At the London premiere of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts on April 22, 2025, Pedro Pascal, 50, made waves by raising awareness for the protection of transgender women.
On Marvel’s UK red carpet, Pascal, who is soon to star as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in the upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps, wore a striking white T-shirt that read “PROTECT THE DOLLS.” The T-shirt is part of a broader initiative from clothing designer Conner Ives, 28, which aims to shed light on what the American Civil Liberties Union has deemed “an unprecedented surge” in attacks on the trans community. The term “dolls,” which the LGBTQ+ community affectionately adopted to describe trans women in the 1980s, is central to this campaign.
In an April 2025 interview with The New York Times, Ives shared his motivation to leverage his fashion platform to advocate for trans rights. “In today’s world, what’s more prevalent than a graphic T-shirt? It was very reactive. I knew I wanted to say something, given what we’ve observed in the last few months with the U.S. government and the current political regime.”
A long-time outspoken ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Pascal has been particularly vocal in his support for trans women. The Last of Us actor’s sister, Lux Pascal, is an actress and activist who graduated from New York City’s Juilliard School in 2023 and came out as trans in February 2021. Ever since, Pascal has been a steadfast supporter of her journey, often speaking out against anti-trans violence and state crimes (let’s stop calling these policies, as many of the recent court rulings and executive orders attempt to overturn long-standing precedent that provides civil rights protections to the queer community).
However, Pascal’s decision is even more notable after the UK Supreme Court’s April 16th ruling stating that “the definition of sex as used in the Equality Act 2010 is ‘binary’ and decided by biology.” The UK government claims that this decision provides “clarity and confidence” for women and service providers, allowing single-sex services to exclude trans women.
Pascal has also spoken out against the UK Supreme Court’s ruling. In the comments section on an Instagram video posted by activist Tariq Ra’ouf explaining author J.K. Rowling‘s role in the ruling—she was the financial backer of the group that brought the challenges to court, For Women Scotland—and calling for a boycott of her work, Pascal wrote: “Awful disgusting SH– is exactly right. Heinous LOSER behavior.”
Watch the video for yourself below:
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Proceeds from the “PROTECT THE DOLLS” T-shirts are being donated to Trans Lifeline, a peer support and crisis hotline dedicated to assisting trans individuals.
