Netflix's trans stars urge fighting hatred with visibility: 'We must persist'

Spanish actress Gascón starred in the crime thriller musical Emilia Pérez from director Jacques Audiard along with co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz. She's already made history by winning (along with her co-stars) Best Actress at Cannes, and by being the first out trans actor nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture at the 2025 Golden Globes. She's also expected to earn an Oscar nomination, which would make her the first out trans actor nominated in history.

Gascón's speech was preceded by a video message from her co-star Selena Gomez.

Gascón mentioned that she recently met a mother who thanked her for her role in Emilia Pérez as "her daughter no longer felt alone."

"She had spent a lot of time feeling apart from society, without hope, but thanks to everything that is happening, she had realized that there is a place for us in this world," she said.

"Every day I remember why I should not let myself sink by criticism or hatred, because there are many people who need us in this world, because we are the owners of our bodies and we do not hurt anyone by loving or feeling," she continued. "Our identity is the only thing we have, and no matter how hard they try, they will never be able to take it away from us because it is ours."

Earlier this year, Mau was nominated for an Emmy at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for her role as Teri in Baby Reindeer. Her comments were preceded by a video message from Baby Reindeer star and creator — as well as Out100 honoree — Richard Gadd.

In her speech, Mau spoke about the importance of representation and how seeing someone like yourself on screen can change your life.

"I remember being in middle school and Desperate Housewives came out – shout out to Desperate Housewives – and there was that storyline with Andrew, Marcia Cross's character's son, and you know I was tuned in to that gay teen storyline," she said. "And I realized that it was something I had never seen before. And I saw a piece of myself in it even though I had not seen myself yet, I did not identify myself as queer or trans yet at the time."

"Looking back I can see that happening so many times through media. Callie Torres on Grey's Anatomy – bisexual Latina! Sophia Burset on Orange is the New Black, Candis Cayne's character Carmelita on Dirty Sexy Money," she said. "There's so many countless characters, who even if they had small roles, they were big to me, they were big to us. So to be a part of a project like Baby Reindeer where my character got to be big, it feels surreal."

"It's a testament to how far we've come, it's a testament to how important it is for us to continue," she added, saying that the stakes are "access to public life."

"We're heading into an era where our access to public life is going to be increasingly criminalized, increasingly restricted. It already is in so many places," Mau said. "And so we must persist, and do everything we can to continue using the power that we do have… We have to claim our space, we have to claim our right to access to public life, and looking at all of you, I see that's what you're doing."

Steele is the star and subject of the documentary Will & Harper, where she and her longtime friend Will Ferrell go on a cross country road trip following her coming out as a trans woman. She and Ferrell also appeared on the cover of The Advocate this year. Ferrell sent a video message preceding Steele's comments.

At the beginning of her speech, Steele joked, "I want to thank Out100 for creating this list so our next government knows who to go after. That's gonna be helpful. We're all going to jail!"

She added that she wanted to make a big political statement, but didn't have enough time so "I'm gonna use this time, because this a great audience, I'm single. I like walks on the beach. I like old movies, I like breakfast in bed, we'll see what happens tonight!"