THE RECENT BACKLASH to Scarlett Johansson’s casting as a transgender man in the upcoming Rupert Sanders flick Rub & Tug, seems to have given Hollywood some food for thought, as it should have.

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Johansson stepped back from the role as a result of the backlash and now over 45 Hollywood production companies and talent agencies have come together to pen an open letter about the issue.

The letter which was published on Variety is asking Hollywood to be more thoughtful when casting transgender roles. It also offers a guide to production companies on how to cast these roles and explains the damage that’s caused to the trans community when mistakes such as the Scarlett Johansson casting are made.

As trans people, we have grown up watching stories told about us by people who haven’t done their homework when it comes to the trans community. We have been portrayed almost exclusively as tragic victims, psychotic killers, and one-dimensional stereotypes. We have been confused with drag queens, seen our history erased in historical films, and been ridiculed for gender expressions that don’t conform to social norms.”

We teamed up with @5050by2020_ to create an open letter urging Hollywood to include trans talent in the creative process in front of and behind the camera. Over 45 production companies, agencies, and orgs joined us by signing it. #TRANSformHollywood https://t.co/PqA5XreBWP

— GLAAD (@glaad) August 7, 2018

The open letter also focuses on the difficulties that many trans people face in their day-to-day lives such as denial of medical treatment, higher-than-average unemployment and higher-than-average murder rates. The letter stresses the hope that Hollywood can help tell ‘authentic’ stories to improve the perception of trans people within wider society.

We believe that when trans people are empowered to help Hollywood tell our authentic stories, it will improve how trans people are treated in the real world. Those negative statistics above will become a part of our history, not our present. Let’s work together to create a beautiful, diverse, and inclusive world in which trans people are fully accepted as equal human beings.”

The letter has been signed by over 45 different production companies including Shondaland, Ava DuVernay’s Array Alliance, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot as well as the Time’s Up movement and major talent agencies in Hollywood too.

“We believe that we are at an unprecedented cultural moment — a moment when we can ask Hollywood to use its power to improve the lives of trans people by changing America’s understanding about who trans people are. We want to help you tell our rich and diverse stories."

— 5050by2020 (@5050by2020_) August 7, 2018

Co-founder of the 5050by2020 movement Jill Soloway told Variety that they hope the letter will bring about some change in Hollywood around transgender representation.

We’re creating a moment where a producer or a studio might think to cast a cis person in a role as a trans person and say, ‘I read that letter and it’s actually not okay anymore … the moral code has changed around this.”

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