Karliak knew he was filling a need when he launched Queer Vox during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization’s mission is to work with queer actors and voiceover employers to promote casting authenticity, diversity and equity, and to make those who are making casting decisions aware of the available talent. “I wanted to fling the door open and be like, ‘Now’s the time,’” he says. That disconnect motivated Karliak to create Queer Vox, a nonprofit training academy and community for LGBTQ+ voiceover actors. “But they are effectively depriving a queer person of making a living in this industry and earning wealth telling their own stories.” “We’ve all seen movies with cisgender and straight actors portraying queer roles competently or very well,” he explains. Two years ago, Karliak raised the issue to a casting agent friend, who told him that the industry just didn’t know how to find queer talent to audition for these parts. “That representation can provide an infusion of hope and a feeling of belonging for kids.” There was one problem: Karliak was frustrated to see these voice acting roles-especially the trans and non-binary ones-cast with non-queer talent.
“It was so cool those characters were emerging on the screen,” he says. “Today’s animated shows and video games feature far more LGBTQ+ characters than they once did,” he said.
