Topic: Media Watch

Showtime's 'Barbershop The Series' Has Trans Character

by Monica Roberts

Fans of the Showtime cable show 'Barbershop The Series' were treated to something unusual for several episodes: a postive portrayal of an African-American transperson named Claire.

By Damon Romine
Entertainment Media Director
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

For 20 years, GLAAD has closely monitored LGBT media images. The entertainment industry, by and large, has churned out images of gays and lesbians, and GLAAD has made great strides to ensure these groups are represented fairly and accurately. Transgender images are not as common and represent a community that's still misunderstood and ridiculed on screen and off.

Al Franken has apologized for the offensive joke made o­n the June 2, 2004 show.

"On Wednesday?s ?Fighting Hannity?s Lies with Lies About Hannity? segment, I falsely claimed that Sean Hannity was born a hermaphroditic conjoined twin, and that the doctor who delivered him and his twin reacted in horror at their birth. I would like to apologize to members of the intersexed and conjoined-twin communities for furthering the unjustified stigma attached to these conditions. An estimated o­ne in 2000 people are born with atypical genitalia, which, like conjoinment, is a naturally-occurring bodily variation. I am sorry for the ill-considered joke."
-Al Franken

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.

by Gypsey Teague

Early films brought escape to the people with comedy, drama, horror, and romance. In the silent era, crossdressing was used for humor or comedy, often in conjunction with a situation that forced an individual to elude or escape from others. In his early films, Charlie Chaplin used this technique. In 1914, he played a prizefighter in ?The Knockout.? His girlfriend wanted to see him fight; since women were forbidden from entering boxing arenas, she dressed as a man. A year later, Chaplin donned a dress in ?A Woman? to escape the angry father of his beloved.