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The Voices You Heard In Disclosure Should Stay With You After The Credits Roll

Lia Beck
Last Updated June 19, 2020, 8:30 PM
Photo: Courtesy of Netflix.
If you're looking for some educational Pride Month viewing, look no further. On June 19, Disclosure premiered on Netflix. The documentary is about transgender representation in television and movies, and looks back on the good and the bad of the trans experience on film with the help of some experts in the industry. One of the coolest things about the doc is that all the Disclosure cast members — everyone who is interviewed in the film — is trans or non-binary.
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That representation continues behind the scenes, too. Director Sam Feder is also trans, and made it a point to hire as many trans people on the production staff as possible. "We did a national search. When we could not hire a trans person for a key role on set, the non-trans person would mentor a trans fellow. We had about a dozen different fellows on set," Feder told Decider in June. In turn, those fellows get a leg up in the entertainment industry.
Feder also made sure to keep things intersectional and include plenty of non-white trans voices. "Disclosure underscores how patriarchy, white supremacy, settler colonialism, and capitalism thoroughly oppress our most marginalized. The intersections can’t be pulled apart," Feder told Decider in the same interview.
The film features a wide variety of interviewees, from famous names like Laverne Cox and Candis Cayne, to lesser known actors, activists, writers, and producers. Click through to find out a little more about all 30 of the people interviewed.
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Bianca Leigh



Bianca Leigh is an actor whose first film role was in Transamerica. She's also appeared on Law & Order: SVU.
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Jen Richards



Jen Richards is a writer and actor, who has had roles on Nashville, Mrs. Fletcher, and Better Things. She also appeared as herself on the Caitlyn Jenner-focused reality series I Am Cait.
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Thank you Activists, advocates, allies, queer family, celebrities, chosen family and crew of the Virtual Live LGBT Pride Parade today. I was overwhelmed by the joy, the power and the profound spiritual reminders we received today, through all of your voices ringing loud and clear as we celebrated 50 years of our queer revolution. Our goal as LGBT humans is to rise up and stand shoulder to shoulder with our revolutionary African American family as we all gather and take to streets marching for equality and inclusion. Today I was showered with compassion and the glory that is our LGBT family Thank you to everyone I stand in awe of my teachers and guides ... @audramcdonald @lindsayheatherpearce @blbuckley @seanhayes @chasbusch @musto184 @dgcomedy @sandragbernhard @thelavendereffect @mmmmelengland @amylandecker @judithlight @chadmichaelsallstar @schmengieinc @honeywestchicago

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Alexandra Billings



Alexandra Billings is an actor who is best known for her role in Transparent as Davina. She's also acted on the series Goliath, Grey's Anatomy, and ER.
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Susan Stryker



Susan Stryker is a writer and a professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Arizona and a Visiting Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale. She's a consulting producer on Disclosure.
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Yance Ford



Yance Ford is a producer and director, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2018 for his film Strong Island. He became the first openly trans man to be nominated for an Oscar and is the first openly transgender filmmaker to win a Creative Arts Emmy.
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Lilly Wachowski



Lilly Wachowski is a writer, director, and producer known for her work with her sister Lana Wachowski, including the Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas, and Sense8.
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Brian Michael Smith



Brian Michael Smith is an actor, who stars on 9-1-1: Lone Star, and has also had roles on Queen Sugar, The L Word: Generation Q, and Chicago P.D.
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Lavender is becoming my favorite color. Lavender flowers, lavender crown chakra, essential oil and fields. It’s a color I’ve been drawn to over the last few weeks. Today is day 60 in quarantine and I don’t know if I’m getting use to it, but something is churning. I think maybe I’m done waiting for it to be over and I’m ready to bust through it. This crisis can’t get a hold of me, I have to get my hands on it. I’m still figuring out the details. I pray, I meditate, I sweat, I sing about it. There has to be an answer to ‘what’s next?’ I want to believe I can answer that for myself. My brother @aundreusp told me to “maintain your lavender.” Those three words have inspired and carried me. Getting aligned. Getting clear. Busting through. Every way that I can. . . . . . . . . . . . . #transisbeautiful #brooklynlove #60daysofquarantine #stayhome #tmoc

