On June 10 in Laguna Beach, Calif., Creative Artists Agency hosted their CAA Amplify Summit, an annual invitation-only event for artists, thought leaders, and changemakers from entertainment, media, entertainment, sports, tech, and social justice for a convening of conversations, ideas, and actionable solutions.
“CAA Amplify is more than a convening… it is a catalyst for building a fortified network of culture-influencing leaders who are shaping the future across industries,” said Natalie Tran, Executive Director, CAA Foundation. “This year’s gathering reflects our unwavering commitment to creating spaces where authentic representation isn’t just a goal, but the foundation for innovation and impact.”
CAA’s managing director Maha Dahkil said in her opening remarks: “In 2025, the road to justice, freedom, and dignity somehow got harder. Nothing is worth the price of your humanity, and yet we see institutions, leaders, and individuals who marched alongside us not so long ago fade away. The slippage of allies, the loss of pledges, the weaponization of words, and three letters we don’t say anymore.”
“This is urgent,” she punctuated as protests against ICE were happening about 50 miles north in Los Angeles.
There was a strong sense of joy, community, and an urgent need for unity during the day’s sessions which included appearances from Anthony Romero Executive Director, ACLU, Nobody Wants This star and stand-up comedian Sherry Cola, and influencer Boman Martinez-Reid. The day also included sessions with Abbott Elementary stars Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James, media exec and producer Byron Allen, Fast and Furious Godfather Vin Diesel, Deli Boys actor and stand-up Asif Ali, influencer Keith Lee, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
In a session moderated by CAA’s Kevin Lin, actress and advocate Laverne Cox was joined on the stage by Melanie Willingham-Jaggers for a conversation about the landscape for LGBTQ youth and transgender representation.
Cox reflects on how far media and trans representation have come since she was doing press for Orange is the New Black and was on Katie Couric’s talk show and she and Carmen Carrera pushed back on the host’s offensive questions.
“That moment changed my career,” said Cox. She said that Couric’s focus on transition surgery objectified trans people. “When we objectify trans people, we dehumanize them.”
Cox knows the trails she has blazed and knows she has been “the first” in many instances, but she won’t be the last. “Whenever, inevitably, a marginalized group, emerges, there’s backlash. And here we are. The backlash has been ferocious, and it took them a minute to figure out how to do it, but the right-wing conservative anti-trans people — they have done research,” she said. “They’re really well funded, and they have done a really successful job of dehumanizing trans people.”
Cox discusses a timeline of what has been weaponized against the trans community by the right: bathroom bills, marriage equality, trans people in sports, gender-affirming care, etc. “They’ve created a permission structure to dehumanize, right?“, she said. “All of those congressional hearings… [the] language is deeply dehumanizing.”
“When you are not the right kind of woman; not the right kind of Black person; not the right kind of man; not the right kind of person; not the right kind of fill-in-the-blank — it’s transphobia,” Willingham-Jaggers said. “Because colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism require us to be sites of production.”
They continued, “When they came from Europe with their bad ideas and their germs, they came for me first. They came for Laverne first. They came for Kevin first, right?” [Willingham-Jaggers is referring to colonizers attacking queer identities when they arrived in foreign lands.] “We are the storytellers. We are the gateway between this life and the next. We bring people in. We hold their hands as they leave. We help them move from child to teen, from teen to adult. That’s who we are.”
Willingham-Jaggers pointed out, “In every culture, every continent, before European involvement, there have been gender diverse people.” This is very true. In Hawaiian culture there is mahu, in Indigenous culture there is 2spirit, in Filipino culture, there is bakla, in South Asian culture there is hijra, and many others.
“We are free people,” said Willingham-Jaggers. “And queer people are the freest folks you will ever meet.”
When Lin asked about what the storytellers in the room can do the help create narrative change Willingham-Jaggers wanted to first share some approximate numbers from recent Pew Research Center numbers that show that the number of people who identify as something other than cisgender or heterosexual has nearly doubled from generation to generation with Gen Z being the largest at 30% and Gen Alpha currently growing up as we speak.
“That means that the next generation is 60% right?” said Willingham-Jaggers. “So when we’re thinking about what we should understand this moment as is as the last gasps of white supremacy and the colonial mindset.”
Cox chimed in, “It is the last gasp only if we fight it with every part of us. Because they are relentless.”
Willingham-Jaggers and Cox lit a fire under the audience that day and there certainly was a sense of urgency as Cox continued to take the pulpit and urge people to fight for trans rights with all their being, but also celebrate trans joy just as much.
“Let’s talk about how beautiful and amazing trans kids are when they are supported and loved — they’re beautiful,” gushed Cox. “The young people that [Willingham-Jaggers and I] get to work with who are thriving, who straight A students and who are loved, and how their lives are so incredible when they get that love — I think we should we should be focusing there.”
They left the stage with a call to action. Willingham-Jaggers didn’t mince any words and admitted that in February they laid off 60% of their staff. “I told my team, we are not an injured version of our previous selves. We’re a new and different thing — and I want to tell you that too. We are a new and different thing. We are not trying to go back to make America great again. We’re not trying to go back to some previous perfect time. We are a new thing — as Toni Morrison would say: “We are our best thing” — so let’s remember that.”
Willingham-Jaggers continued, “The other side has figured out how to fund themselves like they want to win. So the call to action here is: fund us, fund me, fund GLSEN, fund this room like you want us to win….fund the good ideas. You have to fund the bad ideas…The other side has endless money, and they are funding every terrible idea you can think of, and most you haven’t thought of yet.”
“They have gone all over the world with money, and they’re buying politicians. They’re writing [anti-trans] legislation and they and messaging and they are winning,” urged Cox.
“Most of their ideas didn’t work,” Willingham-Jaggers pointed out. “We can look at the history of their terrible ideas, and over time, most of them have flopped, and yet they are pushing through…but we’re doing the more complicated project. What we are trying to do is democracy… When we get this right, we’re the first people on Earth to get this right. Let’s do this.”
