WASHINGTON (US) – A transgender documentary entitled “Disclosure” will be launched this week on Netflix. This comes days after a landmark LGBT+ ruling by the US Supreme Court that creators of the project said left them elated and relieved.
Directed by trans filmmaker Sam Feder, “Disclosure” looks at changing images of trans people in Hollywood and their real-life experiences.
Feder and his team “created a portal into trans lives, and specifically trans perspectives,” said “The Matrix” co-director Lilly Wachowski, who is also trans and features in the documentary.
Having the Supreme Court rule that gay and trans workers are protected from workplace discrimination days before the release of “Disclosure” was exhilarating, said Emmy Award-winning actress Laverne Cox, an executive producer.
“I am overjoyed,” said Cox, who vociferously supported workplace protections for gay and trans people.
“We were preparing ourselves and bracing ourselves for them saying it’s okay to fire LGBT+ people from their jobs for being who we are, and we won,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The US court ruling, which is hailed as the biggest decision in gay rights since same-sex marriage, states that federal law protecting workers from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour, national origin and religion also applies to LGBT+ people.
When the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” made its debut seven years ago and made Cox a star, there were no trans actors with recurring roles on television, she said.
According to LGBT+ media advocacy group GLAAD, last year there were 38 regular and recurring transgender characters featuring on US television.
“Compared to nothing, it feels like a revolution,” said Cox.
But she added, visibility is a double-edged sword.
“With more visibility, we’re often targeted more,” said Cox.
Increased attention on minorities can result in a violent backlash, said Feder. Last year, the American Medical Association termed attacks against transgender people an “epidemic of violence.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field