Late trans star Alexis Arquette honoured at Screen Actors Guild Awards
Trans star Alexis Arquette has been honoured at the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG).
The actor was honoured as one of the actors lost in the past twelve months at the awards which took place this week.
Check out the video tribute via SAG below:
The actor – best known for roles in Last Exit To Brooklyn, Pulp Fiction and The Wedding Singer – passed away “surrounded by love” last year, as her family “held her and sang her David Bowie’s Starman”.
The Arquette family have since released a joint statement praising Alexis’ bravery and trans activism.
“Alexis was a brilliant artist and painter, a singer, an entertainer and an actor,” her siblings said.
“We learned what real bravery is through watching her journey of living as a trans woman. We came to discover the one truth – that love is everything.”
“She fiercely lived her reality in a world where it is dangerous to be a trans person – a world largely unready to accept differences among human beings, and where there is still the ugliness of violence and hostility towards people that we may not understand.”
Her family also championed her determination to reject stereotypical trans roles, despite the effect it may have had on her career.
“Her career was cut short, not by her passing, but by her decision to live her truth and her life as a transgender woman,” they said.
“Despite the fact that there are few parts for trans actors, she refused to play roles that were demeaning or stereotypical.
“She was a vanguard in the fight for understanding and acceptance for all trans people,” they added.
“Alexis always had to do everything first. She left before we were ready to let her go.”
The trans star came from a family of distinguished entertainers and was the sibling of David, Rosanna, Richmond and Patricia Arquette, who have asked for donations be made to organisations which support the LGBT community in their sister’s honour.
