Hosted by OUT at Meredith, the American media company’s LGBTQ ERG, and PEOPLE’s Deputy West Coast Editor Jason Sheeler, actors and artists Dominique Jackson (“POSE”), Rain Valdez (“Razor Tongue”), and Scott Turner Schofield (“The Conductor”) participated in an intimate and honest conversation moderated by GLAAD’s Associate Director of Transgender Representation and documentary filmmaker Alex Schmider about the complicated and changing nature of transgender visibility and representation in the entertainment industry.
For each person who attended the event, OUT at Meredith donated $5 up to $500 to Transgender Law Center.
About the panelists:
Dominique Jackson
Dominique Jackson is a model, actress and author who is best known for her performance as the lead role Elektra in POSE for FX and can also now be seen in an arc on AMERICAN GODS on Starz, as well as the feature film CHICK FIGHT opposite Malin Akerman, Bella Thorne, Fortune Feimster, and Alec Baldwin. Dominique can also be seen as a guest host on LEGENDARY for HBO MAX. Dominique also released her autobiography THE TRANSEXUAL FROM TOBAGO, and was also seen on the fashion-and-modeling-based reality show STRUT for Oxygen.
Rain Valdez
Rain Valdez just received her first Primetime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series” for her lead role in RAZOR TONGUE, which she created, crowdfunded and produced. Rain is the second transgender actress to ever be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in an acting category and the first Filipina American transgender actress to be nominated. Rain is also the founder of ActNOW, the first and only acting class in Los Angeles prioritizing a safe space for LGBTQIA actors and teaches beyond the binary. Rain got her start playing ‘Coco’ in season 2 of TV Land’s LOPEZ and doubling in Amazon’s TRANSPARENT as Miss Van Nuys on screen and a producer behind the scenes. She recently starred in a Paul Feig directed, half-hour comedy pilot for Freeform TV, guest stars in Amazon’s SNEAKY PETE, and can also be seen in the CBS All Access new show WHY WOMEN KILL.
Scott Turner Schofield
Scott Turner Schofield is an actor, writer, and consultant (HBO’s EUPHORIA), who is considered one of his generation’s trailblazers in the transgender liberation movement. Scott’s three live one-man shows toured internationally for over a decade. His first book, TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (HomoFactus Press), was a Finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. In 2015, he became the first out trans actor in daytime television, with a recurring role on CBS’s THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. He received international critical acclaim for his starring role in the 1920s-period film THE CONDUCTOR (2018, Splendid Films). In 2020, he became the first trans man nominated for a Daytime Emmy, for his role in Amazon Prime’s STUDIO CITY, making him also the first trans man nominated for any Emmy for an acting role.
About the moderator:
Alex Schmider
One of Forbes 30 Under 30 for Media, Alex Schmider is an award-winning film producer and the Associate Director of Transgender Representation at GLAAD, the nation’s leading LGBTQ media advocacy organization. At GLAAD, he advises media and entertainment industry leaders, and consults with production companies, editorial teams, brands, and corporations on how best to approach LGB and, specifically, transgender characters, storylines, marketing, social impact campaigns, and gender inclusion on digital platforms. He is a producer of the acclaimed feature documentary DISCLOSURE (Sundance, 2020) now available globally as a Netflix Original Documentary, as well as CHANGING THE GAME (Tribeca, 2019). He runs the social media strategy and accounts for both films.
About the hosts:
OUT at Meredith is the LGBTQ ERG at the Meredith Company, the American media corporation which houses pop culture, entertainment, food, fashion and lifestyle, news, business and finance, and sports in its magazine publication slate.
PEOPLE Magazine’s Deputy West Coast Editor Jason Sheeler organized the event alongside OUT at Meredith.