Free Republic

As a transgender woman, Trace Lysette had watched from the sidelines as actors like Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”) and Matt Bomer (“Anything”) played members of her community on the big and small screen. When news hit last month that Scarlett Johansson would portray a transgender man in the biopic “Rub and Tug,” she could no longer stay quiet. Since the “Transparent” actress wasn’t getting opportunities to audition for cisgender (non-transgender) roles, she argued on Twitter that the industry should at least allow transgender actors to play what they know.

Maura Pfefferman’s journey has come to a premature end. Jeffrey Tambor has announced that he will not return to Transparent for its upcoming fifth season. He issued the following statement to our sister site Deadline: Playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent has been one of the greatest privileges and creative experiences of my life. What has become clear over the past weeks, however, is that this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago. I’ve already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea...

Jeffrey Tambor has been accused of sexual assault by a second transgender person - his fellow Transparent actor Trace Lysette. Lysette, who plays yoga instructor Shea in the show, claims Tambor pressed up against her in a sexual way during filming and repeatedly made lewd sexually suggestive remarks.