‘Pose’ Star Hailie Sahar To Star In Biopic About Trans Icon Sir Lady Java

‘Pose’ star Hailie Sahar will star in the upcoming biopic about trailblazing trans performer Sir Lady Java.

The film will be written and directed by Anthony Hemingway.

Before Stonewall, Sir Lady Java was a popular performer in Los Angeles nightclubs, performing with Redd Foxx, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, and James Brown, among others. She became so popular, that the LAPD felt threatened and started to enforce the infamous “Rule Number Nine” against her, which banned people from wearing clothes of the “opposite sex.”

Sir Lady Java then teamed up with the ACLU to fight the law, arguing that it was unconstitutional and prevented her from earning income.

While the case was ultimately thrown out, she got a lot of attention in the media, and brought trans visibility to a community that desperately needed it, as ‘Out’ reports.

“I feel it’s necessary to tell [my story,]” Java said, “because many of my brothers and sisters got killed in my time. So I don’t care who doesn’t like it, I’m gonna tell it.” She knows she's put in the hard work, and she wants to share that with the world. “I was fighting for a man to have the right to wear what they wanted to wear,” she added, “and I won.”

“Now that people are paying attention to me, I’m able to be a creator and share more stories to uplift the community,” Sahar said, “I have the microphone, what am I going to say with it?”

Hailie Sahar is most known for her role as Lulu Abundance on ‘Pose’. This marks her first starring role in a film. She will also be producing.

Hemingway is the Emmy winning director behind Genius: Aretha Franklin. He’s also directed episodes of tv shows like Shameless, Glee, American Horror Story, and American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson. His first feature film was 2012’s Red Tails.

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