a&e features
Trans actors face casting challenges despite milestones
Directors ‘did not know what to do with me’
Actor Elliot Page came out as transgender in December and Netflix admirably affirmed his name and pronouns on past and current work, but local gender-diverse performers still struggle against cisgender and heteronormative casting expectations.
“There’s still a cis-het person sitting behind the [casting] table,” Samy Nour Younes Figaredo told the Washington Blade during a discussion about his experiences as a gay trans male actor who identifies as nonbinary. “Even in 2018, I had been on an audition, and I had that I was trans on my resume, and I could hear people behind the table whispering, ‘What am I supposed to do with that?’ even as I am walking in.”
Baltimore-area actor and firefighter Alicia Horton, also found herself stuck hiding her developing breasts and wearing “a really funky wig” early in her transition in order to find work auditioning for cis-male roles.
“I had to audition for ‘Dream Girls’ my junior year of college in 2011,” Horton said while soothing her dog Zuko, a pit bull mix she rescued from a shelter in August. “I was on hormones and my hair was super long and they put it in a really funky wig to try to make me look more masculine. The girls showed me how to pin-curl my hair so it would fit under the wig. I wish I had a picture of it — it just looked so bad.”
Despite the visibility and growing support for award-winning nonbinary and transgender performers, including Sam Smith and Eddie Izzard to name two, Figaredo and Horton are not alone in their challenges finding affirming work and building careers since coming out.
A landmark 2013 survey of more than 5,000 Screen Actors Guild members found that while 80 percent of respondents agreed transgender actors should be considered for cisgender roles, the industry’s “economic imperative” to reach a “broad market” could “create potential risks for casting LGBT actors in roles that the viewing public may not accept.”
However, SAG-AFTRA also notes public and industry support for gender diverse actors has been steadily increasing in the past eight years.
“The last few years have seen a growing acceptance of trans and non-binary actors accompanied by open discussions of the challenges they may still face,” a representative told the Blade in an email. “The encouraging response to ‘The Umbrella Academy’s’ transgender star, Elliot Page, including a supportive statement from Netflix, is a sign of the industry moving in the right direction.”
Still, Figaredo says he’s had little success with television casting auditions since transitioning in 2010.
Figaredo is a Lebanese-Puerto Rican actor and a queer person of color activist who now lives and works in New York City, though he got his start in the D.C. area. He is an experienced stage performer who had a brief role on Amazon’s “Transparent” and appeared with his partner in Citibank’s trans-inclusive ad campaign.
He said a major problem for him, as an out transgender actor who includes his gender identity and his proper pronouns on his resume, is not only does he have to convince casting personnel that he is an experienced professional, but “that I am a person” as well.
“People did not know what to do with me or how to cast me,” Figaredo said. “Casting directors adhere to types, based on a preconceived conception of the role when the gender doesn’t necessarily have to do with the story.”
Figaredo, who did community theater work early on, found himself cast in a lot of female roles “when people didn’t know how to address me or assumed I was a boyish woman,” including the role of “Juliet” in a University of Maryland production of Shakespeare’s play.
Though that director who cross-gender cast him later became his friend, he said the experience was less than affirming, unlike his experience on the set of “Transparent,” which he said had many transgender people on and off-camera.
Figaredo was cast as an Arab-American activist during an episode set in Israel. While the role was male, whether it was cis or trans didn’t matter to the storyline, so Figaredo played it as trans. He said the racial, cultural, sexual and gender diversity of those working both on and off-camera encouraged an open and authentic environment that elicited better on-screen performances.
“A major plot point changed because a member of the crew had an experience with being queer in Palestine and related to the cast,” Figaredo said. “Someone rewrote a character to be in that situation.”
Figaredo emphasized the importance of normalizing people’s differences and fostering an open culture in the entertainment industry “where people feel empowered and accept the diversity around them.”
He said he said he has experienced “major strides” in trans casting in the past two years particularly, and noted the Citibank ad campaign he was a part of.
“Citibank unrolled an ad campaign of trans people and couples due to their preferred name campaign,” he said. “I was cast with my partner who identifies as cis-male and uses he/him pronouns.”
