Anohni, a Mercury
Award-winning artist and environmental activist also known as Antony Hegarty,
is the second openly transgender person to have ever been nominated for an
Academy Award. But unlike three nominees in her category, Best Original Song,
she along with South Korean nominee Sumi Jo were not invited to perform during
the show. And she is now boycotting
the Academy Awards ceremony. The Best Original Song nominee explained her
decision in an essay for PitchFork on
Thursday, February 25.
“I am the only transgendered performer ever to have been
nominated for an Academy Award, and for that I thank the artists who nominated
me. I was in Asia when I found out the news. I rushed home
to prepare something, in case the music nominees would be asked to perform.
Everyone was calling with excited congratulations. A week later, Sam Smith, Lady Gaga and The
Weeknd were rolled out as the evening’s entertainment with
more performers ‘soon to be announced.’ Confused, I sat and waited. Would
someone be in touch? But as time bore on I heard nothing. There I was, feeling a
sting of shame that reminded me of America’s earliest affirmations of my
inadequacy as a transperson. I turned around at the airport and went back
home.”
Transgenders are in a position of systemic, social oppression,
and limited representation. The media plays on stereotypes and this presents
the transgender community in a negative light to the public. We as a society
may think we are ready to move forward to accepting all but this occurrence
shows that we are not. Just like her fellow nominees she was nominated, but because
she is not the stereotyped version of a transperson she was not chosen to
perform. Our society loves our stereotypes and this is what we accept to be
true. But why can’t we affirm the real person instead of affirming their
stereotype?
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