How media representation helped me be a proud trans woman

[Music]

as a little closeted trans girl

i turned on a tv to get answers as to

why i felt different

and the first memory i have of trans

women were those of

psychopaths people who make you vomit

and that are rejected and abused sex

workers

three memories come to mind the movie

silence of the lambs where a psychotic

man

kills women because he wants to become

them

as ventura pet detective where a trans

woman reveals her genitalia

only to be laughed at and lastly anytime

sapra

where a man vomits when he realizes

he was going to be intimate with a trans

woman

if i think about a time during my

childhood

when the word trans had a positive

connotation

i will be here thinking forever

never have i thought of this word let

alone the people this word describes

as something normal in contrast to the

way i felt growing up

abnormal i felt in no way i could

disclose what i was to anyone

because i didn’t want to end up on the

street

because that was what i thought it would

mean and

still does for many of us it took me

28 years of late life and experiences

to take the courage to come out the main

problem as to why took me so long

is that the word trans was always

whispered

or never spoken but hinted at

as a tabor a disease you don’t speak of

because it all comes down to the

disinformation stereotypes and meta

beliefs

caused by the lack of positive and

authentic

representation of trans identities in

media

seeing positive trans role models on

screen

could have allowed me to love myself as

a young girl

authentic portrayals are what makes your

types disappear

watching trans people and trans kids be

who they truly are on screen

can actually save lives

in a moment i’m going to tell you how

seeing

positive transpresentation help me be

true to myself but first let’s see how

trans representation

has changed on tv in recent years and

how much change is still needed

on the big screen

growing up i saw actors wearing trends

being praised for their roles as if

being trans is a character to be played

but once the camera stopped rolling you

can put your wig

and costume back in the closet where

they belong

and leave your unbothered privileged

life as a non-trans person

as this gender person i saw trans sex

workers being killed over and over again

on shows like csi ncis

and the likes i saw trans people

dying because of their transition in dr

house and grey’s anatomy trans bodies

were rejecting hormones or surgeries

i saw and kept watching trans stories

written by cisgender people to amuse

cisgender audiences and their

expectation of what it means to be trans

in their eyes

a lesser human being that doesn’t

deserve to be told on screen in its true

form

we don’t have to go that far back in

time

to see this happening cinema is still

still not changing glad the american

media monitoring organization that works

against discrimination

of lgbtq plus people reports that

there were zero films with transgender

characters from the major studios in

2019

last year we have data for in march this

year

in the movie secret society all we have

is us there were two

trans black women both played

by sis actresses packed with transphobic

jokes that makes

his audiences laugh even though even

when gender non-conforming characters

are included in fictional audiovisual

texts

they are indeed still often poorly

written

falling into offensive tropes and

stereotypes about transgender people

glad confirms but thankfully

things are changing on tv in the last

decade there has been an increase of

authentic

and positive portrayals of trans folks

and television

thanks mostly to two tipping points

um labyrinths on orange is the new black

and more recently the show calls on

netflix

having lgbtq plus a presentation

that doesn’t revolve around trauma

tragedy

objectification abuse and death

is a dream and privilege that the trans

and gender non-conforming community

is slowly starting to pursue as

something that can actually happen

lately many shows have switched their

approach to trans identities

finally treating this category of people

as actual human being

as actually human beings said just

are more than their genitals or who they

like to have sex with

trans folks began to have regular lives

at times fun wants to to have different

jobs than what one

might have expected to have monogamous

healthy relationships

to have friends and family that love

them unconditionally

and and to be finally seen written

and performed by trans people as well

trans and nonbinary folks can see

themselves portrayed

in a way that make us feel makes us feel

appreciated

and understood for the very first time

outside the tropes of the past

the reason these changes are happening

is also because of a few directors

re-evaluating what they did

i call this phenom phenomenon the ryan

murphy effect

since the creator of nick and

technically ryan murphy used to

portray trans characters his counseling

though was

shallow and his writing was a

stereotypical exploitation

of characters gender and sexualities

al haber is now one of the most

influential

people in trans representation with

later seasons of glee

shows like 9-1-1 lone star

and of course pose my hope is that more

directors follow ryan murphy

it’s actually already happening in shows

like with anatomy

the doctor and many others i wish this

change had happened sooner

positive trans representation could have

helped me see myself

as beautiful and help me feel as proud

as i am today of being a trans woman

representation is a key element to show

the world who trans people are

especially for those who have never met

or interacted with

one these are the stories i needed to

watch when i was little

these are the stories i wish my family

would have watched

decades ago these are the stories

that could make a difference to little

trans children

and their families today stories about

hopes and dreams that things can change

and are eventually changing

i’m hopeful because i see representation

of screen changing

but the pace of it is still slow

how can we speed it up well

you and me both have agency in this

change

there are many things we as audiences

or the audience can do to be part of the

solution

and not the problem boycott shows

and movies write emails to networks or

simply tweet about it

make our voices heard even if you’re not

trans

you can be an ally and show that these

stories are not just for us

trans people that uses people want to

see them too

and if you work in the industry allow

trans folks to be the writers

and the performers of our own stories

i am diana i am a trans woman and i’m

that little closeted trans girl

it turns on the tv but now she’s out and

proud

proud to be where i really am proud to

live life as much herself

proud to exist in a world that keeps

discriminating people like me

another reasons why it’s time we take up

spaces that

have always been denied to us we are

more than our transition we’re human

beings with feelings

helps goals we’re friends and enemies

we’re our main and supporting characters

we’re good and evil we’re men women and

everything in between and beyond

we’re trans are people