Valentina Sampaio is making history once again: She’s reportedly the first openly transgender model to work with Victoria’s Secret. Sampaio broke the news herself on Instagram on Friday (July 2) by posting a pic of herself in a fluffy bathrobe: “Backstage click @vspink ??,” she captioned the photo, adding a string of hashtags: “#bastidores #new #vspink #campaign #representatividade #diversity #beauty #selfie #model #life #fashion #usa #vstorm #valentinasampaio #bomdia.” According to a statement from the company, the Brazilian model and actress is featured in the the back-to-campus campaign for Victoria’s Secret PINK.
Sampaio’s post received a ton of support, including congrats from Victoria’s Secret Angel (and fellow Brazilian) Lais Ribeiro, who posted how happy she was about the news on Twitter, and Laverne Cox, who wrote “Wow finally!” in the comments of Sampaio’s Instagram.
Sampaio posted a video of herself to Instagram as well, seeming to reference her milestone in the caption—and the PINK campaign again in the hashtags. “Never stop dreaming genteee ???,” she wrote. “#staytuned #bastidores #new #vspink #campaign #representatividade #diversity #beauty #selfie #life #fashion #usa #vstorm #valentinasampaio ?✌?”
Victoria’s Secret came under fire last year for comments made by its chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, during an interview with Vogue. When he was asked about why the company didn’t include transgender or plus-size models in its shows, he responded that he didn’t believe they should be featured, calling the show a “fantasy.”
Trans models like Carmen Carrera and Leyna Bloom have publicly expressed their desire to walk for Victoria’s Secret. In 2013, Carrera was the subject of a Change.org petition, which received more than 35,000 signatures, asking the company to make her the brand’s first transgender model. Last April, Bloom launched a Twitter campaign to be the first trans woman of color to walk the show’s runway.
Sampaio herself is no stranger to advocating for representation. She was also the first trans model on any Vogue cover, appearing on the March 2017 cover of Vogue Paris (she also appeared on the covers of Vogue Brazil and Vogue Germany later that year). “Her accomplishment comes despite recent setbacks for the LGBT community in Brazil—including a spike in hate crimes and killings of LGBT people,” Buzzfeed wrote in a profile of her in June 2017. “Though the reality for most trans women in Brazil differs sharply from Sampaio’s, her ascent to fashion’s most coveted spot is seen both as a milestone and the mark of a new normal for transgender people in her industry.”
In the two years since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, there have been multiple efforts to roll back protections for transgender people in America. Shortly after his inauguration, language pertaining to LGBTQ communities and their issues were removed from the official White House Page. Last summer, he attempted to ban transgender recruits from the military. (It didn’t work.) In October 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a memo announcing changes to an Obama-era guidance said civil rights law doesn’t protect transgender workers. And that winter, the Trump administration reportedly directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to omit “transgender” from its 2018 budget documents.
Now, in what many analysts are calling a partisan political play right before the midterm elections, the administration will attempt to roll back the recognition and protection of transgender people under federal civil rights laws. According to the New York Times, Trump wants to define sex as an unchangeable condition determined by genitalia at birth. This means total erasure for transgender people, who will not only lose access to rights, but who will likely face violence and trauma in both the physical and mental form in a country that refuses to acknowledge their existence.
But, there are still people willing to fight back. People like Jennifer Williams, the first openly transgender Republican delegate to attend a Republican National Convention. A Republican in many rights—Williams has attended 10 Conservative Political Action Conferences, is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and the National Rifle Association—she also finds herself at an impasse with her party. A party that, in their hopes ignore the transgender community will also erase and alienate her in the process.
Below, Williams shares her story and what she hopes for her community—and the Republican party—moving forward.
Over the weekend, I watched as a memo from inside the Trump Administration leaked to The New York Times. In it, the Department of Health and Human Services argued for defining a legal definition of sex to be a “biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.” It’s a move I disagree with. But, I’m still a Republican.
I grew up with two Democrat parents. They grew up in an era between FDR and John F. Kennedy. But I was a kid who grew up in the Reagan and Bush 1980s. At the time, we were in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. I saw what happened with the hostage crisis in Iran, I witnessed how weak our country was. It really drew me in a different direction than my folks. So, when I walked in to register to vote, I ticked off “Republican.”
Yes, I’ve voted for Democratic candidates locally along the way, but for my entire adult life, I’ve been a proud supporter of my chosen party. And now in my New Jersey community—one dominated by the Democrats—I see the need for both. I see a need for two parties that will vigorously fight and try to win over voters, and two parties that will present new ideas, alternative ideas.
