Sometimes allies come from odd places.
Hillary Swank said nice things about trans people after she played Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry, and tonight, when Felicity Huffman won the Golden Globe for playing Bree, a transwoman, in Transamerica, she said:
“I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are, and so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are.”
So, trans people: consider yourself saluted. As much as actors aren’t always the best spokespeople, and shouldn’t really be spokespeople per se at all, they do make terrific allies. Winning the Golden Globe for her performance means that many more people are going to see a movie about a trans person who isn’t psychotic, violent, or crazy – which is, right now, a huge leap in the right direction.