Obama praised for screening trans films in the White House

Barack Obama has won praise from the director of upcoming film The Danish Girl – after he held a special White House screening.

The White House screened the film, which stars Eddie Redmayne as trans pioneer Lili Elbe, earlier this week.

It also aired Amazon comedy-drama series Transparent as part of the ‘White House LGBT Artists Champions of Change’ series – a programme recognising the achievements of activists on a range of issues.
Obama praised for screening trans films in the White House
(Artist’s impression)

The event was attended by a number of LGBT activists and artists who were honoured for their achievements, as well as guests from the cast and crew of both Transparent and the Danish Girl.

Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett and Secretary for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro spoke about the importance of trans equality at the event – though Obama himself was busy dealing with an international crisis.

Speaking about the event, Hooper told Page Six: “I think Obama is the first president to even use the word ‘transgender’ publicly.

“And to invite us into his home in this way, to talk about this subject, and allow us to screen ‘The Danish Girl,’ it’s a very special day.”

Jeffrey Tambor, who plays trans woman Maura Pfefferman on Transparent, posed with the trans woman who inspired her role at the event.

Eddie Redmayne recently said playing a trans woman in The Danish Girl had made him examine his own gender identity.

Redmayne said: “It absolutely make me look at the notion of my own gender.

“The thing that I have learned is that this notion of gender being binary – about being two things. In this day and age, that feels incredibly antiquated.

“What I have learned I think is that gender is a spectrum, and that where one falls on that is entirely unique to who you are.”

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