Patricia Arquette has voiced her dissatisfaction with the Oscars, after sister Alexis Arquette was left out of the ‘In Memoriam’ tributes section.
Last year, Patricia paid tribute to Alexis following her death at the age of 47, calling her sister “her first best friend”.
The Oscar-winning star has now called out the film academy for leaving Alexis - who appeared in ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘The Wedding Singer’ and ‘She’s All That’ - out of the year’s tributes, adding that her inclusion would have sent a positive message to young transgender viewers, particularly amid the current political climate.
She told Vanity Fair: “I’m really bummed. For the in memoriam, they left out our sister Alexis, and she was trans.”
Addressing what Alexis’s inclusion could have meant, she continued: “We’re living in a time right now where trans kids can’t even go to the bathroom in schools and they’re diminished in society.
In a joint statement from her family shortly after her death, the Arquette siblings suggested that Alexis had endured difficulties in her career since coming out as trans, which only made her more determined to make a difference.
They said: “Her career was cut short, not by her passing, but by her decision to live her truth and her life as a transgender woman.
“Despite the fact that there are few parts for trans actors, she refused to play roles that were demeaning or stereotypical. She was a vanguard in the fight for understanding and acceptance for all trans people.”
This year’s Oscars ‘In Memoriam’ previously came under fire when an image of a living woman was mistakenly included to illustrate one of the film industry’s losses.
