Karla Sofía Gascón Makes History as First Openly Trans Person to Be Nominated for Acting Oscar

justjared.com:

Karla Sofía Gascón is making history. The 52-year-old Spanish actress officially made Oscars history after becoming the first openly trans person ever to be nominated in an acting category, following the nominations announcement from the Academy on Thursday (January 23). Karla is nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in Jacques Audiard’s musical Netflix film, Emilia Pérez.

She previously secured Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA nominations for the performance as well. Keep reading to find out more… Karla stars in the film as a cartel leader, who turns to Mexico City lawyer Rita (Zoë Saldaña), to help her live as her authentic self.

Prior to Karla in trans history at the Oscars, Elliott Page was nominated for Juno in 2008 before coming out as trans, and the first openly trans person ever to be Oscar-nominated was composer Angela Morley, for The Little Prince in 1975 and then again for The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella in 1978.

Anohni was nominated in Best Original Song for “Manta Ray” from the documentary Racing Extinction in 2016. In 2018, Yance Ford, who made the documentary Strong Island, became the first out trans director to be nominated, while A Fantastic Woman, starring Chilean trans actress Daniela Vega, won the Best Foreign Language Film category.