The Independent Spirit Awards, which took place Feb. 27 in Santa Monica, California, made historyand bested the Oscars when it came to diverse winners.
Mya Taylor became the first trans woman winner, taking the Best Supporting Female award for Tangerine. In so doing, she bested fellow nominees such as Cynthia Nixon ( James White ) and Jennifer Jason Leigh ( Anomalisa ). Tangerine is about a transgender sex worker who discovers her boyfriend/pimp has been cheating on her; Taylor plays a fellow worker.
"No one tells you how nervous you're going to be when you're up against other great actors for an award," said Taylor, according to Deadline. Taylor told the press backstage that she applied for 186 jobs and went on 26 interviews over two years in Los Angeles. "I couldn't get a job because my name and gender weren't changed on my employment application. When this opportunity came ( with Tangerine ), it was like it was given by God and it made up for all the struggles I went through."
In addition, lesbian author Emma Donoghue won for Best First Screenplay for Room.
Some of the other winners included Idris Elba and Abraham Attah, who won, respectively, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor awards for the film Beasts of No Nation; Brie Larson, who captured the Best Actress award for Room; and Best Director winner Tom McCarthy for Spotlight, which also took best feature film.
Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon, who is openly gay, and Silicon Valley funnyman Kumail Nanjiani co-hosted the event.
The Deadline item is at deadline.com/2016/02/mya-taylor-spirit-award-winner-tangerine-historic-1201710451/ .