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Hollywood's trans actors report work has dried up as Glaad counts falling representation

1h

Summary

  • Trans and non-binary actors say Hollywood work has dried up after hard-won breakthroughs, with lost income, lost insurance and auditions ending.
  • Trace Lysette, an Independent Spirit Award nominee for Monica, says she has had no lead role since that film and auditioned for about seven parts in 2026.
  • Laverne Cox said she lost roughly 90% of her income over two years as acting, hosting and speaking work dried up.
  • Jack Haven publicly asked for $4,000 of work to qualify for SAG-AFTRA health insurance, then said many offers came in.
  • Glaad's 2026 reports found no trans characters among 225 major-studio films and only seven on television, none returning next year.
  • The industry has made fewer shows since the 2022 streaming bust and the 2023 strikes; actors also link the drought to anti-trans political backlash.

Reactions

  • Glaad's film report called the studios' failure to spotlight trans stories unconscionable and a misguided business decision.
  • Glaad's Megan Townsend said studios cannot ignore the nearly one in five under-30 Americans who are LGBTQ.
  • Jack Haven asked on video for any job paying $4,000 to keep health insurance, then thanked supporters, saying offers had come.
  • Trace Lysette responded on X that she lost her SAG-AFTRA health insurance two years earlier and could also use gigs.
  • Vico Ortiz said trans and non-binary actors are getting dropped like flies and forecast they will find their spotlight again.
  • Elliot Page said Hollywood was not beating down his door and joked, 'If someone wants to call me …'.

Timeline newest first

  1. Glaad's Where We Are on TV report, released in November 2026, counted only seven transgender characters on scripted US television, down 79% from 33 the year before, none returning next year.
  2. Hunter Schafer is set to lead Amazon Prime's mega-budget Blade Runner TV series later in November 2026.
  3. In October 2026, Asia Kate Dillon, the non-binary star of Billions, wrote that acting opportunities were so scarce they were looking for service work.
  4. In late September 2026, Jack Haven made a public plea for $4,000 of work to qualify for SAG-AFTRA health insurance, then said they had received a lot of offers.
  5. On a September 2026 podcast episode, Elliot Page said Hollywood was not beating down his door and that he has no next project lined up.
  6. Trace Lysette said she auditioned for about seven parts in 2026 and for nothing since spring 2026, and has had no lead role or major studio project since Monica.
  7. Laverne Cox said she had lost roughly 90% of her income over the two years before she spoke, as acting, hosting and corporate speaking work dried up.
  8. Glaad's Where We Are in Film report, published in July 2026, found no trans characters among 225 movies from the industry's 10 major distributors.

Sources newest first

  • ‘No one wants us any more’: how Hollywood turned its back on trans actorstheguardian.com· 1h

    The Guardian's feature reports that trans actors say Hollywood work has dried up after hard-won breakthroughs: Trace Lysette has had no lead role since Monica, Laverne Cox told the paper she lost roughly 90% of her income, and Jack Haven publicly asked for $4,000 of work to keep SAG-AFTRA health insurance. Glaad's reports found no trans characters among 225 major-studio films and only seven on television — none returning next year — which the article argues is more than a trickle-down effect of fewer shows, while Hunter Schafer is set to lead Amazon's Blade Runner series.

Background newest first

  • Opinion | Don’t Expect Woke Hollywood to Come Roaring Backnytimes.com· 2d

    In an opinion column, Sharon Waxman argues that Hollywood's progressive mood after the Democrats' midterm win won't bring "woke" culture roaring back, pointing to industry caution under the Trump administration, stalled progress on diversity, and figures like Roy Price saying people are lying low. She adds that job losses continue — Netflix cutting 6 percent of its work force and Disney reportedly aiming for 20 percent cost savings — while she predicts fewer jobs ahead from the A.I. revolution.

  • Republicans bet everything on anti-trans messaging. It didn’t pay off.19thnews.org· 5d

    The 19th's Brooke Migdon and Orion Rummler report that Republicans' heavy investment in anti-trans messaging failed to pay off in the 2026 midterms, in which over 40 House districts flipped Democratic, Democrats took both chambers of Congress and most governorships, and both Sarah McBride and Ron DeSantis blamed the party's fixation on trans people for its losses. The Human Rights Campaign says Republicans poured $400 million into anti-trans ads, and while voters approved trans-restricting ballot measures in several states, analysts and advocates say the attacks did not move voters amid concerns over affordability and other issues.

  • The political playbook that unraveled US transgender rights in the past decadetheguardian.com· 6d

    The Guardian traces how transgender rights went from winning courtroom battles in 2016, when North Carolina's HB2 bathroom bill drew boycotts and was quickly repealed, to a coordinated decade of state bans and Donald Trump's second-term executive orders redefining "sex" and cutting gender-affirming care. Experts including Shelby Chestnut, Marie-Amélie George and Elana Redfield weigh in, though trans-rights-supporting Democrats also won in the 2025 midterms.

  • ‘Sick to my stomach’: trans Americans on politicians who spent $183m attacking them for votestheguardian.com· 9d

    A Guardian feature gathers trans Americans' responses to the estimated $183m Republicans spent on anti-trans ads before the 2026 midterms, where Trump stumped on the issue again yet Texas, Kansas, and both chambers of Congress flipped blue. Trans respondents describe the rhetoric's toll on daily life, while some Democrats who echoed anti-trans messaging, like Josh Turek in Iowa, won their races.