--- description: In her speech after winning the Emmy for Best Director for a Comedy, Jill Soloway said 'We have a trans civil rights problem.' title: Jill Soloway’s Emmy Speech: ‘We Have a Trans Civil Rights Problem’ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt588c40710a0a5fbb/69886477e20a87d21da8d55d/jill-stoloway-emmy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Jill Soloway’s Emmy Speech: ‘We Have a Trans Civil Rights Problem’  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Sep 21, 2015 1:35 AM CUT  Jill Soloway accepts Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series award for Transparent onstage during the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on Sept. 20, 2015 in Los Angeles. Jill Soloway accepts Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series award for Transparent onstage during the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on Sept. 20, 2015 in Los Angeles.Kevin Winter—Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Sep 21, 2015 1:35 AM CUT When Jill Soloway won the [award](http://time.com/4041876/emmys-2015-winners-full-list/ "undefined") for Best Directing for a Comedy Series at the 2015 Primetime Emmys Sunday night, she raced through her list of names to thank, ending with her “Moppa”—her own [trans parent](http://time.com/3663170/golden-globes-2015-transparent-jill-soloway-leelah-alcorn/ "undefined"), who inspired her to write and direct the acclaimed Amazon series _Transparent_. But she quickly segued from her expression of gratitude to a heartfelt exhortation. Soloway explained that if her Moppa wanted to rent an apartment, 32 states’ laws would not protect her from housing discrimination based on her gender identity. “We don’t have a trans tipping point,” Soloway said, “we have a trans civil rights problem.” She then urged viewers to support the Transequality bill, also known as the Equality Act, a bill that would add “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to a preexisting list of legal protections from discrimination. Soloway’s reference to a “trans tipping point” likely invokes a TIME magazine [cover story](http://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/ "undefined") of that name from May 2014, which stated, “Almost one year after the Supreme Court ruled that Americans were free to marry the person they loved, no matter their sex, another civil rights movement is poised to challenge long-held cultural norms and beliefs.” Indeed, in the time since the story ran, the call for transgender rights has gotten louder, with figures like [Caitlyn Jenner](http://time.com/3960200/caitlyn-jenner-espys-espy-arthur-ashe-award-for-courage/ "undefined") and [Jazz Jennings](http://time.com/3956057/jazz-jennings-transgender-i-am-jazz/ "undefined") increasing the visibility of trans issues. Moments after Soloway left the stage, Jeffrey Tambor—in his speech for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, won for his portrayal of a parent in transition on _Transparent_—dedicated his award to the transgender community. “Thank you for your patience, thank you for your courage, thank you for your stories, thank you for your inspiration,” he said. “Thank you for letting us be part of the change.” ### Photos: 25 Transgender People Who Influenced American Culture  Laverne Cox has used her growing celebrity as a star of the critically acclaimed Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, to become an outspoken leader of the trans rights movement, addressing crowds of thousands at schools and other forums around the country. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  With her brother, Andy, Lana Wachowski has co-written, produced and directed Hollywood blockbusters like the Matrix triology, V for Vendetta and Cloud Atlas. Michael Sohn—DPA/AP  Kye Allums became the first openly transgender athlete in NCAA Division 1, the top level of college athletics, when he played on the women's team at George Washington University in 2010. John Lamparski—Getty Images  Caitlyn Jenner, made famous as an Olympic gold medalist in 1976 and later as a reality TV dad, appears as a woman for the first time on the cover of Vanity Fair's June 2015 issue, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Vanity Fair  Chelsea Manning is an Army soldier who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act, after she leaked hundreds of classified documents to Wikileaks. U.S. Army/AP  Brandon Teena was an American trans man who was raped and murdered in Nebraska in 1993\. His murder was a catalyst for a lobbying effort for hate crimes legislation and his life and death were the subject of the film Boys Don't Cry. AP  The electronic musician Wendy Carlos released Switched-On Bach in 1968, which won three Grammy awards and became one of the first classical albums to sell 500,000 copies. She went on to compose notable scores for films like A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron. Ebet Roberts—Getty Images  Since coming out publicly in a 2012 Rolling Stone article, the musician Laura Jane Grace has been a vocal advocate for trans acceptance. In 2014, her band Against Me! released the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Gary Miller—Getty Images  Model and actress Carmen Carrera vaulted to reality TV fame after appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race. Nearly 50,000 people have signed an online