I still like a lot of the core ideals and beliefs that the Republican party holds. But, unfortunately, those are being challenged today, with memos just like this. And ultimately, these ideas are contrary to the original founding of my beloved party.
As a Republican, I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed on how a minor offshoot of the Republican party—one that’s very bent on religious freedom—is really directing our current administration to take away the liberty, freedom, and equality that millions of Americans who just happened to be LGBTQ currently enjoy.
These liberties shouldn’t be limited. Rather, they should be expanded.
Afford us the same opportunity that everyone else in the country has to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let us be free of discrimination in the workplace so we can make our own way in the world, so we can provide for ourselves. Ensure we aren’t discriminated against regarding medical care and housing so we may have liberty. Help us all get on an equal playing field rather than trying to limit what we can be. Stop limiting who I can be, and what I can achieve in life.
As a Republican, I am sad. I am sad that my party is being hurt by potential policies like this and what’s happening at large. I don’t believe President Trump has animosity toward transgender people, however, he owes a lot to many people who voted for him who do indeed want to take away our equality.
But, as a Republican, and as a transgender woman I’m still hopeful. I’m hopeful that we will be able to reduce some of the anti-LGBTQ language on the next go-around following the midterms.
And part of that includes me continuing to speak out.
By me being in the room as a transgender American, I’m able to represent my community where otherwise my community would not be represented at all. In that room, I am able to make sure that I challenge viewpoints that would hurt our community, but also being, hopefully, a positive example of our community and that we’re not the stereotype that people think.
No one wants to be a member of a party of discrimination. But, there are still people on the inside who are willing to fight to be on the right side of history. People like Bob Hugin from New Jersey, who is currently running for the United State Senate, who, on Monday said: “Bob Hugin strongly supports equality and opportunity for the LGBTQ community and will be a leader on these issues as Senator. If President Trump wants to roll back equality and opportunity for the LGTBQ community, Bob Hugin won’t hesitate to stand up to the president.”
That statement, to me, is worth staying a Republican.
I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t know what my party’s future holds. But, for now, my first priority is protecting my community.
Jennifer Williams is the Chairwoman of the Trenton Republican Committee, a Master Poll Worker for the Mercer County Board of Elections (NJ) and a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment in her hometown of Trenton, New Jersey. In 2016, Williams attended the Republican National Convention in Cleveland as the first openly-transgender Delegate from New Jersey.
Nicole Maines is changing television forever tonight: On the CW’s season premiere of Supergirl, she’ll portray TV’s first transgender superhero Nia Nal, a.k.a Dreamer. In an interview with the New York Times ahead of her big debut, Maines talked about how excited she is to have landed the role and what her historic casting means for trans representation.
Maines, who first rose to prominence as a plaintiff in the Maine Supreme Court case Doe v. Clenchy over transgender bathroom rights, told the Times that it’s “a phenomenal time to be a queer nerd,” likely referring to other high-profile castings, such as Ruby Rose being chosen to play a lesbian reimagining of Catwoman, also on the CW. “We have so much representation on the superhero shows!” Maines said.
She also opened up about the importance of kids meeting her character for the first time and having a trans superhero help bring more awareness to trans experiences.
“I think kids need to watch Supergirl for Nia, because there are more and more trans people coming out younger and younger,” she said. “I think it is necessary to educate folks on trans issues and to make them aware of trans identities and normalize it, because it is normal. But when you’re shielded from something and it’s actively censored, it takes a negative connotation. If people are more educated and they’re more aware of these issues and more familiar, they won’t feel so foreign.”
Maines was also asked why it’s critical to have a trans person playing a trans character, a question that has been continually brought up when non-trans actresses are chosen to portray trans people (Scarlett Johansson recently left a production after trans rights supporters called for more authentic representation.) Maines’ answer was eloquent and straightforward: “Because it’s validating.”
“When we have a trans woman playing a trans woman then you see, ‘Oh wait, this is what trans really is. This is what it looks like: a person.’ That sends a message to trans kids that they are valid in their identities, that they are allowed to exist. It also sends a message to cisgender people, to parents, that trans people are not dangerous or sexually deviant or any of these myths that have kind of been construed by conservative outlets. It’s just an identity that people live,” she said.
Maines will continue to make history as the show goes on. Supergirl airs tonight at 8/7 central.
