Elliot Page and Naomi Watts are among the bold-faced names starring a new American Civil Liberties Union public awareness campaign in support of transgender youth.
Launching Monday ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. BPJ Little v. Hecox — two cases challenging state laws that ban transgender girls from participating in school sports — More Than A Game also features Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, Benito Skinner, Brianna Turner, Naomi Watts, and a group of young people, including the lead plaintiff in one of the cases.
The campaign includes photos and videos of participants wearing exclusive merchandise designed by award-winning fashion designer and ACLU Artist Ambassador Willy Chavarria. The photos were captured by artist and fashion photographer Collier Schorr and videography captured by Sundance award-winning writer and director Alessandra Lacorazza
“This week the Supreme Court is set to consider a case that will have major implications for women’s sports, civil rights and the future of our country,” said U.S. Women’s National Team legend and two-time World Cup winner Rapinoe. “I am not going to be tricked into sacrificing hard fought civil rights protections because of anti-trans rhetoric. All women will be harmed if the Court rules against the young trans people at the center of these cases and I wanted to make unambiguously clear that I am on the side of equality and justice.”
The More Than A Game campaign’s first ad buys are during the Unrivaled women’s basketball series on Jan. 12 and will continue through in-person activations at Unrivaled playoff games in Miami in early March, featuring a 30-second ad with athletes, celebrities, artists, advocates and youth, both cisgender and transgender.
“Supporting trans youth isn’t just about sports,” Skinner says in the 30-second video spot before Watts says, “It’s about freedom.
“This moment in our country’s history is a test of our willingness to stand up and speak out for the most vulnerable,” said the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project co-director Chase Strangio. “And while we will absolutely defend our rights and our humanity in the courts, we know that transgender people’s path out of this moment of crisis will also require a broad, diverse coalition leading change in our communities and our culture. More Than A Game is our rejection of the efforts to divide us against one another and is instead a call for the unity we need to defend the freedom we deserve on and off the field.”
Page disclosed in a social media post five years ago that he was transgender. “”I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer,” he wrote, in part, on Twitter.
Watts’ daughter, Kai, with ex-husband Live Schreiber is trans. Kai, 17, is a model who has worked with has Valentino and Jason Wu. In May, she and her father and his wife Taylor attended Ali Forney Center’s A Place at the Table Gala in New York City. The center, which provides housing and support for homeless LGBTQ youth, currently serves more than 2,200 young people through its 24/7 Drop-In Center and network of 13 emergency and transitional housing sites.
To learn more about the ACLU campaign, go to aclu.org.
