Though I rarely watch television and infrequently watch the Golden Globes, I managed to catch the parts during which “Brokeback Mountain” and “TransAmerica” won awards. What’s more striking than two gay/trans-themed films garnering recognition in popular culture is that Felicity Huffman’s acceptance speech was a moving tribute to those who suffer discrimination and hardship because of living trans lives. If only every actor were forced to cultivate the role of a person belonging to a subjugated minority group.

Nonetheless, films that transgress from gender and hetero-norms such as “Boys Don’t Cry,” have bolstered the actors’ careers for their “brave” choices more than actually affecting change. Maybe I’d be in awe of his “groundbreaking” film if Ang Lee would have donated a portion of the film’s earnings to the Human Rights Campaign or the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to assist in fighting the prevalence of hate crimes, more than 15 percent of which were because of sexual orientation bias in 2004, according to the FBI. Not that “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Brokeback Mountain” weren’t important and moving films, but it’s hard to pat Hollywood on the back for finally representing a segment of the U.S who has previously been so peripheral that the majority of LGBTQ actors in Hollywood don’t outwardly identify as such.