stri e eatures rans a eover’ in o y oo

On Thursday, riters uild of America est picket lines were oined by at least transgender and non-binary writers in a featured “Trans Takeover” led by WGA members Sydney aloue, and am, ranchesca “Chescaleigh” amsey in front of Netflix’s Los Angeles corporate offices on Sunset lvd.

The “Trans Takeover” was staged to address concerns about trans employment and how the transgender and non-binary community is portrayed in contemporary pop culture.

“Trans people are workers too. e’re in solidarity with the labor movement around the world and we are showing up in ways that we are often not depicted,” said writer Jacob Tobia speaking to ariety. “Strikes are moments where you redefine who is at the table, and we want to be sure that we’re sending a really strong message to the world that we’re at the table now and we want to stay at the table.”

Tobia and others speaking with the entertainment trade magazine noted that the hostile backlash to LGBTQ+ rights, particularly for trans and nonbinary people, in states including Texas and Tennessee has come on the heels of a number of T series and movies focused on this marginali ed but emerging community.

“If you want to stand with us, you need to stand with us. ou can’t ust put us in a few T shows and then, when things get hard and when people are paying attention, stop greenlighting our pro ects,” they said. “ ou have to commit to us as a community and show that you really care about our dignity, our lives and our economic vitali- ty,” Tobia said.

The future of ueer representation in film and television could be at stake in the ongoing negotiations between the Writers Guild of American and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers, many people are saying at the A strike enters its third week.

The A is broadly demanding better pay and better working conditions for film and television writers, alleging that studios are increasingly demanding unpaid labor from writers and reducing writing obs in television. They’re also demanding limitations on the use of artificial intelligence in drafting scripts. The A says these developments are making writing in Hollywood unsustainable for the vast ma ority of writers.