The Important Face From the Transgender Community That Was Missing From the Academy Awards
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Every year since 1994,the Academy Awards has a video tribute featuring select Hollywood professionals who passed away. This year's ceremony was no different, but some are criticizing the Academy for leafving out a face from the LGBT community.
Patricia Arquette was disappointed that her transgender sibling, Alexis Arquette, was not included in the "In Memoriam" video, the lineup of which is debated and decided by a secret committee each year.
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“I’m really bummed. For the in memoriam, they left out our sister Alexis, and she was trans," Patricia told Vanity Fair. Although Patricia uses female pronouns for Alexis, in an interview last year David Arquette said that Alexis told him she was "not transgender anymore" but gender fluid, referring to herself as "gender suspicious." Some family members use female pronouns and some use male pronouns when referring to Alexis.
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Alexis was an accomplished actress and activist who passed away from a bacterial infection and complications from HIV in September 2016. She reportedly lived with the virus for nearly 30 years before dying at 47. Arquette started to transition in her 30s and was the subject of the documentary, "Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother," which debuted at the Tribecca Film Festival in 2007.
The film chronicled the process of her sexual reassignment surgery. She had 70 film credits , with roles in "Of Mice and Men," "Pulp Fiction," and "The Wedding Singer," according to Vanity Fair.
In another interview with Vanity Fair on Sunday, Patricia said including Alexis in the memorial video could have been an inspiring example for kids struggling with anti-transgender polices across the country.
ATTN: asked The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Wikimedia Commons - wikimedia.orgNorth Carolina is currently the only state to have legislation that requires one to use a bathroom corresponding with one's biological sex, as opposed to gender. However, the National Conference of State Legislatures says a dozen states have restrictive "bathroom bills" pending, eight of which specifically address public schools.
On Feb. 22, President Donald Trump also rescinded guidance from the Obama administration that directed schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice.
“We’re living in a time right now where trans kids can’t even go to the bathroom in schools and they’re diminished in society," Patricia told Vanity Fair. "It’s really unfortunate that the Oscars decided they couldn’t show a trans person who was such an important person in this community. Because — trans kids — it could have meant a lot to them.”
