Actress Jen Richards explains the problem with casting cis actors in trans roles

[Brainspore]

@SpunkyTWS

…when a straight actor plays a gay character it doesn’t normally raise questions about whether homosexuality is “real”. To take a more recent example even though Sean Penn is a straight guy I don’t think his portrayal of Harvey Milk made anyone question whether Milk was really attracted to other men.

I guess that makes sense, but wouldn’t it also apply to the Tom Hanks example? Back in the 90s plenty of people (that is, more than today) talked about homosexuality as a “choice of lifestyle” rather than an inherent human trait.