LGBTQIA+ people have a right to tell their own stories.
And see their own stories authentically reflected in media.
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DON’T audition, if it’s not your story to tell. | DO refer LGBTQIA+ voice actors to casting and agents. DO share lists of LGBTIQA+ voice actors like Queer Vox’s directory. |
DON’T make assumptions about what a character’s voice “sounds like” or “should sound like” based on their gender or sexuality. | DO take time to consider alternative ways to describe what your character sounds like that do not relate to gender (personality, attitude, pitch, timbre). |
DON’T make assumptions about a voice actor’s gender or sexuality based on their voice or appearance. | DO ask LGBTQIA+ actors what they want to read for in terms of characters and genres. |
DON’T ask invasive questions about a person’s gender, transition, or sexuality. | DO ask LGBTQIA+ actors how you can show up for them and affirm their identities. Ask if there are any boundaries they want people to keep in mind and respect. |
DON’T assume a voice actor’s pronouns based on their voice, appearance, or identities. | DO learn every voice actor’s pronouns and use their correct pronouns—even when they’re not present. |
DON’T misgender a voice actor with the incorrect pronouns. | DO apologize and correct yourself if you misgender or use the incorrect pronouns for a voice actor. If someone else misgenders a voice actor, politely correct them. |
DON’T use language that is discriminatory, rooted in stereotypes, or excludes LGBTQIA+ people. | DO learn and use LGBTQIA+-inclusive language when talking about gender and sexuality. |
It is our duty to ensure that LGBTQIA+ voice actors have access to diverse and authentic job opportunities. This requires the help of everyone in every corner of the voiceover and entertainment industry. This is what we like to call “The Pipeline of Responsibility”.
Development
Casting
Marketing
PR
From the initial development of a project…
…to the casting process…
…to actors auditioning and booking roles…
…to the marketing strategy…
…to the PR response to any backlash and protection of voice actors…
Building long-lasting careers for this underrepresented population requires executives, producers, writers, casting, talent reps, marketing departments, and fellow actors to commit to providing and protecting this access.
There is sometimes an expectation in the VO industry that every voice actor will broadcast their identities on social media and elsewhere online. And while there are LGBTQIA+ voice actors everywhere across the globe, it is not always safe for them to be out – in real life or online.
The Queer Vox VO Directory serves as a resource to be a closed safe space for LGBTQIA+ voice actors to disclose their identities.
If there is an expectation that your LGBTQIA+ talent’s identity will be publicized and/or used to advertise the game as representation, this should be disclosed early on in casting.
In times like these when anti-trans and anti-queer hate is rampant, this may be an uncomfortable moment for talent to be very publicly out. Discuss these expectations with your talent, as each person will have different levels of comfort.
If you’re looking for an androgynous character, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily non-binary. If you’re looking for a butch or effeminate character, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily lesbian or gay. You can in one sentence say you’re open to actors of all gender identities, and then in the next be specific about the character’s gender expression. These are mutually exclusive things and should be treated as such.
The vast majority of sexualities and gender identities represented across all voiceover media – and media in general – continue to be straight and cisgender. And while LGBTQIA+ voice actors continue to advocate for queer and trans roles to go to queer and trans actors, there still remains a tendency for queer actors to only be considered for queer roles and trans actors to only be considered for trans roles. Meanwhile, straight and cisgender folks are consistently considered for roles of all sexualities and gender identities – queer and trans as well as straight and cisgender roles.
There are so few queer roles in voiceover and even fewer trans and non-binary roles and even fewer LGBTQIA+ roles for characters who are also people of color, have a disability, speak any language besides English, or have any other marginalized experience. There are simply not enough queer and trans roles for queer and trans voice actors to make a living in voiceover. Given this challenging reality that is only worsening with the current anti-LGBTQIA+ backlash in both media and the world at large, it is only fair that LGBTQIA+ voice actors be considered for roles of all sexualities and gender identities.
Queer and trans actors have grown up in a cisheteronormative world, often having to pass or assimilate to survive. They are just as well acquainted with straight and cisgender identities as any. While it is admirable to pursue authenticity at all times, LGBTQIA+ voice actors are facing a wildly imbalanced casting landscape and you lose nothing by hiring queer and trans actors for straight and cisgender roles. In fact, you help them build a lasting career.
Transitioning is the process through which someone adopts changes, whether physical or otherwise, to align with the gender with which they identify.
Transitioning can look different for everyone. It may or may not include medical, legal, social, and other changes. Some people physically or medically transition, and others do not.
Here are some ways to support a voice actor who is transitioning:
Ask them what support they need and want.
What people need help with varies from person to person, and the same is true for everyone that chooses to transition. No two transitioning people’s needs will be the same, so ask in an open-ended way so that they can fill you in.
Ask them what they want you to know and keep in mind in terms of their transition and their voice acting career.
Ask them what characters/genders/tropes/adjectives they feel most comfortable reading for. Some folks feel comfortable enough to read as their assigned gender even after transitioning, some don’t. Some folks want to read for EVERY gender while some want to read for ONLY the gender they present as. Every trans and non-binary talent’s identity intersects with their voice acting in a different way.
Don’t make any assumptions about what their transition may entail or include.
People under the same broad category may have transitioned in different ways. For instance, if you are in talks with two transfeminine people, one may have had medical procedures while the other has not. And, to that end, it is between them and their doctors. Your place in this is not to assume what they are doing and be as supportive as they let you.
Be mindful of not asking invasive personal questions that are irrelevant.
Be mindful of what information you are seeking if you are feeling the urge to ask invasive questions about surgery, hormones, or transition. If you are worried about the actor, checking in on their basic comfort while working will open the door for them to express an issue. If you want to understand their boundaries around their gender, ask questions about their positive experiences with gender or what has made them feel affirmed in the past. Learning about someone’s gender expression is an appropriate way to get to know them. Trying to narrow down specifics about their medical history is not.
Have extra consideration for the challenges they may be experiencing during their transition.
Understand that some trans talents’ vocal cords are physically changing, so some sounds may not be available early on in their transition process and replicating the same sound from day to day can be difficult. This is often chalked up to a “lack of skill” when, really, the cords are physically changing and will take time to re-set. These changes can take anywhere from 3 to 5 years and ultimately, this side effect is temporary.
Direct with flexibility and thoughtfulness based on what they need.
Check in with them frequently to discuss their vocal limits especially for any styles of read that are proving to be challenging. Consider a change in context or direction if the vocal threshold is low on a particular day, or push that line to a later session. If the actor is struggling with your direction to go higher/lower in pitch, consider encouraging a different vocal technique by directing them to darken/brighten the sound by frowning/smiling. You can also add or remove texture by directing them to engage with their air differently.
Prioritize vocal health and prevent vocal stress with frequent hydration and breaks.
Encourage hydration more so than you would for cis actors and be mindful of dryness or additional texture as the session goes on. Consider 10- to 15-minute breaks every 50 minutes to allow the actor extra time to rest and hydrate. And depending on the work planned for that day, consider hazard pay or vocal stress pay for actors mid-transition–particularly for creatures, barks, screams, and dynamic atmospheric voices.
For long-term projects, creatively accommodate, rather than recast.
If the actor for a recurring character is undergoing a vocal change during the course of your project and unable to match previous performance, consider writing a storyline to accommodate it instead of recasting, if possible (this was done for a young cis male actor in Hey Arnold! in an episode entitled “Gerald’s Tonsils”).
