FLASHBACK: Gabrielle Tremblay Becomes The First Transgender Woman Actor To Be Nominated At The Canadian Screen Awards (January 17, 2017)
Today in LGBTQ+ history…
On the morning of January 17, 2017, Quebec’s Gabrielle Tremblay made Canadian history when the Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television rolled out the film, television and digital nominations for the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards. Tremblay became the first transgender woman ever nominated for an acting award at the Canadian Screen Awards or their predecessor Genie Awards.
Tremblay was nominated as best supporting actress at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards for her performance as Klas Batalo in the 2016 film Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau), directed by Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie. The film was about four young people, veterans of the 2012 Quebec student protests, who were disillusioned by the failure of their past activism to effect meaningful social change and engaged in small-scale public vandalism.
Tremblay was born on July 27, 1990, in La Malbaie, Quebec, and came out as transgender in 2012.
She didn’t take home the gold statue when the Canadian Screen Awards were presented at the Sony Centre For The Performing Arts on March 12, but she did make history.
Vince January 25, 2022
As much as she didn’t win the award, her nomination was, as the text says, a milestone in the history of film and TV and in LGBTQIA+ representation in pop culture.
For cis actors and actresses, a nomination is just another one, but every small achievement of queer people counts for a lot in the fight for equality.
What a day! What a pride!