Providing representation for trans people onscreen is vital for visibility, with only 16% of Americans saying they know a transgender person according to a 2017 GLAAD/Harris poll. The change has to start in pre-production with casting directors, who need to hire trans actors to tell the stories of their own community. The 2019 GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index revealed the extremely dismal news that not a single trans person was featured in a major studio film that year. Despite the disappointing numbers and overt misrepresentation, there are a few films out there that are blazing the way for trans actors to share trans stories, with hopefully many more to come.