Figaredo and Horton said it is important to have more transgender people working both on stage and behind the scenes and to have more trans stories told. This is so more trans actors can find authentic and affirming work.
Horton, who holds a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in dance from Towson University, said she auditioned as a “male” early in her career, despite experiencing physical changes that had to be awkwardly concealed for performances, because that was the only way she could find work.
But last year she was hand-picked for a role in a production about Andy Warhol because she identified as a trans woman. She said this should happen more often.
“I think we need to have more trans stories,” she said. “More diverse trans stories. We see the sex workers and how he or she feels so terrible and about being born in the wrong body, but what else is there? Can we get a love story or something where being trans is the least important part of the story?”
Horton said she and her friends who are trans women often laugh and joke with each other that they could make a good ensemble TV show cast with their diversity of experiences and backgrounds. She is hopeful to see such stories in the future.
“As we have more trans visibility, we’ll have more trans storytellers,” she said.
Figaredo also said that things change fast and “that bodes well for the future of trans people in Hollywood.”
In December, Gottmik, a high-femme drag artist, was announced as the first transmasculine contestant on season 13 of RuPaul’s ‘Drag Race,’ and follows season 9’s Peppermint, a trans woman and the first transgender performer cast.
Figaredo said he looks forward to more diversity in trans representation as the industry grows and becomes more inclusive.
Still, the SAG-AFTRA study concluded despite ongoing positive change, which includes a growing acceptance for LGBTQ performers, the survey results suggest “additional work needs to be done to address discrimination and harrassment,” which keeps many from using their talents to enrich the industry and the culture as a whole.
a&e features
Summer in D.C. brings sports, Restaurant Week, festivals, and more
Summer in D.C. just hits different. Congress is out, school is out, the sun is out, thighs are out. With the skies clearing from Canadian smoke, here are a few ways to stay entertained.
Dining
Summer restaurant week: The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) is once again hosting Summer Restaurant Week, Aug. 18-24. This weeklong dining experience showcases the dynamic dining scene of the DMV, including 2026 RAMMY Award-winning favorites (the annual D.C. food awards show that took place June 29). Participating restaurants will offer three-course brunch and lunch selections for $25 or $35 per person, and three-course dinners for $40, $55 and $65 per person.
New Restaurants: A handful of new spots have opened, so the summer is a great time to check them out:
- Oribu: A new Mediterranean-Japanese restaurant in the Grand Hyatt hotel, which just underwent a remodeling effort. The sleek restaurant brings upscale charm, with dishes like Wagyu beef tartare with potato pavé and caviar.
- The Oak Room: A snazzy old-school American grill has just opened in Georgetown, alongside its sister upstairs supper club (Bernadette’s) restaurant, in the old El Centro space.
- Uchi: This showy Japanese sushi-forward chain has landed in Dupont with a chef’s tasting menu of favorites like fatty tuna.
- Kathmandu: Recalling the capital of Nepal, this warm, buzzy subterranean restaurant right in the heart of U Street brings spice, flair, and rare ingredients to its dishes (see: buffalo burgers) and drinks.
Sports
- Washington Spirit Pride Night OUT: On Sunday, Aug. 23, head to Audi Field for a massive, high-energy game following the exciting month of World Cup. The designated Pride Night OUT game promises boisterous crowds plus pre- and post-game community engagements.
- Washington Tennis Open – Now called the Mubadala DC Open, this annual tournament is only combined mens’ and womens’ 500-level tennis tournament in the world. The open is one of D.C.’s longest-standing sports traditions, and will take place at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center July 25-Aug. 2. Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, and others are expected to play.
Festivals
- Afro Plus Fest: This huge, three-day Afro-Caribbean Hip-Hop Festival brings together headliners Davido, Alkaline, and Wizkid, plus Tems and Ayra Starr. The event moves from RFK to the Northwest Stadium Complex for three days, Sept. 4-6.
- Capital Fringe Festival: Running from July 11-21, this massive celebration features dozens of live theater, comedy, dance, and boundary-pushing nighttime performances across multiple DC neighborhoods.
