'Studio City' Actor Scott Turner Schofield Slams Trump's Revoking of Trans Health Care Protections

by Alexandra Del Rosario, The Hollywood Reporter ( < - - for video)

Schofield, the first transgender man to receive a Daytime Emmy nomination, urged members of the LGBTQ community to rise up and act against the administration's latest policy rollback.

Scott Turner Schofield, the first transgender man to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy, called out President Donald Trump's decision to roll back protections for transgender people. 

"I was floored to learn that three months into a global pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and exactly four years after a gunman murdered LGBTQ+ people, specifically Latinx, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the Trump administration announced its 150th attack on LGBTQ Americans by erasing protections for transgender people in health care," said Schofield, who received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his work on the Amazon series Studio City. 

The Trump administration's latest policy means removing nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ community. The Friday decision reverses Obama-era protections for transgender patients against discrimination from health insurance companies, medical facilities and doctors, limiting treatments for transgender people "simply because of who they are," Schofield said.

"If it sounds extreme, that's because it is," he said. "I've lived it."

Schofield recounted his own experience being denied medical attention for a respiratory illness based on his identity. The actor said that his former doctor accused him of lying and requested that he leave the office and never come back when the actor explained that he could lose coverage if he disclosed he was transgender.

Having received no treatment, Schofield also shared that he continued traveling and touring with the illness. It was only when he went to an emergency room that he received proper treatment, no questions asked.

"[The emergency room doctor] diagnosed me as part of a whooping cough epidemic and I realized that I had been traveling while dangerously contagious, because a doctor refused to treat me because I am transgender," he said.

Schofield said that the COVID-19 outbreak sheds light on health inequalities among Black, Indigenous and POC communities. He also noted that Black transgender women are highly targeted for anti-LGBTQ+ crimes and violence and are at a higher risk for suicide.

While the White House's Friday decision may most directly affect transgender people, Schofield said that's no excuse for other members of the LGBTQ community sit idly by.

"If you don't think this affects you, the wording of this rollback leaves the door open to discrimination against the broader LGBTQ+ community," he said. "This is an all for one and one for all issue. We must rise up together, demand our human right for health care and vote like our lives depend on it."

The actor, whose other credits include The Bold and the Beautiful and the film The Conductor, released his call to action the same day as Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter's second annual Pride Summit and Prom.

Saturday's daylong summit featured insightful conversations about queer representation, empowerment and mentoring with Lena Waithe, Lilly Wachowski, Boy George and more. Performers included Trixie Mattel, Tove Lo, Tituss Burgess and Shea Diamond. 

The second annual Pride Prom and Summit supports The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people.