Nicole Maines made history as the plaintiff in Doe v. Clenchy, the Maine Supreme Court case that helped set a landmark precedent for allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that matched their gender identity. Now, the actress and activist is changing the game yet again: The CW just announced that she’ll join the cast of Supergirl as Nia Nal, a groundbreaking character who marks TV’s first trans superhero.
“I haven’t really wrapped my head around it,” Maines said in an interview with Variety earlier this week, adding, “I’m nervous because I want to do it right.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nia Nal—a.k.a. Dreamer—is a “soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.” Dreamer is loosely based on the DC Comics character of Nura Nal, a superhero with the power of seeing people’s deaths in the future.
After the Maine Supreme Court ruled that her right to use the bathroom matching her gender identity had been violated under the state’s Human Rights Act, Maines went on to become the subject of the book Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt, as well as one of the transgender people featured in the HBO documentary The Trans List. She also appeared on the USA Network show Royal Pains, in which she played a transgender teen.
Maines’ casting comes at a time in which many people have pointed out the lack of trans representation on screen. Actress Scarlett Johansson recently pulled out of the film Rub and Tug after facing backlash for being cast as a transgender man. Maines touched on the controversy with Variety and said that keeping Johansson in that role would have only furthered stereotypes about the transgender community.
“I think that cisgender actors don’t take roles out of malice—it’s just a failure to realize the context of having cisgender people play transgender characters,” she said. “We don’t see the same issue with sexuality; we see straight people play gay all the time. With trans folks we have a lot of people accusing us of just playing dress up for whatever reasons, and that’s just not true. Having trans people play trans roles show that we are valid in our identities and we exist.”
UPDATE July 6, 2018 at 10:35 A.M. ET:Scarlett Johansson‘s recent casting as a transgender man in the upcoming film Rub & Tug has re-sparked the debate about whether cisgender actors should play transgender characters. Many aren’t happy with Johansson’s involvement, including Trace Lysette and Jamie Clayton, two trans actors who discussed the issue on Twitter.
“I wouldn’t be upset if I was getting in the same rooms as Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know that’s not the case. A mess,” Lysette tweeted.
“Actors who are trans never even get to audition for anything other than roles of trans characters. That’s the real issue. We can’t even get in the room,” Clayton echoed.
In response to the criticism, Johansson’s rep gave this message to Bustle: “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.” (Those three are all cisgender actors who received critical praise for playing trans people.)
The Internet, naturally, is buzzing about this—as it was last year, when news broke Elle Fanning would be playing a trans man in the movie Three Generations. That’s what prompted the conversation below:
ORIGINAL STORY: In college my family was my group of queer friends, and we existed harmoniously 99.9 percent of the time. There’s only one disagreement I clearly remember—and it was about the 2013 movie Dallas Buyers Club. In the film Jared Leto, a cisgender man, plays a transgender woman, a casting decision that was polarizing both with critics and with two friends in my college squad: Caleb, who identifies as gender queer, and Jensen, who identifies as a trans man.
Jensen took the affirmative: He thought Leto’s casting was completely fine if he was the best actor who auditioned. Caleb, on the other hand, said a cis actor shouldn’t have even been considered for the role. No one really “won” the argument: Both Caleb and Jensen made excellent points.
Which is why their debate was the first thing I thought of when I heard Elle Fanning, a cis woman, is playing a trans man in the new film Three Generations. GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis released a statement approving the film’s message (it centers on a teen’s transition from female to male), but what about the casting? Should cisgender actors be allowed to play transgender roles? The question rages on four years after Dallas Buyers Club.
And the answer is still unclear—well, at least according to the recent conversation I had with Caleb and Jensen. The three of us chatted about Fanning’s casting, and while Jensen and Caleb still have the same opposing viewpoints, they see eye to eye on one issue: The need for better trans representation, overall, in Hollywood.
Read our full, unfiltered discussion, below:
Chris: I remember our group of friends getting into a debate about cisgender actors playing trans roles after Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club. It’s happening again with Elle Fanning in the new film Three Generations. She plays a female assigned at birth who wants to transition to male. So I’m curious: What do you two think about this? Is it OK for cisgender actors to play transgender roles? Why or why not?