- The National Book Festival returns, with headliners like Cynthia Erivo, and Martin Scorsese. The one-day festival, Saturday, Aug. 22, brings together bookworms and word nerds under the theme “America 250: It’s Your Story.” There are talks, workshops, musical sessions and more.
- All Things Go: A three-day festival Sept. 25-27 at Merriweather Post Pavilion featuring Mitski, Hayley Williams, Brandi Carlile, MUNA, Zara Larsson, Ethel Cain, and many, many more artists. There are single-day and three-day tickets. Featuring and highlighting female artists, the festival has turned into a must-see for many LGBTQ audience members.
- Fuchsia Fest: The inaugural Fuchsia Fest is a new multi-day celebration created to celebrate LGBTQ community and expression, bringing together a mix of community gatherings, entertainment, and nightlife. The event takes place Sept. 18-20 and is hosted by Capital Pride.
Art and Music
- United We Dance: A high-energy rave with house, techno, bass, and festival music, on Aug. 1 at the 9:30 Club.
- The Fray. On Aug. 14, this American rock band famous for How To Save A Life is at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
- Kesha: Kesha’s high-energy The Freedom Tour comes to the D.C. area on Aug. 14 at Jiffy Lube Live.
- ALOK: On Sept. 3 at Lincoln Theater, ALOK (they/them) performs. The poet, comedian, and actor is putting on a new comedy show.
- 2charm, the emerging Australian electronic club-pop duo popular with the queer community, which blends hyperpop and dance music, comes to the Atlantis.
- Sapphic Dance Party: a vibrant, inclusive nightlife and social event designed specifically for queer women, lesbians, bisexuals, trans individuals, and nonbinary folks, at Atlantis on Aug. 21.
- Jazz in the Garden: The most quintessential of D.C. activities returns Friday evenings through Aug. 14. This season’s theme, “American Sounds,” is a nod to the nation’s 250th anniversary. Tunes themes range from Appalachian and Americana to Creole jazz, Hill Country blues, contemporary jazz, and more. Tickets are available through a lottery system a week before each event.
a&e features
Tickets on sale for chef Patrick O’Connell’s book launch event
Sept. 18 kickoff to feature José Andrés, Tom Sietsema
Acclaimed chef Patrick O’Connell is preparing to publish his new memoir, “Main, Middle & Gay” in September and he’s launching the book with an event on Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium featuring Chef José Andrés and former Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema.
Tickets for the event go on sale Tuesday, July 21 at Ticketmaster; prices start at $55.
O’Connell, who’s gay, is the pioneering Michelin-starred chef and longtime proprietor of the Inn at Little Washington. He spoke with the Blade about the September event and the launch of his first memoir.
“I’ve known [Andrés and Sietsema] for more than 25 years and I have great respect for them,” O’Connell said. “I felt that it would allow us to add a different dimension rather than just have an interviewer. The chemistry will be fun and lively and unpredictable and exciting. I think we’re all different personalities and we’ll compliment each other.”
O’Connell has published cookbooks but this is his first memoir. The event will feature a short film that will highlight his work and the Inn.
“What I hope to do with the event is bring the book to life visually,” he said. “So we’re producing a short film that will be part of it. Most of the audience will not have read the book so it’ll give them a visual flavor of the book. It parallels the evolution of American cuisine over 50 years. It’s a rare perspective to be in the trenches for that long.”
The book’s title refers to the location of the garage on the corner of Main, Middle, and Gay streets in Washington, Va., where he launched his restaurant that became an international culinary destination.
The Blade will publish the rest of its wide-ranging interview with O’Connell in September in conjunction with the book’s release.
a&e features
The queer Asian comics building collective joy in D.C.
Spotlighting chaotic ways family, romance, identity take shape in their lives
Kevin Chen’s family tombstone has room for four: him, his parents and his boyfriend. The arrangement might prove to be a little awkward.
“My boyfriend is 100% white, and my parents are 100% disappointed,” Chen confessed.
