News

Transgender TV Recognition

25 August 2015

By Lauren E. White

Boy Meets Girl is the latest in a growing number of examples of on-screen transgender recognition. The new BBC comedy, created by Elliott Kerrigan for The Trans Comedy Award, begins on September 3rd, starring Denise Welsh, Harry Hepple and Rebecca Root, to name but a few.

The transgender community is becoming much more of an ‘open’ topic for discussion now, notably after Caitlyn Jenner’s high-profile transition. Former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner decided to finally transition – after living a life as a man – to Caitlyn. In the infamous Vanity Fair cover, she said to the world, “Call Me Cait”. With a new show on the E! network, I Am Cait, it obvious that this extremely public transition is having a huge effect on the way society views the trans community.

However, before Caitlyn’s transition, Time Magazine featured Laverne Cox on their front cover. Cox is a transgender actress in the extremely popular Netflix show Orange is the New Black and was the first trans actress to be nominated for an Emmy Award.

As the world of TV changes with society, Amazon’s Transparent – the story of a retired professor who starts living as a woman – received critical acclaim and two Golden Globes thanks to its touching story line. And, of course, in recent times, Eddie Redmayne is tipped to win another Oscar for his upcoming performance in The Danish Girl in which he plays a transgender character. Despite controversy surrounding the fact that Hollywood didn’t employ an actual trans actor to play the part, Redmayne insists that the role has “taught [him] so much” about what it’s really like to be trans in our world.

Society is changing. When society changes, entertainment follows suit. The small screen is next in line (see Boy Meets Girl) and Hollywood will eventually follow the same path. However, while we are changing our attitudes as a whole, we have a long way to go with LGTBQ+ rights and equality – but we’re making a start. Slowly but surely.

 

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