Caleb: My usual feelings about cis actors playing trans roles is that it’s almost done in a way to make fun of the trans character or invalidate their identity. For instance, in Dallas Buyers Club with [Leto’s] character Rayon: It almost seems as though they went out of their way to make her look bad and trashy in most scenes and almost leaned into the “man in a wig” narrative. And I wouldn’t have an issue with a trans person looking “not so good” in Dallas Buyers Club if that [narrative] wasn’t a normal thing. Trans people sometimes do look bad. We’re people, but in almost every movie where a trans woman is played by a [cis] man, there seems to be little effort in feminizing her. That’s not to say that trans women need to be femme or that having a beard makes her less of a woman, but it’s one side of trans-ness that we’ve been fed over and over again in sort of a tragic way. Much like 70 years ago in pulp fiction novels [where] gay men and lesbian women had to be murdered or convert to straight by the end of the book, trans people usually end up in the roles of someone living with HIV/AIDS, a prostitute, or the butt of the joke.
Jensen: My position is that the actor who fits the role best and has the most skill should play it. I don’t think that just because someone’s trans that they should be handed the role if they can’t act. I find it exciting that our stories are finally being told—of course, there’s always going to be room for improvement in telling minority stories, but the fact that they’re being told at all is progress. As a trans man, I’m not bothered by Elle Fanning playing the role of a trans man if she was the most skilled actor who auditioned.
Chris: Caleb, to your point about cisgender portrayals often invalidating trans identities: Do you think it’s possible for a cisgender actor to understand a trans character’s full complexity? Or are all the roles better suited for trans actors?
Caleb: Oh, cis people can’t ever comprehend trans-ness—not to say that trans-ness is some otherworldly thing that no one could ever understand, but trans people are still working out what trans-ness is and how we interact with our own and what we want our community to be. If we’re still working it out and living it every day, I really don’t think that an actor, even a talented one, can really understand all the sides of the identity he or she is playing. For where we are right now in our culture and in time, I think only trans actors should play trans roles.
Jensen: I will agree with [your] single point, Caleb: I think that there needs to be a wider variety of storylines about trans people, especially trans women, but I still don’t think making the roles solely for trans actors is the way to go. I think we also have to keep in mind reaching a wide audience when trying to gain some understanding from cis people, and that comes with names that have large box office pull. Right now there’s only a handful of trans actresses who have large pull with their names, and they might not fit every single storyline they are presented. And to answer the question about complexity and fully understanding: I don’t think, unless you are trans, that anyone could ever fully understand what we go through, but I also think that cis actors understand the weight that comes with taking such a role. I believe that anyone who would take on such a role would do so with an open heart toward our community and want to help us reach people and open minds.
Chris: The box office conversation is interesting. Caleb, what are your thoughts on that?
Caleb: I understand the temptation for a director or casting company to want to cast big names in trans roles. Dallas Buyers Club wouldn’t have had the pull it had if it didn’t have Leto. I think there are [better] examples of cis people playing trans roles more successfully than Dallas Buyers Club, but I hate that [they] get some sort of “bravery badge” for doing so. But back to the box office point: I think the movies want the money boost, so they put cis actors in these roles so that people kind of think, I want to see Leto playing a trans woman. I think it’s exploitative, especially with the narratives that we’re fed in these roles.
Jensen: I will agree that the narratives surrounding the trans community need to be better. 100 percent. But I will also say those producers aren’t looking for just a “trans actress.” Characters have a specific age and race and Laverne Cox, Jamie Clayton, Alexandra Billings, Candis Cayne, Jen Richards, Calpernica Addams, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, or some of the other relatively few out trans actresses might not fit the part.
Caleb: And that’s fine, but why not cast more trans people than that? Why not bring in new talent? Because I know that more trans people than that are auditioning and not getting roles—roles that are often given to cis people. Specifically for trans women, these roles are often handed to men. I’ve even been happier to see cis women playing the roles of trans women because at least a woman is playing the role rather than someone who is completely removed from both trans-ness and womanhood.
Jensen: I’m not personally a casting director or producer, so I can’t answer those questions. If I was, trust me: I would be pushing for more new faces. I’m sure that there are people who are talented and being overlooked, but I also still stand by my statement that we need to be able to reach people when telling our stories. We need to have cis people show up to the theater, and that means big names. I also will say that in the average person’s mind, when they think of great acting, they think of an actor playing a role that she or he is not comfortable with, that tests their skills as an actor. A straight person playing a nonstraight role, be it gay, bi, or transgender, is just a testament to their ability to act—if they perform exceptionally well. And yes, maybe we should be moving more toward cis women [playing trans roles] than men since it creates so many issues. I even enjoyed Felicity Huffman playing a trans waitress in Transamerica. Maybe if we can’t have trans women playing trans roles, then at least cis women will help stop some of the “man in a wig” portrayals you stated earlier.