Jokes about family traditions and the untraditional ways they’re practiced earned a burst of laughs at the bar where Chen was opening for the Pride Comedy Special. The D.C. stand-up event, produced by Comedy Bonfyre last month, spotlighted queer Asian comics who shared the chaotic ways family, romance and identity take shape in their lives.
From candid oral sex takes to top surgery hypotheticals like “Where do the boobs go?”, the night highlighted the loud camaraderie of the queer Asian experience — one that sounds like a cacophony of snorts, cackles and belly laughs. While the comics say they are not quite a community, there’s more than enough shared material to bring them together.
“It was such a magical experience. I loved performing in a queer API lineup. It feels so validating,” Chen said after the show. “I’m wondering, ‘Is this how white men feel all the time?’”
Each performance evoked queer Asian joy through a medium that could use more of its presence.
According to Chen, who is based in D.C., it’s hard to say whether there is a true queer Asian comedy presence in his city. There are only a scattered “handful” of Asian comics, and people of color are underrepresented in queer comic circles, he said.
When Tarunika Anand, a nonbinary lesbian comic, first entered the mainstream D.C. comedy scene, they mostly encountered straight white men, describing the experience as “a culture shock.”
“I feel like sometimes a lot of queer spaces are really white, and then a lot of Asian spaces are really straight,” Anand said. “I don’t feel like I fit into either.”
But feeling marginalized didn’t stop these comics from honing their craft and creating spaces for others like them. Alex Kim, who headlined the special and is based in Brooklyn, runs the queer Asian comedy group Boba Gays, which began on WhatsApp and has since made its way to Lincoln Center.
Every Wednesday, Anand co-produces a free comedy show called Funny Side Up. The queer-led group focuses on inclusivity and showcasing new talent.
“It’s really beautiful to speak about your experience and your existence in a way that’s uplifting,” Anand said.
Family is a major throughline of their comedic repertoires.
Chen, for instance, shared that he identifies with jokes about having Asian immigrant parents and the expectations they pass down.
“You see me, you know this part about me, you know this experience intimately, and I can see the truth that you’re trying to wrap a joke around,” he said. “That hits even harder because that’s my truth too. I think that’s what makes good comedy.”
Anand had the audience at the special howling when they explained that their parents’ be-more-like-them comparisons didn’t end when they came out. Instead, the expectations took on a new form.
“Now, my parents want me to be the best gay,” Anand said. “They’re like, ‘Do you know Ellen DeGeneres?’”
Kim said he’s been trying to unlearn things from his Christian Korean mom. Yet he described a moment when he was getting ready for the club and realized he looked just like his mother getting ready for church.
“I’ve been finding it hard to escape her,” Kim said.
Mutual recognition also radiates through the different ways queer love can take shape. From singlehood to death-do-us-part commitments, the comics cover just about every corner.
Anand is holding out hope for settling down with “a nice, pretty, Indian girl.” They recently went through a breakup and said they felt they dodged a bullet.
“As a person of color, I just don’t think I should be with a Swiftie,” they said.
Chen, touching on what it’s like to be in a queer interracial relationship, said that meeting his white boyfriend’s baby nephew for the first time felt like he was forced to participate in a diversity, equity and inclusion training.
“The dad was like, ‘Please welcome Kevin. Be curious about his culture, his history, his foods,’” Chen joked.
Laughter is not the only reward for the comics.
To Anand, comedy is a space where they can say whatever they want. “It gives me a voice,” they said.
Nik Narain, a North Carolina-based trans and nonbinary South Asian comic who performed at the special, said meeting older trans comedians and taking the stage helped him feel reassured in his identity during his transition.
“Stand-up was a really cool way to process that onstage,” he said. “[It] became a way for me to repackage my thoughts.”
Queer Asians are still figuring out their place in the greater D.C. comedy scene. The group is small in numbers and many are still working toward a full-time comedy career. But Narain feels he’s already made it.
Narain is reluctant to pin it all on one moment. He feels that success is already peeking through in milestones — opening for celebrities, traveling to performances and self-producing shows.
“As long as I can keep doing this, I’m super happy,” he said.
This story was produced as part of the AAJA VOICES fellowship program, a student journalism project of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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