Karla Sofía Gascón has made history with her Academy Award nomination for “Emilia Pérez.”
The Spanish star became the first openly trans woman to be nominated in the Best Actress category when Oscar contenders were announced on Thursday morning.
“Emilia Pérez” follows the story of a cartel leader who enlists Mexico City lawyer Rita (played by Academy Award nominee Zoe Saldana) to help her fake her death so she can transition in secret.
When Gascón’s character reemerges years later, she tries to repent for her life of crime and reckon with her decision to abandon her family.
Emerging with the most accolades ahead of this year’s Oscars, the musical crime thriller earned nominations in 13 categories.
Gascón’s historic nomination comes as President Donald Trump’s new administration is working to roll back trans rights. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order stipulating that the government can only recognize two genders, which are “not changeable” and must align with a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The “Emilia Peréz” star denounced Trump while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week, calling the politician “shameless.”
Though Gascón is the first openly transgender woman to be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, star Elliot Page was nominated in the same category for 2007′s “Juno” before coming out in 2020.
Prior to Gascón, only three other openly trans people have been nominated for Academy Awards: composer Angela Morley, musician Anohni and documentarian Yance Ford.
At this year’s honors, Gascón will go up against Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Demi Moore (“The Substance”), and Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”) in the Best Actress category.
Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
We’ll see who comes out on top on March 2.
You can check out HuffPost’s live reactions to Thursday’s Oscar nominations in our blog.