Caleb: I disagree. I don’t think we should be OK with queer roles being seen as a test of a cis-het [cisgender, heterosexual] actor’s skills, especially not when we’re trying so hard to work on problems in the representation department and show the mainstream world the wide variety of queer people that exist. We need to showcase more queer talent and let trans people tell these stories and take more input from trans people about these stories and roles to make sure that, in this crucial time of transgender stories being new and educating the public, we get these stories right and showcase a [variety] of trans voices.
Chris: Actors tend to get the brunt of the criticism when these casting decisions happen, but there’s an entire system behind why they’re cast. It’s an agent who puts the actor up for the role, a studio that backs the decision, casting directors who filter who gets to audition, and a patriarchal entertainment industry that prioritizes male talent. Do actors deserve criticism for simply accepting a role? Or should the outrage be directed elsewhere?
Caleb: I think we can certainly hold the entire system accountable. Everyone involved in making a movie that features queer, trans, or gender-nonconforming people needs to be educated on those topics and issues and should know that representation is a huge issue for us right now. Getting our stories right matters so much. I want to have movies about my community and trans people, but I want it done right. I want a [variety] of stories with complex characters who are imperfect and human, who love and are lovable, who aren’t always sex workers, who aren’t the butt of the joke, and who are more than just their transition. I want those movies and the people responsible for making them [to be] just that: responsible. And if the actors and actresses playing these roles win awards and thank “God” but don’t thank the trans people who live authentically and bravely every day, then yes, they should be roasted.
Jensen: Hollywood has a serious problem highlighting trans talent. The industry itself needs to learn and evolve faster on how to improve the way it tells trans stories. I don’t think it’s the actors who should be criticized. They are trying to tell stories, make art, and do what they love, which is perform to the best of their ability. If anything, I think most of the actors do thank the trans community. Case in point: Jeffrey Tambor, who, when accepting his last Emmy, said [to] give trans talent a chance and [that he] hopes [he’s the] last cis actor to play a trans woman. I think that the actors and actresses themselves try to take as much care and research as possible from our community and listen to us. But I think we’ve got a long way to go when it comes to the entire system.
Season 14 of Grey’s Anatomy is one of the show’s most progressive yet. You can see this best perhaps in the episode from two weeks ago, where Casey, an intern played by out trans actor Alex Blue Davis, revealed his gender identity to his co-workers. “I’m a proud trans man, Dr. Bailey,” Casey said in the episode. “I like for people to get to know me before they find out my medical history.”
Casey’s coming out felt natural and empathetic; we watched his storyline unfold throughout the episode, and this new information just felt like another aspect of his character—not some type of shock ploy, as we see too often with LGBTQ+ depictions on screen.
And Grey’s will continue its path of nuanced transgender representation with a new storyline starring Candis Cayne, the trans actress whom you might recognize from I Am Cait, Transparent, and The Magicians. She also had a recurring role on ABC’s short-lived drama, Dirty Sexy Money, where she played a trans woman.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cayne will have a multi-episode arc this season playing a transgender person, who comes to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for a “groundbreaking” vaginoplasty surgery. Grey’s show-runners were inspired to tell this story after reading about Hayley Anthony, a trans woman who helped Jess Ting, the director of surgery at the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai, develop an innovative method for vaginoplasty procedures.
“[The surgery] revolutionizes the making of a vagina and we thought that was a really cool story and Candis is playing a character inspired by something we read,” Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff told The Hollywood Reporter.
Cayne shared some details about her Grey’s character this afternoon with Glamour: She’s an “intelligent,” “no-nonsense” doctor named Michelle Velez who interacts closely with Jesse Williams’ and Debbie Allen’s characters. Cayne has shot two episodes so far, but she couldn’t tell us if more were in store. Like Casey, one of the most important parts about Cayne’s character is that her transgender identity isn’t a capital-T “Thing”—it’s just a part of who she is.
“I think the biggest thing I want people to take away is the reaction of my colleagues [meaning the other characters] on the show and how there was never a raised eyebrow, never a cocked head,” Cayne said. “It was, ‘This is Dr. Michelle Velez,’ and that’s it. She’s just another person in society who just happens to be transgender.”
With this role, Cayne is particularly excited about expanding the scope of trans characters on TV. “A lot has changed in 10 years, and the idea that we’re still having a dialogue and the parts and the roles are becoming deeper and more complex and more advanced, it says something for our society,” she said. “Of course we have a long way to go, but Grey’s is another great show that’s taking the steps to include everyone in their show.”
