Hunter Schafer (born December 31, 1998) is an American model, actress, and

LGBTQ rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

activist. For her activism against the

HB2 The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2 or HB2, was a North Carolina statute passed in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended state law to preempt any anti-discrimination o ...

, ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

'' listed Schafer on its "21 Under 21" list in 2017. She made her acting debut as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

high school student Jules Vaughn in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

teen drama television series ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

'' (2019–present), which earned her critical praise and nominations for a

Shorty Award The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) honors the most innovative work globally in digital and social media by brands, agencies, nonprofits and creators. The Shortys’ mission is to celebrate, inspire and push the boundaries of exce ...

, an

MTV Movie & TV Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

, and a

Dorian Award The Dorian Awards are film and television accolades given by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, founded in 2009 as the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association. GALECA is an association of professional journalists and c ...

. She provided the voice of popular high school student Ruka Watanabe in the English dub of the anime film '' Belle'' (2021) and will portray Tigris Snow in the film '' The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'' (2023).

Early life

Schafer was born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister, and their family moved between churches and congregations in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and finally

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. She has three younger siblings: two sisters and a brother. While in high school, Schafer protested against the North Carolina

Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2 or HB2, was a North Carolina statute passed in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended state law to preempt any anti-discrimination o ...

. On April 21, 2016, while she was a high school junior, Schafer was added as a plaintiff in the ''Carcaño v. McCrory'' lawsuit against the bill. In her senior year, Schafer was a semifinalist in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. She graduated from the High School Visual Arts program at the

North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

in 2017, having transferred there from

Needham B. Broughton High School Needham B. Broughton High School, commonly known as Broughton High School, is one of thirty-two high schools in the Wake County Public School System. It is located at 723 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Broughton w ...

. Schafer planned to attend

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, an arts college in London, England, but deferred her enrollment after high school to focus on her career.

Career

For her activism, including her fight against

, ''

'' listed Schafer on its "21 Under 21" list in 2017, and granted her an interview with

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. Schafer has modeled for

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

Rick Owens Richard Saturnino Owens (born November 18, 1962) is an American fashion designer from Porterville, California. In addition to his main line, Owens has a furniture line and a number of diffusion lines. Early life and education Richard Saturnino ...

Helmut Lang Helmut Lang may refer to: * Helmut Lang (artist) (born 1956), Austrian-born fashion designer and artist * Helmut Lang (athlete) (born 1940), Austrian Olympic sprinter * Helmut Lang (fashion brand) The Helmut Lang fashion brand was created by A ...

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fo ...

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Maison Margiela Maison Margiela, formerly ''Maison Martin Margiela'', is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela andJenny Meirensin 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal col ...

Vera Wang Vera Ellen Wang (; born June 27, 1949) is an American fashion designer. Early life Vera Ellen Wang was born June 27, 1949 in New York City to Chinese parents who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1940s. Her mother, Florence Wu (Wu ...

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

, Versus Versace,

Emilio Pucci Don Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (; 20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was an Italian aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colors. Earl ...

, Ann Demeulemeester, and Erdem, among other fashion houses. In 2019, Schafer was cast in the

series ''

'', marking her acting debut. She received praise for her performance in the series, and the

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

came under fire for omitting her from the nominations along with other transgender actors. Aside from her leading role in the series, she also co-wrote an episode with the show's creator

Sam Levinson Samuel Levinson (born January 8, 1985) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the son of Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson. In 2010, he received his first writing credit as a co-writer for the action comedy film '' Operation: Endg ...

and served as co-executive producer. Additionally, she collaborated with him so that her character and the show's story reflected her experience. In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

, ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...

'' named Schafer among the 50 heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people". In 2021, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' named her to its Next list of "100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future", with a tribute written by ''Euphoria'' co-star

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

Personal life

Schafer is a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. In an interview, she said that the Internet helped her cope with her

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

, as she turned to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

to learn about people's transition timelines. She transitioned after being diagnosed with

dysphoria Dysphoria (; ) is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. It is the semantic opposite of euphoria. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation. In psychiatry Intense states of distress and unea ...

in ninth grade. She has stated, "I do like people to know that I'm not a cis girl because that's not something that I am or feel like I am. I'm proud to be a

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (film ...

person." In 2019, Schafer said that she was "closer to what you might call a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

." In December 2021, she stated on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that her sexuality is " bi or pan or something." As of February 2022, Schafer is dating ''Euphoria'' co-star

Dominic Fike Dominic David Fike (born December 30, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Fike first received recognition after releasing several popular songs to the website SoundCloud. Following the release of his debut extended play, '' Don't ...

. In August 2022, Schafer liked and commented "!!!!!" on an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

post that blamed

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

people who "fought to have trans identities no longer considered a medical condition that requires

" for negative social attitudes and legislation targeting the trans community. This prompted backlash from queer and trans fans, with many accusing Schafer of endorsing

transmedicalism Transmedicalism is the idea that being transgender or transsexual is contingent upon experiencing gender dysphoria or requiring medical treatment to transition. Transmedicalists believe individuals who identify as transgender, do not experience ...

. Commenting on a later Instagram post, Schafer denied being a transmedicalist or holding hatred towards non-binary people, saying that she merely felt there was "an in-balance 'sic''in the visibility and space-taken up between non-binary folks and binary trans women (particularly those of color and/or those who have resulted 'sic''to

sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volunt ...

as a means of survival) that i think deserves attention/ re-evaluation (as far as resources and platforms go) within the LGBTQ+ community,".

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schafer, Hunter 1998 births 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century LGBT people Actors from Trenton, New Jersey Actors from Raleigh, North Carolina Actresses from North Carolina Age controversies Bisexual actresses Female models from North Carolina LGBT people from New Jersey LGBT people from North Carolina American LGBT rights activists Living people Needham B. Broughton High School alumni Transgender actresses Transgender female models University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni