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“The Craft: Legacy,” tells the story of 4 teenage witches with newfound powers, considered one of them is 20-year-old Downey native Zoey Luna.
“I am like that is madness this isn’t actual,” stated Luna.
However her journey didn’t begin there.
“After I transitioned, I had quite a lot of issues with the varsity board,” she stated. “They’d all the time give me a tough time.”
In 2014, she was one of many topics for Laverne Cox’s documentary “The T-Phrase, which adopted the lives of transgender youths — every dealing with their very own types of discrimination.
With the discrimination she confronted from not solely her friends however from her college district, at 13, Luna turned a transgender activist.
“They advised me that they have been gonna expel me if I transitioned publicly as a result of they simply felt it was inappropriate,” she stated. “Principally, they did not need to take care of that accountability.”
With assist from the ACLU, Luna and her household fought again and filed a grievance with america Division of Schooling.
“The case that we had filed would have been applied for nevertheless a few years besides when Trump turned president, his insurance policies mainly diminished every little thing I had labored for to file in place to make sure that each child that was going to that faculty wouldn’t should face the discrimination as a result of the district could be educated,” she stated.
Regardless of the setback, her activism continued as she created her personal documentary, “Elevating Zoey.” After HBO highlighted her within the documentary “15: A Quinceañera Story.” From there Luna started to get observed, with roles in Pose and Expensive Evan Hansen.
“My expertise in Hollywood has undoubtedly been attention-grabbing however its greater than I’ve dreamed of,” she stated. “I have been met with quite a lot of acceptance and respect.”
A current examine by the Homosexual & Lesbian Alliance In opposition to Defamation, or GLAAD, discovered almost 12% of LGBT characters on TV have repeating roles. Additionally, whereas there was elevated racial range amongst LGBT characters in movie, advocates stated extra work must be performed. In truth, of the main movie studios, there have been no transgender or non-binary characters for the fourth yr in a row.
Whereas Luna didn’t face many obstacles in her journey to the large display, many others did. Nevertheless, a expertise company made it their mission to create a secure house for LGBTQ expertise by changing into the primary expertise company to launch a queer division.
“I wished to create a house, a secure place, the place LGBTQ expertise might thrive and perceive that’s okay to be who you might be as a result of I am homosexual too,” stated Peter Kallinteris, who runs the Peter Kallinteris Company.
Whereas it sounds straightforward sufficient, Kallinteris stated for his era issues have been totally different.
“Years in the past, once I was only a younger actor within the 90s it was frowned upon. Now it is celebrated,” he stated. “I believe there is a revolution occurring proper now simply an understanding that we’re all related.”
A revolution that has turn out to be mainstream with Common Photos releasing the trailer for “Bros,” the primary homosexual romantic comedy from a serious studio. It additionally options a wholly LGBTQ principal forged.
Different productions have additionally made headlines with the reboot of “Queer as People” and “Hearth Island.”
These tv and movie productions point out a rising funding within the LGBTQ neighborhood and the hope is that this may translate to a rising acceptance by the viewers.
For Luna, she stated she’s going to proceed to do her half.
“As a trans individual that’s nonetheless alive, I’m a strolling billboard saying ‘Hey, we’re right here. We’re taking on house,'” she stated. “And the extra that I proceed to dwell authentically and bravely is form of a mission assertion.”
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