Can NPH Avoid Being Lambasted by Transgender Media?

The Academy Awards occurred the other day and while there were a few cute photobombs by Benedict Cumberbatch and some amazing GIF sets of Leo’s face slowly churning from optimistic to completely sour, one of the big stories to pop up after all the red carpets had been rolled up and been put away dealt with Best Supporting Actor Winner Jared Leto. After winning an award for portraying a trans* woman dying of HIV Leto was slammed by the very people he attempted to portray.

Many out there share the opinion that Jared Leto should not have been given an award for his portrayal of Rayon, a trans* woman, in the Academy Award Nominated film Dallas Buyer’s Club due to his status as a cisgender male. Hilary Swank came under similar fire for her role as a trans man when she won an Academy Award for Boys Don’t Cry, as did Felicity Huffman for her nomination in Trans America. While there is a lot to unpack about this issue (whether a cisgender individual of any sex or orientation should be allowed to portray a transgender individual) that is not what this article is about. At least not directly. (Links at the bottom will provide background for those wishing to learn more).

It was announced at last year’s Tony awards that Neil Patrick Harris would be returning to Broadway in 2014 and the rumors of what show were proven to be a reality when it was announced he’d be starring in the Broadway debut of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The reason these two stories are relevant is that Hedwig, as a character, is also part of the trans* spectrum and Harris is a cisgender male. He’s a gay male, but sexuality and gender are two different things.

Those of us that appear on the trans* spectrum can, and should, still be mad about this but it is happening and as such it is best to take this in the positive direction. While it is still an issue within the trans* community that trans* people are lumped in with the GLB crowd (and are happy to stand in solidarity with their gay, lesbian, and bisexual brothers and sisters) and that many trans* individuals identify as both, trans* issues are different issues.

That being said Neil Patrick Harris is one of the most loved gay identified individuals in the country. Having him on our side is not a bad step. There was even a compelling case made by W. Kamau Bell on his FXX program Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell that he may have dropped an “n” word at the Tony Awards, but (and he doesn’t speak for the whole black community) Kamau essentially overlooks this because well “(he) earned it!” I see this as equally problematic but the fact that Harris has proven himself on a lot of GLB spectrums taking on the T aspect, his body of previous work (especially on Broadway) shows that he is willing to work to accurately portray an individual outside his own zone of comfort. Whereas Leto’s own body of work for his Academy Award-winning role has been called into question by Time Magazine Online writer Steve Friess. Friess wrote:

Leto claims his research included sit-downs with transgender people, but none have come forward to acknowledge they advised him and the full credits don’t specify any particular transgender consultants. The transgender world is pretty small, especially in Los Angeles, as I learned when I wrote my L.A. Weekly cover story about the suicide of transgender L.A. Times sportswriter Christine Daniels. Nobody who knows anything about this life is sticking up for this performance.

Now Hedwig, depending on your interpretation of her story, became a woman out of desperation. While it’s definitely clear Hedwig’s pre-surgery identity was born with male genitals and was attracted to other male-bodied individuals and had a love for gender-bending rock stars, a case could be made that Hedwig didn’t necessarily want to be a woman. Which could perpetuate the issue that many non-trans* individuals have preconceived notions about (the idea that trans women might regret it later or secretly just feel pressured to become a woman), but at the same time the story itself is the journey Hedwig takes to finally love herself as herself and realize gender fluidity can be beautiful.

Ultimately whenever a cisgender individual portrays a trans* individual it is taking money from a trans* actress who typically may get one or two lines in Law and Order as a trans* prostitute. We won’t know until we see the finished product and Harris goes full swing with the media circus whether he is a great trans* ally or not and that is a little nerve wracking. As it stands most online interviews and articles proclaim Harris’s role as Hedwig to be him as a trans* character yet all the discussion seems to be around Harris tucking his genitals (an issue that pops up for trans* individuals) but then again the most bombastic number from the show contains a brief monologue detailing Hedwig’s genitalia as having “scar running down it like a sideways grimace on an eyeless face,” so to talk about Hedwig without genitals is difficult enough.

It would seem there is at least a little more optimism in the air that Harris will do a captivating performance and hopefully open up the discussion on trans* individuals at the same time it is his job as an actor portraying someone outside himself to lend his voice so that trans* individuals voices can be heard, not stifled in his honor. So we’ll see if and when that happens.

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For more info on the issues the trans* community has with Jared Leto’s performance check out:

I’m a Trans Woman and Here’s Why Jared Leto Didn’t Deserve his Oscar by Kat Calahan on Jezebel

Here’s The Real Story of How Oscar Nominee Jared Leto Got Called Out for Transmisogyny At The Virtuosos Awards by Rachel of Autostraddle

Don’t Applaud Jared Leto’s Mammy by Steve Friess on Time Magazine Online; Ideas

Jared Leto’s Best Supporting Actor Oscars win sparks backlash from transgender community by Jenn Selby of The Independent