Beyond Social Media: Seeking Black Trans and Non-Binary Actors on Screen
Representation amidst scarcity.
CW/TW: Brief allusions to anti-trans violence, homophobia, transphobia, and transmisogynoir
Note: I may be a pop culture repository of information (at times), but I’m not a computer so finding every single Black non-binary actor from the past decade+ has been difficult. Thus, please forgive me if any actors have slipped past my radar. Also, I’m aware that there are many previous and current cast members of Ru Paul’s Drag Race that identify, or identified, as Transgender and/or Non-binary…so please be aware that all of these amazing people will not be named herein, only referenced as larger presences in the media proper. Lastly, the issue of Black Trans and Non-binary representation exists beyond the spectrum of (social) media, so let’s always be on the lookout for ways we can help our brothers, sisters, and enbys gain further safety and visibility in every facet of life.🖤
In the past decade, the largest amount of Black trans representation gradually found its footing on television, through shows such as Ru Paul’s Drag Race (including the international variants), the American Horror Story franchise, FX’s (recently concluded) POSE, and many more…but the landscape for those that specifically identify as Non-binary is close to nil, and we’ll explore a few examples that I could find. Seeing non-binary people in films or television is already an ‘Easter egg hunt’ of sorts but finding Black actors specifically, not media personalities, is even rarer.
*Note: Angelica Ross has been holding it down for two different seasons of American Horror Story now and was the first transgender person ever to have a starring role in two different television programs in the same year.*
It’s important to note that the space for Black trans men is also sparse; if one is privy to the tally of White trans men with acting roles, cut that minimal rep in half for trans-identified Black men.
The older that I’ve become the more this rumination on Black trans and non-binary identity has been at the forefront of my thoughts. I’ve often reflected on how Transness intersects with my self-identification and gender presentation…moreover, the where and how I first saw Black people aligned with its formulation. Before the boom of the Internet, many queer and gender-bending young people had to cherrypick or wade through a toxic sea of heteronormativity to find their tribes — in reality, and the media. Being out, loud, and proud like many of us are now just wasn’t safe (physically or monetarily). Many of us were forcibly closeted by the rigidity of society at the time, and if we’re being completely honest, even now!
So, where and how did I ever discover being Non-binary was a thing? Well, I had exposure to Drag queens (and a few kings) whose gender pushing was titillating and transformative, but I knew that many of them still self-identified as men or women.
*In the decades that followed, many of those same persons would discover that their own identities weren’t so cut-and-dry either.*
Various documentaries I watched as a young person, like National Geographic’s Taboo, explored international concepts from India to the Pacific about Transness and existing outside of the gender binary. There my interest was piqued, and it only grew as I researched more about Two-Spirit Native American lives and how there was a global effort to suppress and erase the existence of anyone that dared to exist outside of the binary.
There has always been a concerted effort by conservatives, the religious, or even those swept into the fervor by the ignorant to dismiss or destroy the gender non-conforming. Thus, finding within a niche of queerness, Black people that were out and Trans took a long long time, especially in the media, beyond the docu-film Paris Is Burning. Let me clarify, finding Black trans people that weren’t the target of hate crimes and/or the butt of jokes was the difficult part. Finding trans Black people that weren’t made out to be a spectacle, an aberration, or mentally unwell was a terrifying place to try navigating as a young person in the 90s and early 2000s. I have the language for many of the humanizing concepts and theorems now about gender identity but trying to glean any of this from the landscape back then was truly slim pickings. The terminology used for trans people or gay people was horrific and I cringe remembering how cavalierly it was used back then.
Fast-forwarding to 2021, what does the media landscape look like for trans and non-binary Black people? Well, in many ways it’s significantly better for Black trans women but still abysmal for trans Black men and non-binary individuals. Understandably, trans Black women have put in the work in so many levels of society for visibility and recognition but still have so very far to go intracommunally. There’s a grim and pointed reason the hashtag Black Trans Lives Matter even exists. Yet, where one part of the community has representation (with not all of it being good attention) Black trans men and non-binary people have suffered in the media space. To shorten this explication, media space does not necessarily include or exclude digital media but there is a large chasm between the two, which goes into tabulations of visibility.
Twitter and Instagram are spaces where trans Black men and non-binary people are far more visible. Conversely, Kyle Goodman is the only working Black masc(uline) non-binary actor I was able to find; and the only trans Black Man being Brian Michael Smith. The non-binary presence of Indya Moore, Amandla Stenberg, and Quintessa Swindell comes to mind regarding the fem(me) presenting side of the spectrum.
*I’ve never watched Sex Education on Netflix, but I’ve heard its fabulous, so shout out to the nonbinary actor I just found out about Dua Saleh.*
Lastly, I’m hesitant to include Janelle Monáe, Kiersey Clemons, and Willow Smith on an official non-binary list because many of them identify with being queer rather than a more pinpointed definition of themselves, but I know how many of us in the community are comfortable and right at home with just queer (but I certainly know that transness has a big umbrella so I’m going to say at the very least they’re family).
I applaud the Black actors who are trying to wedge the door open for more to slip through, and I pray that one day we can kick the door down for all trans and non-binary people, so we’re not constantly on the outside looking in. This piece represents a call-to-action and a note to keep your eyes peeled for Black actors that exist in an even murkier intersection of identity for which they may be completely excluded from our screens, let alone auditioning.
🗣Demand our inclusion, champion our existence in the media space, advocate for us (if we come calling), and constantly be on the lookout for racism and transmisogynoir because it can be pernicious.
Update: Congratulations to Carl Clemons-Hopkins, the first non-binary actor to be nominated for an Emmy Award. (Plus, peep this non-binary flag gown they wore.)
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