Following her Best Supporting Actress win at the 95th Annual Academy Awards, Jamie Lee Curtis addressed the complexities surrounding the concept of having non-gender specific award categories versus including more women.
Backstage after accepting her Oscar, Lee Curtis was asked how it felt to be one of the 65 women nominated for Academy Awards this year.
“Surreal and proud,” she answered. “Obviously, I would like to see a lot more women be nominated so that there is gender parity in all the area, in all the branches, and I think we’re getting there, we’re not anywhere near there.”
She continued: “And of course, the inclusivity that involves the bigger question of how you include everyone when there are binary choices, which is very difficult, and as the mother of a trans daughter, I completely understand that”
“And yet to degender the category, also I’m concerned will diminish the opportunities for more women which is something I have been working hard to promote, so it’s a complicated question, but I think the most important thing is inclusivity and more women,” Lee Curtis said.
And with a sly reference to her movie Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, she added: “And basically just more f***ing women anywhere, anytime, all at once.”
Lee Curtis is so far the first star to touch on the issues of trans rights and gender at Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, at a time when many in the LGBT+ community are calling for allies to be more outspoken in their support.
LGBT+ rights are under attack in many states across the US and there has been silence from many celebrities and corporations that have in the past been vocal on such issues.
