Elliot Page

The politically outspoken star of Juno, The Umbrella Academy and the X-Men franchise came out as transgender in December 2020. In the wake of his announcement, Page’s well-established public life proved a double-edged sword. While providing high-profile visibility for trans men, he also endured media deadnaming (using a trans person’s former name without their consent) and entitled laments from fans.

Page’s coming out also unleashed a wave of transphobia within the LGBTQ+ community. His amicable divorce from wife Emma Portner (with whom he was perceived to be in a lesbian relationship) prompted backlash from a fringe, anti-transgender segment of the lesbian community, who consider trans men an existential threat to their numbers. 

Gottmik

Celebrity make-up artist Kade Gottlieb had already rubbed shoulders with the stars before appearing on season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, working with the likes of Cindy Crawford, Paris Hilton and Heidi Klum. In fact, he was already the most followed competitor on Instagram before his casting.

Drag Race’s namesake host has previously expressed ambivalence towards transgender drag performers, making Gottlieb’s status as the show’s first trans male contestant pretty newsworthy. His high-fashion Gottmik persona has nevertheless excelled in the competition, earning a memorable Snatch Game win – a celebrity impersonation challenge that appears in every season of the show – for a slick take of his client and friend Hilton.

Gottlieb has confessed to struggling with his identity as a feminine trans man in the past, before saying on LGBTQ+ community platform Them, “if cisgender men can be feminine, a trans guy can be feminine”.

 Chella Man

An advocate for transgender and disabled communities, Chella Man wears several hats as a visual artist, author, public speaker, model and actor. He identifies as genderqueer and transmasculine.

His casting as Jericho, who is mute and only communicates in sign language, in HBO Max’s Titans made him the first trans and deaf actor to portray a superhero on television. (Nicole Maine’s Supergirl character Dreamer and Lauren Ridloff’s Eternals character Makkari claim the titles of TV’s first transgender and deaf superheroes, respectively.)

Laith Ashley

Laith Ashley graduated with a degree in psychology and pursued social work in a LGBTQ+ centre before finding fame as a model for Diesel and Barneys.

But Ashley’s success was not without obstacles. Transphobic comments led Diesel to quietly take down his campaign images, while Ashley almost quit social media until receiving encouragement from transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox. He has since branched out into acting.

 Jamie Raines (Jammidodger)

YouTuber Jamie Raines, best known by his handle Jammidodger, uses his channel to debunk transphobia and demystify the transmasculine experience. His fiancée Shaaba Lotun and deaf/LGBTQ+ advocate Jessica Kellgren-Fozard are frequent collaborators.

Schuyler Bailar

Competitive swimmer and public speaker Schuyler Bailar has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and has worked with organisations including his alma mater Harvard, the USA’s National Collegiate Athletic Association and the International Olympic Committee to combat discrimination against transgender athletes.

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