SAG Awards says a ‘larger conversation’ needs to take place in declining Asia Kate Dillon’s request to eliminate gender-specific categories amid evolving times
- Dillon, 35, is non-binary and uses the pronouns they and them
- Dillon plays non-binary character Taylor Mason on Showtime’s Billions
- SAG said a single category ‘raises significant concerns in terms of gender parity as well as racial and ethnic diversity’
- Both sides agreed to continue to work to remedy problematic issues
The SAG Awards Committee said a ‘larger conversation’ needs to take place in declining Asia Kate Dillon’s request to eliminate gender-specific categories amid the evolving times.
The committee’s response came after Dillon – who’s non-binary and uses the pronouns they and them – said earlier this month in an open letter in Variety that getting rid of gender-specific categories would ‘serve as an endorsement of the gender binary at large’ at the upcoming 27th SAG Awards, which is scheduled to be held in January 2021.
Dillon, 35, who plays Taylor Mason on Billions, said in their letter that gender-specific categories ‘erase non-binary identities by limiting performers to identifying as male or female / man or womxn.’
The latest: The SAG Awards Committee said a ‘larger conversation’ needs to take place in declining Asia Kate Dillon’s request to eliminate gender-specific categories amid the evolving times. They were snapped in NYC last year
SAG responded to the Ithaca, New York native in saying that a single category ‘raises significant concerns in terms of gender parity as well as racial and ethnic diversity,’ Variety reported after Dillon shared the correspondence with the outlet.
The committee told Dillon that ‘the work is by no means done’ in the push for equality and inclusivity, adding that ‘SAG-AFTRA and the SAG Awards [has] a long history of championing communities that lack representation within our industry.’
Dillon, who also played Brandy Epps on Orange Is the New Black, said in response they were ‘disappointed’ over the ruling, and skeptical of the notion that ‘having female and male acting categories has done anything to ensure racial and ethnic diversity.’
Dillon noted that ‘since their inception in 1995, the SAG Awards’ nominees for all individual acting awards have been 88% white, while only 12% of nominees have been BIPOC.’
Breakout: Dillon, 35, plays Taylor Mason on Billions, who’s also non-binary
SAG responded to the Ithaca, New York native in saying that a single category ‘raises significant concerns in terms of gender parity as well as racial and ethnic diversity’
SAG previously offered Dillon a role on its nominating committee but they turned the offer down in response to the ‘current exclusionary form’ of categories.
Dillon said they ‘don’t have all of the answers’ but is working to ‘expose the problems and commit to working toward their solutions.
‘I continue to believe that abolishing gendered acting categories, in tandem with putting in place new regulations to ensure a significant increase of BIPOC nominees, is a key part of the solution,’ they said. ‘In closing, I decline participation as a judge of the acting categories in their current exclusionary form, but I look forward to our continued conversation.’