A transgender actor featured in the upcoming film “Emilia Perez” at the Cannes Film Festival claimed that gender should be “unimportant,” emphasizing that transgender individuals are just like anyone else.
Karla Sofía Gascón — who was born male and now identifies as a woman — stars in Emilia Perez as a male drug kingpin who decides to exit the drug trade by undergoing a sex-change operation.
The unconventional movie musical, which co-stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, premiered Saturday in a competition at Cannes.
During a weekend press conference, Gascón, who is from Spain, asserted that transgender individuals are just as human as anyone else and that their gender should be deemed “unimportant.”
“We’re normal people who can have the careers they want,” Gascon said. “Being trans is unimportant. A trans person is someone going through a transition. Once they have transitioned, that’s it. They are what they are.”
“We’re first and foremost human beings, and there’s no point sticking labels on us,” Gascon added.
Gascón noted that within Hispanic cultures, there’s a tendency to degrade transgender individuals.
“People who are trans are subjected to insults or death threats because they exist. In Mexico, there are harsh phrases when addressing trans people. It can be gross,” Gascon said.
“I think we should be taken for what we are. We have to continue fighting for our rights. We have our body and we’re allowed to change it,” Gascon added.
Karla Sofía Gascón penned a book about undergoing a sex change operation at the age of 46 after being married to a woman and fathering a child.
Before transitioning, Gascón, formerly known as Carlos, worked as an actor in Spanish-language TV shows.
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