anohni

The Oscars Can't Do Anything Right

Rich Juzwiak · 02/25/16 05:58PM

You might think that in a year when the Academy Awards have been under fire for lacking diversity, the powers that be would ask the first trans performer nominated for an Oscar to take the stage at some point during Sunday’s ceremony. Even if Hollywood remains transphobic for the foreseeable future, even if no one attending or behind the scenes of the Oscars speaks out about trans discrimination or educates themselves about trans issues or strikes up a friendship with a trans person or ends up liking trans people even in the abstract, having a trans performer onstage would be a feather in the cap, a way of deflecting criticism and saying, “Hey, look—we actually can be inclusive (even if we don’t think much of black people in the industry).” At the very least, it would be a good PR move.