One thing is clear: Stephanie Beatriz is having a stellar year. The actress recently sang at the Oscars representing our community with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” within the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. She was also honored at the Outfest Fusion BIPOC Film Festival for her work representing the LGBTQ+ community. That’s not all: She even used her time being honored to keep speaking up for the queer community unapologetically.
Beatriz understands that some people might be critical of the Walt Disney Company for several reasons (see here). Yet, Beatriz commended the company for creating an inclusive film with Latine talent to tell a story based within Latin America.
The actress then turned her attention toward the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill to address the need for more inclusion and representation for the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. The bill has caused outcry across the country, with critics pointing out that the legislation is ultimately harmful to LGBTQ+ youths and teachers in the Florida education system.
“How can we turn our backs on people in our community that have less resources than we do to discuss this stuff openly?” Beatriz said as she was honored. “The fact that people are so terrified of each other, so xenophobic and so full of internalized hatred, that they then create legislation to keep other people from fulfilling their destinies on this planet is wild. How can I not speak up?”
Stephanie Beatriz pushed representation forward in 2017 when her character Rosa on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” came out as bisexual, mirroring the actress’s own sexual orientation. The scene gave bisexual people representation that has been lacking as we have witnessed bi-erasure in real-time.
Congratulations, Stephanie! Thank you for your powerful work.