Trans American Media
“We have to remain visible. They have to see us, they have to know that we’re not going [nowhere], that we’ve been here ever since God made man and woman, and they have to get over it.” - Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, author/activist/community organizer
Do you remember the first Trans person you saw on TV or in a movie? I remember seeing a Trans Woman represented as the butt of the joke a comedy of errors trope. Many sitcoms that I grew up with were progressive in that they featured LGBTQ+ characters but lacking in that these characters were often stereotypical and only served as a punching bag for the jokes of the main cast. Hardly what I would call representation in media. Since Trans Day Of Visibility is approaching this month, I wanted to take a look at the history of the portrayal of Trans people in American media. This article will be in now way exhaustive, and only give a few notable examples.
The first person we need to talk about is Christine Jorgenson. A former US Soldier who received gender affirming care and gender affirming surgery in the 1950’s. She wrote a letter to her parents saying “Nature made a mistake which I have had corrected, and now I am your daughter.” To her dismay, this letter was leaked to the press and she was forcefully outed by The New York Daily News. On December 1, 1952 The New York Daily News ran the headline "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty: Bronx Youth Is a Happy Woman After Medication, 6 Operations". They referred to Jorgenson with female pronouns when referring to her currently, but male pronouns when referring to her pre-surgery. Despite her initial desire for a quiet life she launched a successful nightclub act and appeared on television, radio, and theatrical productions. In 1967, she published her autobiography, Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography, which sold almost 450,000 copies.
The next mile stone Trans media appearance was in 1977 on the sitcom “The Jeffersons”. Edie Stokes was the first Trans character on a sitcom, and her story was treated with seriousness and tenderness. She was portrayed by Cis Woman Veronica Redd. Her story revolves around the shock and eventual acceptance of her old Army buddy and main character of the show, George Jefferson.
In the 1990’s Trans people made their way into sitcoms with much less grace than The Jeffersons had afforded Edie. Perhaps most notable was the character Helena Handbasket from the show “Friends”. The character was the father of one of the main characters, Chandler, and was initially introduced as a Drag Queen. It is now understood though, that despite never explicitly stating it, the character was a Trans Woman. Again the character was portrayed by a Cis Woman – Kathleen Turner. "There was no question of casting a trans person or a drag queen – it was never considered," Turner told The Guardian. "It never crossed my mind that I was taking a role from someone." The show's co-creator, Marta Kauffman, expresses regret for how the character was portrayed. In 2022, Kauffman confirmed Helena was intended to be a transgender woman, and that "pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn't refer to that character as 'she.' That was a mistake."
This marked a time period of Trans people being misrepresented with stories focusing on their shame and trauma, or using them to reflect and make light of the general transphobia of the time. There are many examples of Trans people in both comedies and dramas being used to illicit shock, disgust, and the humiliation of Cis characters. It was so common that there are even jokes and memes in the Trans community about enjoying a nostalgic show or movie only to be jarred by the transphobic episode or “joke” that you had forgotten about.
Significantly in 2013 Laverne Cox portrayed Sophia Burset, a trans woman inmate on the show “Orange is the New Black”. A Trans actress playing a Trans Woman was still unheard of for the time, and Cox brought depth and realness to the role. Her story explored the realities of being Trans and showed the character as a nuanced, complex person. Cox also used her platform to educate audiences on respectful interactions with transgender individuals. The show “Pose” (2018) features the largest number of transgender actors in regular roles, and stars a predominantly LGBTQ+ cast.
There has been a shift away from stories of Trans trauma, and towards stories of Trans joy. And even stories of Trans living-a-normal-life. Some people perceive this as a “surge” in Trans characters. The “surge” is really in Trans characters being acknowledged, surviving, and having stories that showcase complex lives. Showing happy, fully realized Trans characters not only improves the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth watching these shows, it advances the understanding of the Queer community in general and encourages empathy towards others. The representation isn’t perfect – many of the characters show a binaristic, medicalized model of the Trans experience that can still lean into stereotypes. A majority of the Trans characters we see are white and Trans Feminine, and a lot of Trans characters are still portrayed by Cis actors. But seeing these Trans characters can help Trans People feel less isolated, and can give an anchor to relate to in their real lives. As Tans rights continue to face threats, it is important to keep Trans stories visible and authentic.