Academy considers gender fluid star in both male… | Little White Lies

Queer Cinema

Acad­e­my con­sid­ers gen­der flu­id star in both male and female act­ing categories

12 Dec 2016

Words by Tom Williams

Woman with long, wavy blonde hair and a pink top smiling at the camera.
Woman with long, wavy blonde hair and a pink top smiling at the camera.
Kel­ly Man­tle makes Oscars his­to­ry in vic­to­ry for the trans community.

As awards cer­e­monies go, the Oscars has a pret­ty poor track record when it comes to active­ly pro­mot­ing diver­si­ty with­in the film indus­try. It now seems, how­ev­er, that the Acad­e­my isn’t com­plete­ly adverse to progress. Despite ini­tial­ly screen­ing in 2014, Miguel Ali’s Con­fes­sions of a Wom­an­is­er, which tells the sto­ry of a com­pul­sive wom­an­is­er who befriends a trans­gen­der pros­ti­tute, was re-released the­atri­cal­ly this past week in order to qual­i­fy it for the 2017 Oscars.

Among the cast is Amer­i­can actor, come­di­an and drag queen Kel­ly Man­tle, star of the sixth sea­son of RuPaul’s Drag Race, who plays the role of Gin­ger in the film. The Acad­e­my recent­ly con­firmed that Man­tle has been made eli­gi­ble in both the male and female act­ing cat­e­gories, which will hope­ful­ly pave way for more gen­der flu­id actors. Although it’s unlike­ly that Man­tle will take home the top prize on 27 Feb­ru­ary, this wel­come piece of Oscars his­to­ry rep­re­sents a small vic­to­ry for the trans­gen­der community.

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