Pedro Pascal calls out ‘vile’ transphobia as he doubles down on trans allyship
Pedro Pascal has called out ‘vile’ attacks against the transgender community. (Getty/Canva)
The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal has issued a scathing takedown of anti-trans bigotry, calling attempts to strip the transgender community of rights “vile” and “pathetic”.
In a post on his Instagram account over the weekend, the SAG Award-winning actor shared a photo of a message plastered on a building which read: “A world without trans people has never existed and never will.”
Captioning the photo, Pascal let his near nine million followers on the platform know that he wouldn’t stand for anti-trans policies.
“I can’t think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist,” he wrote in the post, which has amassed more than 750,000 likes.
Though the Fantastic Four star didn’t expand on his comments, it’s likely he’s referring to Donald Trump’s administration, which has spent the past few weeks signing numerous orders aimed at restricting rights for transgender and non-binary individuals in the US.
Among the fusillade of orders, Trump has declared it official US policy to recognise “only two sexes”, ordered schools to ban trans girls and women from competing in women’s sports, banned trans people from serving in the military, and restricted gender-affirming care for trans youth under the age of 19.
He has also stripped diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and initiatives from federal agencies.
His declaration that there are “only two sexes” has led to the State Department, which authorises passports, to only issue passports with male or female selections, with sex markers now based on the sex recorded at birth.
The policy change has led to an increasing number of trans people unable to access a passport that matches their gender identity, with Euphoria star Hunter Schafer recently revealing that she has been listed as “male” on her new passport.
Pedro Pascal has been vocal about his support of the LGBTQ+ community throughout his career, but is particularly passionate about supporting the trans community as his sister, actress Lux Pascal, is trans.
Following his post blasting “vile” bigots, he shared a black and white photo of his sister with her back turned, posing at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile. He simply captioned it: “Lux.”
Earlier this month, the Freaky Tales actor shared a video of late trans activist Cecilia Gentili giving a speech at the New York University Lavender Graduation ceremony for LGBTQ+ college students in May 2023.
“Do not allow anyone to tell you that this is not a big deal, or that this is just a culture war, or that trans people are overstating the seriousness of what is going on,” Gentili says in the powerful speech.
“I’ve been a trans person for nearly 50 years… Knowing your identity, who you are, and where you come from is powerful… I think one of the most important things that we can do for young people is to share those stories. Once we know who we are, we cannot be stopped.”
Captioning the video, Pascal highlighted Gentili’s quote, writing: “Know who you are. Progress is inevitable.”
Fans of the star have continued praising him for his committed trans allyship, with one summarising: “Could his flag get any greener?”
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