Roles for trans and non-binary characters are vanishing, actors and experts warn
As anti-trans rhetoric mounts globally, roles in mainstream productions are drying up
Last week, actor Asia Kate Dillon shared that nearly a decade after breaking boundaries playing the first non-binary main character in a major North American TV show, they are seeking a job in the service industry amid diminishing opportunities for trans performers.
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they → vanish → performers
The post from Dillon, who played Taylor Mason on the Showtime drama Billions from 2017 to 2023, comes a month after non-binary actor Jack Haven, known for Atypical and I Saw the TV Glow, made a plea on social media for casting roles to earn $4,000 US to qualify for SAG-AFTRA health insurance.
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I → play → insurance
And despite a standout performance in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, Canadian actor Elliot Page said earlier this year he hasn't been getting casting calls.
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he → say → calls
It's part of a trend that actors and experts tell CBC News we're seeing in Canada as well.
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we → tell → Canada
While hit shows like Crave's Heated Rivalry, which features many cisgender queer characters and a trans actor in a small role, have made strides for 2SLGBTQ+ representation, complex trans stories are increasingly disappearing from screens amid rising anti-trans rhetoric across the globe.
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stories → feature → globe
Experts warn this only makes it harder to combat dehumanizing myths.
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it → warn → myths
"I can count on one hand the number of auditions I've had this year for film and TV work," Asher Rose, a non-binary actor and chair of the gender diversity subcommittee at ACTRA Toronto, told CBC News.
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Rose → count → News
Asia Kate Dillon, left, seen here attending MGM+'s New York premiere of A Spy Among Friends in 2023, and Jack Haven, right, seen at the New York premiere of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma in August 2026, have both recently made social media posts referencing difficulties in finding roles.
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Dillon → see → roles
Streamers and big networks are caving to the cultural creep of conservatism, Rose said, and "consider trans stories, trans actors and trans characters to be too specific, potentially too alienating, as opposed to just part of human experience."
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stories → cave → experience
Actor Izaiah Dockery told CBC News he used to get multiple auditions a week, but now the few he gets as a Black trans man are smaller and more likely to rely on racial stereotypes.
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he → tell → stereotypes
When he tried to pitch a series he co-wrote that had a mainly trans cast, "the feedback we kept getting from broadcasters was that it was too in-your-face."
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it → try → face
Izaiah Dockery says the number of auditions he's being offered has gone down sharply in recent years, and those that he does get often rely on stereotypes.
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he → say → stereotypes
Trans representation in film vanishing: GLAAD
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representation → vanish → film
When GLAAD started tracking representation in film in 2013, 14 films contained at least one 2SLGBTQ+ character.
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films → start → character
Representation climbed through the 2010s, but after peaking in the early 2020s, it’s on the decline again, according to GLAAD's latest Where We Are in Film report, released this July.
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We → climb → report
This dropped to two films in 2023 and 2024 and zero in 2025.
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This → drop → 2025
Of the 225 films released by Top 10 distributors in 2025, seven included a non-binary character and zero included a trans character.
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zero → release → character
"I feel like we've done a kind of 360 in the last 12 years, where there was very little representation of trans people and then we grew to a more encouraging place ...
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we → feel → place
[and now] we've gone back to the start of that circle, only worse, actually," said writer and director Shelley Thompson, who directed the film Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor.
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who → go → film
The film, about a trans woman returning home to her town in Nova Scotia, was released in 2022, at a time when trans representation on screen seemed to be hitting its stride.
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representation → return → stride
The film revolves around a young transgender woman who returns to her family farm for the first time since her transition.
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who → revolve → transition
But Thompson says it would be harder to make and distribute that film today.
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it → say → film
She says big industry players see diversity as a trend, not a natural part of life and art.
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players → say → life
"And the trend of the trans storyline, I think that's underwater at the moment."
'Cancel Your Gays'
Although there's more representation in television than film, it's precarious, according to GLAAD.
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it → think → GLAAD
While 2SLGBTQ+ characters on TV screens had gone up as of May 2025, GLAAD found, around 41 per cent were slated to disappear due to series ending, being cancelled, limited series formats or a character dying or leaving the show.
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character → go → show
This jumped to 61 per cent for trans characters.
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This → jump → characters
Only four trans characters appeared on series that had been officially renewed, GLAAD's data shows.
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data → appear → series
Fans dubbed it "Cancel Your Gays" in 2024 after the trend was identified, playing on the "Bury Your Gays" trope of the 2010s, where queer characters were often swiftly killed off.
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characters → dub → 2010s
Many shows featuring trans and non-binary characters, such as Heartstopper, Umbrella Academy, 911: Lone Star and Star Trek: Discovery, ended or were cancelled in the last two years.
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shows → feature → years
Shows like HBO Max’s cult hit Our Flag Means Death — cancelled in 2024 — can have a massive impact for queer audiences, Rose said.
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Rose → mean → audiences
Seeing characters like pirate Jim Jimenez, played by the non-binary actor Vico Ortiz, and Rhys Darby's Stede, who falls in love with a man late in life, helped Rose see they could discover their true self at any age.
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they → see → age
"For this silly, wonderful comedy, it was kind of life-changing in a lot of ways.
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it → change → ways
"
Although a few new shows offer that representation, such as Crave's sapphic softball show Slo Pitch, co-produced by Page, the numbers don't replace what's been cancelled.
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what → offer → Page
Fewer TV shows are being produced overall, according to industry data tracker Luminate, but this doesn't explain the sharp decline in 2SLGBTQ+ characters, Madelaine Rose, chair of the Progress Pride Committee at ACTRA National, told CBC News.
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Rose → produce → News
"Why are the queer ones the first [characters] being cut?" she said.
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she → cut → ?
Our Flag Means Death, the cult hit from HBO Max, was one of many ground-breaking shows centering 2SLGBTQ+ storylines that was cancelled in 2024.
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that → mean → 2024
Anti-trans rhetoric spreading
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rhetoric → spread → ?
Experts say it's connected to the surge in anti-2SLGBTQ+ and anti-trans rhetoric in recent years in the U.S. and Canada.
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it → say → U.S.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Pentagon called the hit 2025 Netflix series Boots, about a gay Marine in the 1990s, "woke garbage" last October.
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spokesperson → call → 1990s
Boots was cancelled by December, despite its first season outperforming Netflix titles that were renewed, according to Netflix data.
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that → cancel → data
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
