The Oscars‘ yearly In Memoriam segment is a touching tribute to the celebrities we’ve lost since the last ceremony. This year, though, the segment was missing someone who should have been included: Alexis Arquette.
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Arquette, a trans woman and activist with 70 acting credits to her name, was noticeably missing from the reel of celebs who have passed in the last year, and her sister, actress Patricia Arquette, is speaking out about it.
“Her career was cut short, not by her passing, but by her decision to live her truth and her life as a transgender woman,” Patricia said in a new interview with Vanity Fair. “Despite the fact that there are few parts for trans actors, she refused to play roles that were demeaning or stereotypical. She was a vanguard in the fight for understanding and acceptance for all trans people.”
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She continued, “We’re living in a time right now where trans kids can’t even go to the bathroom in schools and they’re diminished in society. It’s really unfortunate that the Oscars decided they couldn’t show a trans person who was such an important person in this community. Because — trans kids — it could have meant a lot to them.”
While the Academy hasn’t responded specifically to Alexis Arquette’s omission, her photo is included in a gallery on the Oscars’ website, along with Garry Shandling and Robert Vaughn, who were both also left out of the televised reel.
Despite the snub, Patricia Arquette did commend the Academy for awarding the Best Picture Oscar to Moonlight, a film that highlighted the bigotry gay kids still face, or “This beautiful story about a gay kid in America in a world that doesn’t accept gay people,” as Arquette described it to Vanity Fair.
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