Trans actor makes soap history

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he past couple of years have seen something of a turning point in the representation of the transgender community in the media. Whilst there is unarguably a great deal of progress still to be made, it certainly seems that trans issues have finally begun to move firmly into the spotlight.

Laverne Cox. Image: Wikimedia Commons / Sachyn Mital

Individuals such as Laverne Cox and Caitlyn Jenner have become pop culture icons in their own right, whilst shows such as Transparent and Orange Is The New Black have beautifully explored the realities of the trans experience and been rightfully inundated with praise and global attention. Now, in a move that feels considerably overdue, EastEnders have made television history by casting the first transgender character played by a transgender actor to be in a British soap. Actor Riley Carter Millington will join the show as new regular character Kyle.

There are many who may ridicule EastEnders as a form of storytelling that ought to be taken seriously, but this would severely undermine the fact that the genre of soap opera is potentially the fictional medium which is best able to influence social attitudes (at least within the United Kingdom). Despite the fact that we live in an age where appointment-to-view television is becoming increasingly less relevant, soaps still manage to garner average live ratings of 6 million viewers repeatedly throughout the week.

We cannot simply dismiss the influential power of a television programme which has so broad a reach. These shows have the ability to permeate the national consciousness and raise awareness of issues in an immediate fashion, one in which regular contact with the central characters creates a powerful sense of both familiarity and empathy. Thus, it is vital that diversity becomes a cornerstone of soap opera storytelling, to ensure that individuals from all walks of life are able to see themselves represented on screen.

In terms of transgender storytelling itself in soap, this will essentially be the most high profile example of a trans character since Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) in Coronation Street. However, the main difference here is that we are finally seeing a mainstream transgender character being played by an actor who is transgender themselves.

For far too long it has been the case that trans people have been excluded from the telling of their own stories whilst cisgender actors have been lavished with praise and awards for portraying them instead.

The Queen Victoria. Image: Flickr / Kejoxen

Even more reassuring is the promise that this is not just tokenism, with executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins saying that Kyle is ‘going to be thrown right into one of our biggest stories for the end of the year’. This is essential; it shouldn’t feel like a transgender character has been created merely in order to fill a quota.

Like any other new introduction to the show, they deserve a purpose and story to tell, rather than simply to exist as fetishised window dressing without any involvement in major plots.

As a publicly funded broadcaster, the BBC’s remit should clearly be to represent the lives of the British public.

This latest casting, along with the brilliant recent BBC sitcom Boy Meets Girl (centred on a love story including a trans woman as the central female protagonist), is hopefully indicative of a culture in which trans stories can stop existing as mere footnotes to the ‘main’ narrative action of television. This should be a movement towards a televisual landscape in which transgender people can feel as though they are thoroughly included.

There is still work to do—but we must hope that these past few years have seen the beginnings of a true seismic shift in the representation of trans lives.