CMU School of Drama


Friday, August 04, 2017

Jill Soloway, Laverne Cox Talk Transgender Trends on TV

Variety: “We are all marginalized and ostracized from society.”

So said “Transparent” actor Alexandra Billings during a panel sponsored by GLAAD at the Television Critics Assn. press tour, examining transgender trends on TV today. Other panelists included “Orange Is the New Black” star Laverne Cox, “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway, and “Danger and Eggs” creator Shadi Petosky.

The emphasis there was on how trans visibility, a relatively new discussion for most Americans, has historical deep roots — roots that are distinct from the lesbian, gay, and bisexual experience. “The T was added at the end — an afterthought,” Billings said.

Cox added, “Our lives are often treated as if they don’t have value,” but “it is a political reality, not necessarily a human one.”

1 comment:

Sophie Nakai said...

I think this is so true and so important. We as a society have this idea of transgender people that is not true. I have a friend who is struggling to come out to his parents are transgender because his parents are unaccepting of the LGBTQ community. I think that having a positive representation of trans people and what the process of transitioning into the new lifestyle is like would benefit not only the transgender community but also everyone else. It would allow transgender people, or people who are still in the closet about it, to see that no matter what you can become something great and do amazing things. And for everyone else it shows that transgenders are not victims or predators (as Cox said) and that they are human beings who live their life the same as everyone else. The media could be doing so much, yet they are not and that makes me slightly disappointed with the stories that are published on today's sites.