A post shared by TIQ MILAN (@themrmilan) on

Tiq Milan



Tiq Milan is a public speaker, media consultant, and writer, who has contributed to BuzzFeed, CNN, Ebony, and the Guardian. He is currently the Senior Media Strategist of National News for GLAAD.
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Nick Adams



Nick Adams is the Director of Transgender Media and Representation at GLAAD. Adams is a consulting producer for Disclosure.
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Rain Valdez



Rain Valdez is an actor and filmmaker, who has appeared on Lopez, Transparent, and Why Women Kill, and directed and stars in the webseries Razor Tongue.
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Zeke Smith



Zeke Smith is best known for his time as a contestant on two seasons of Survivor, during which he was outed as trans by a fellow cast member. He has written about that experience for The Hollywood Reporter.
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Elliot Fletcher



Elliot Fletcher is an actor, who has starred on Shameless and The Fosters. He also appeared on Marvel's Runaways.
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Leo Sheng



Leo Sheng is an actor, public speaker, and writer, who stars on The L Word: Generation Q and has written for HuffPost and MTV News.
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Marquise Vilsón



Marquise Vilsón is an actor, who has had roles in The Kitchen, Law & Order: SVU, and Bull.
16 of 30
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Happy Birthday to @gracejonesofficial ❤️

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Jazzmun



Jazzmun is an actor, who started her career as a drag performer. She has appeared in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Dreamgirls, ER, and Desperate Housewives.
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What should I watch next?

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Trace Lysette



Trace Lysette is an actor known for her roles in Transparent, Hustlers, and Pose.
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Candis Cayne


Candis Cayne is an actor who has had roles in Nip/Tuck, Grey's Anatomy, and Elementary, and starred as herself on I Am Cait. She became the first openly trans woman to have a recurring TV role in 2007 with her role on Dirty Sexy Money.
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🎶 Happy hour, sun shower, 808's...🎵

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Jamie Clayton



Jamie Clayton is an actor who has starred in The L Word: Generation Q, Roswell, New Mexico, and Sense8 created by fellow Disclosure interviewee Lilly Wachowski.
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Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images.

Mickey R. Mahoney



Mickey R. Mahoney is an actor and filmmaker, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in the Television Department at Columbia College Chicago.
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Happy #TransDayofVisibility. I did not realize that it was #TDOV until today. I’ve been social media dormant for the past few weeks, leaning into gratitude for this opportunity to hang back and listen, observe, and absorb. I’m thankful for my introvert nature. I dive deep within without getting lost. I accept sitting in the discomfort of not knowing. I accept the darkness I cannot touch and the awkwardness of gazing into the void together. If you are reading this, I love you. Our lives are worth more than all the money in the world. We can live holistically outside of capitalism. We can create identities that are not centered around our consumerism. This is not a dream, this is happening. Everything you need, you can find within. Work with limitation. When you hit a wall, when all you see are walls, shift your plane of gravity and make it the floor.

A post shared by Zackary Drucker (@zackarydrucker) on

Zackary Drucker



Zackary Drucker is an artist and producer. She was a producer on Transparent, and appeared as herself on I Am Cait.
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Mj Rodriguez



Mj Rodriguez is a television and theater actor, who is best known for Pose, but has also appeared on Nurse Jackie and. The Carrie Diaries.
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Sandra Caldwell



Sandra Caldwell is an actor, who has appeared in Law & Order: SVU, The Cheetah Girls, Little Men, and Shall We Dance.
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Chaz Bono



Chaz Bono, the son of Cher and Sonny Bono, is a writer and actor, who has appeared on American Horror Story, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dancing with the Stars, and in the documentary Becoming Chaz.
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Tre'vell Anderson



Tre'vell Anderson is a journalist, who has worked at the Los Angeles Times and Out. They are currently the president of the National Association of Black Journalists of Los Angeles.
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Up. #latergram 📸 by @ayo.romeo

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Angelica Ross



Angelica Ross is an actor known for American Horror Story, Pose, and Claws. She also founded TransTech Social Enterprises to support trans people working in the technology industry.
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