recover from the abandonment issues she experienced- – but now, she is thriving. Her father has come to accept his daughter and even attended the pageant to see her win the crown.
Get more information on Keil from msn.com.
Rocker Laura Jane Grace has a new solo album and she has some thoughts on the stance JK Rowling has taken regarding transgender people.
Grace says “JK Rowling has no grounds to speak on the transgender experience because she knows nothing about it.” Learn more about Grace’s new solo effort and further thoughts on Rowling in NME.
Meanwhile — here is the complete album for your listening pleasure.
Justin Vivian Bond
How are people coping with the pandemic? The New York Times asked three celebs how they were coping and one of the celebs was singer-songwriter, actor, cabaret performer, painter Justin Vivian Bond. Mx. Bond, in a previous incarnation Kiki from the cabaret duo Kiki and Herb, has a house in New York state that they call the the House of Whimsy. Bond said to The New York Times, “I’ve called it that because I like to maintain a level of joy and whimsy in my life, and that takes a lot of effort. This place is a daily reminder not to take things too seriously.”
Mx. Bond did 16 weeks of musical webcasts from the Public Theater featuring a revival of the Kiki & Herb cabaret act. They also spent time painting watercolors and petting their cats.
That is this month’s report on trans people in the arts and entertainment. Tune in again next month!
Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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