Jared Leto's Oscar Criticized By Transgender Community

Jared Leto scored his first Oscar on Sunday night, taking home Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club" as Rayon, an HIV-positive transgender woman living in Texas in the 1980s. Many in the transgender community are questioning why a straight, white male actor had the role in the first place, while others are taking issue with the fact that he did not thank the transgender community in his acceptance speech.

Jos Truitt of the blog Feministing wrote: "I have no interest in watching a cis man in drag play a trans woman ever again. No matter what Dallas Buyers Club does as a film, the narrative around this movie, the fact that a man in drag is playing a trans woman, perpetuates the stereotype that we are men in drag."

Putting such stereotypes in context, Time's Steve Friess compared Leto's portrayal of a transgender woman to the offensive "mammy" role popular in early 20th century cinema.

Although Rayon might not have been a real person, there were -- and still are -- many just like her.

“Leto’s portrayal was of a particular fictional transgender person at a particular time," Mara Keisling, executive director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, told The Huffington Post in an emailed statement Monday. "But we can’t forget that transgender people like Rayon did exist and do exist. To the film's credit, I think it accurately showed what the life of this brave person must have been and how she was treated. Our job is to make life better for transgender people like Rayon in the real world, and it really helps to have these lives told by Hollywood.”

However, Keisling did give Leto credit for at least alluding to the trans community.

“My interpretation of his acceptance speech is that he was talking about trans people when he called out to people who are disrespected for who they are.”

The "My So-Called Life" star has taken heat for the role before.

During a Q&A at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February, Leto was heckled and accused of "trans-misogyny" for portraying the transgender Rayon, the Guardian noted. While the heckler took issue with the fact that a trans actor was not cast for the role, the 42-year-old actor said that ideology would then prevent members of the gay community from portraying straight characters.

I can't even name a single trans actor/actress..let alone find one who would be willing to play such a delicate role(he lost weight just for it didn't he?)
Good luck finding your perfect match for that role.

Is it really so important? Sometimes people seem to fight just for the sake of fighting.

It really upsets me that a film whose main plot is telling the story behind HIV/AIDS during the 80's is now being scrutinized by the "T" in LGBT as being "transphobic" or "tranmisogynous."

I can't even name a single trans actor/actress..let alone find one who would be willing to play such a delicate role(he lost weight just for it didn't he?)

I get tired of seeing straight men play gay men in movies and television.

Should gay men not be allowed to play a straight role? Should we only get men in the military to play military roles? Should jason bourne really have formerly been in the CIA?!?!?

Actors portray something they aren't... it's their job..

I can't even name a single trans actor/actress..let alone find one who would be willing to play such a delicate role(he lost weight just for it didn't he?)
Good luck finding your perfect match for that role.

Is it really so important? Sometimes people seem to fight just for the sake of fighting.

Should gay men not be allowed to play a straight role? Should we only get men in the military to play military roles? Should jason bourne really have formerly been in the CIA?!?!?

Actors portray something they aren't... it's their job..

But these loud *** basically seem to operate on the principle that anyone who is cisgendered is wrong.

Rayon's makeup and the fact that she had a wig in my book makes her character a drag queen(a gay male who dresses as a woman for entertainment), not a transgender. I mean never in the film is HRT or SRS discussed, nor apparent, so why should one assume she is anything besides a drag-queen.

I haven't seen the film, so I cannot comment on it, but that same argument has been swirling around Angel in RENT since it was first staged. Sorting the difference between crossdressing, transvestism, drag, and transgender seems to be in the eye of the beholder when a fictional person is involved.

I can't even name a single trans actor/actress.

Ultimately it's irrelevant what the character is. Articles like those in HuffPo, the Advocate and Frontiers take away from the general message of the film- HIV/AIDS and harsh drugs like AZT.

Quebec filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, who directed Dallas Buyers Club, spoke to CBC's Jian Ghomeshi, who asked whether he ever considered casting a transgender actor.

"Never. [Are] there any transgender actors?" he said. "I'm not aiming for the real thing. I'm aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing."

Blackface and yellowface were about one-note performances that hinged on exaggerated racial stereotypes and characteristics. Not that gay stereotypes in the media aren't rather abundant, but I don't find anything inherently offensive about straight actors playing gay roles as long as that actor is allowed to humanize their character without relying on the standard tropes like sassy gay neighbor or sassy gay best friend.

k, but na. a lot of the issue lies in this.

“Of course there are transgender actors,” Vallee answered with, “Which ones? There’s like five, or three, or what — two? I never thought of that. I never thought of hiring a real rodeo guy to play the rodeo Ron Woodruff. And just like in every film — we’re actors, we’re directors. I’m not aiming for the real thing. I’m aiming for an experienced actor who wants to portray the thing.”

How about Maddie Blaustein! Voice actress but hey-

To be fair if we condemn Jared Leto for playing a "transgender" then should we also condemn Angelina Jolie for playing a diagnosed sociopath in Girl Interrupted?

As it stands transgender is a mental condition as defined by the DSM. We've allowed numerous actors to portray rolls of characters diagnosed with a particular "mental condition" with no problem.

Maddie Blaustein was intersexed, I'm not 100% sure how transgender applies to intersexed people.

Actually, there are several models like that

Kayo Satoh (Kayo Police) is a Japanese fashion model that comes to mind (thank you, Street Fighter).