petition asking Victoria's Secret to make her the company's first transgender "Angel." Danny Aarons—Newspix/Getty Images  Christine Jorgensen, a former soldier, became a nationwide media sensation after having sex reassignment surgery in Denmark in 1952. Fred Morgan—New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images  The American jazz musician Billy Tipton became famous after his 1989 death when it was discovered that he had been assigned the female sex at birth. AP  The American public grew up knowing Bono as the daughter of entertainers Sonny and Cher, before he came out as a transgender man in 2009\. Bono, who first came out as a lesbian in ’90s, has been an active LGBT rights advocate for decades, writing and making films about his experiences and using platforms like reality show Dancing With the Stars to talk about LGBT issues. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images  Candis Cayne was the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character on a prime time series, as love interest Carmelita on ABC's Dirty Sexy Money. In past decades, the majority of transgender characters have been played by non-transgender actors and often been portrayed in negative roles, like psychopathic killers or dead prostitutes. Charles Sykes—Invision/AP  The pioneering computer scientist and engineer Lynn Conway influenced a generation of computer chip designers and has worked at Xerox PARC, IBM, and DARPA.  Caroline Cossey is a British actress best known for her role as a Bond girl in the movie For Your Eyes Only. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Before she came out in 2014, the Serbian-born model was already blurring lines in the fashion world as the androgynous male model and muse for big names like Marc Jacobs. In 2015, Pejic became the first transgender model to appear in American Vogue. Nicholas Hunt—Getty Images  The LPGA removed a requirement that golfers be "female at birth" after trans woman Lana Lawless sued for the right to compete in 2010. Ben Margot—AP  Fallon Fox became the first openly transgender fighter in mixed martial arts history when she came out in 2013. Sally Ryan—Zuma Press/Corbis  Beatie went public in 2008 as America’s first “pregnant father,” undergoing artificial insemination after his former wife proved infertile. The transgender man captured the nation’s attention after appearances on shows such as Oprah, setting off cultural conversations about the social and legal status of transgender people in America. He has since had three children. Chris Jackson—Getty Images  Janet Mock, a transgender advocate and writer, published a best-selling memoir about her transition, Redefining Realness, in 2014 and hosts a MSNBC web talk show about pop culture. Fernando Leon—Getty Images  Veteran LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner announced he was a "transsexual sportswriter" in a 2007 essay and wrote under a new byline, Christine Daniels, for nearly a year. After struggling with the challenges of living as a trans woman, Penner abandoned the name in 2008 and returned to living as a man, before committing suicide in 2009. Los Angeles Times/AP  The pro tennis player Renee Richards won a landmark decision for transgender rights in 1977 when the New York Supreme Court ruled that she could compete in tournaments as a woman. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Sylvia Rivera was present at the Stonewall uprising and remained a tireless advocate for trans people of color, as well as gays and lesbians, who were marginalized as the LGBT movement became more mainstream. Valerie Shaff—Sylvia Rivera Law Project  Geena Rocero was already a successful model before she gave a viral 2014 TED talk in which she came out publicly as transgender. “All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies,” she said. “Some people have the courage to break free.” Her advocacy organization, Gender Proud, works to empower transgender communities around the world. Santiago Felipe—Getty Images  Jenna Talackova fought a legal battle to become the first openly transgender candidate to compete in Miss Universe Canada in 2012, after initially being rejected because of her gender status. Aaron Vincent Elkaim—AP ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4041908/emmys-2015-jill-soloway-trans-civil-rights-problem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4041908/emmys-2015-jill-soloway-trans-civil-rights-problem/"},"headline":"Jill Soloway’s Emmy Speech: ‘We Have a Trans Civil Rights Problem’","datePublished":"2015-09-21T01:35:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:59.390Z","description":"Soloway won the Emmy for Best Directing for a Comedy Series for \"Transparent\"","url":"https://time.com/4041908/emmys-2015-jill-soloway-trans-civil-rights-problem/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","emmys"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt588c40710a0a5fbb/69886477e20a87d21da8d55d/jill-stoloway-emmy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt588c40710a0a5fbb/69886477e20a87d21da8d55d/jill-stoloway-emmy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jill Stoloway - Emmys 2015","caption":"Jill Stoloway - Emmys 2015","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4041908/emmys-2015-jill-soloway-trans-civil-rights-problem/","name":"Jill Soloway’s Emmy Speech: ‘We Have a Trans Civil Rights Problem’"}}]}] ```