BAFTA has dealt a blow to nonbinary performers, deciding – after spending two years debating the thorny question of ‘gendered’ acting categories – that awards nominees will have to pick a side and choose whether they want to compete as ‘actors’ or ‘actresses‘.
The announcement places non-binary performers – like Emma Corrin, Emma D’Arcy and Bella Ramsey – in a tricky position.
Revised guidelines released last week say that film producers must ‘confirm the gender/gender identity of each candidate for nomination’.
A source adds: ‘It is up to the entrant which category they enter into.’
Following the decision in 2022 by their music counterparts the Brit Awards to go gender neutral, BAFTA revealed that they were engaged in ‘proactive and thoughtful consultation’ on the subject of gendered acting categories and were speaking to ‘sector peers, industry stakeholders and experts’.
BAFTA has dealt a blow to nonbinary performers, deciding that awards nominees will have to choose whether they want to compete as ‘actors’ or ‘actresses’ (Pictured: Emma Corrin)
The announcement places non-binary performers – like Emma Corrin, Emma D’Arcy (left) and Bella Ramsey (right) – in a tricky position
Ultimately, though, they opted to make no change, effectively shutting out the growing band of non-binary performers.
A BAFTA spokesman said that while the actor and actress categories remained, the certificate and mask could carry the term ‘performer’ if that was preferred by the winner.
The Brits, meanwhile, no longer have gendered categories, such as Best Male Solo Artist (a move widely thought to be driven by non-binary singer Sam Smith).
Adele, who won Best British Artist in 2022, said on stage: ‘I understand why the name of this award has changed but I really love being a woman and being a female artist.’
Last year there was outrage after the Best British Artist shortlist was all-male.
In 2022, the Oscars and the Tonys also started consultations on the possibility of gender neutral categories, but both organisations have retained their ‘Best Actress’ and ‘Best Actor’ categories.
The debate over gender neutral categories has proved to be a controversial one in recent years.
The Crown star Emma – who uses they/them pronouns – previously claimed that awards ceremonies aren’t ‘inclusive enough’ and said change would enable everyone to feel ‘acknowledged and represented.’
Speaking to the BBC’s Today Programme about the possibility of gender neutral categories at major awards shows, Emma said: ‘I hope for a future in which that happens.
‘I don’t think the categories are inclusive enough at the moment. It’s about everyone being able to feel acknowledged and represented.’
The Brits no longer have gendered categories, such as Best Male Solo Artist – a move widely thought to be driven by non-binary singer Sam Smith (pictured this month
Emma added that more representation was needed within roles in the entertainment industry to encourage ‘more of an urgency’ around addressing the subject.
They asked: ‘When it comes to categories, do we need to make it specific as to whether you’re being nominated for a female role or a male role?
‘You can discuss awards and the representation there, but really the conversation needs to be about having more representation in the material itself, in the content that we are seeing for non-binary people, for queer people, for trans people, because then I think that will change a lot.
‘When those parts come up, meaning more people and more actors are playing those roles then I think there will be more of an urgency with which these questions will be addressed.’
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Emma has identified as non-binary publicly since 2021, and has shared their journey with their gender identity publicly on social media.
The thespian told The Today Programme: ‘Your gender identity is so much to do with how you feel and it ties into so much of how you want to be seen or are seen by people and that can be very triggering or can make you uncomfortable if you don’t feel you are being seen honestly or correctly.
‘I think that it was necessary for me to be open and honest about it because otherwise I would have felt I was being perceived wrongly.’
The film star added that they did not worry that being open about their gender identity would limit the kind of roles they got offered in the future.
Emma explained: ‘I would never sacrifice integrity or honesty because of work that I may or may not get,’ they said.
‘My being non-binary is not a rejection of femininity or my femininity in any way. It’s sort of an embrace of that.
‘I still want to play women, my experience on this earth has been a female one – and now it’s sort of a very fluid one.’
All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis (pictured in March) claimed women are being ‘disregarded and excluded’ by gender neutral Brit Awards after bosses scrapped male and female categories
In contrast, All Saints star Shaznay Lewis warned women face being ‘disregarded and excluded’ by gender neutral categories.
The singer, 48, was referencing the gender neutral Brit Awards when she said scrapping male and female categories will deny a generation of girls from having the experience of winning.
She told Radio Times: ‘Progressive ideas should benefit everyone, but how can that be the case if we do not acknowledge female artists – the female artists who are symbols of empowerment to millions of young aspiring women?
‘The birth of the new award has seen the demise of both best male and the best female categories and women, predictably, have suffered as a result.
‘It does not feel right and I have to ask why women now face being disregarded and excluded. Is it because we are not seen as equally bankable by the industry?’
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