Media portrayals of transgender people

The portrayal of transgender people in the media list includes portrayals of transsexuals and many other non-cisgender identities in the mass media.

Terminology

Transgender (trans) is the state of one's gender identity or gender expression not matching one's assigned sex. Transgender men are people assigned female at birth who identify as men. Transgender women are people assigned male at birth who identify as women. Some gender nonconforming people do not identify with either male or female. Cisgender men and women are individuals whose gender experiences conform to the sex assigned to them at birth.

Literature

Fiction

Title	Author	Trans/cis author	Release date	Trans characters	Gender	Notes
Beauty Queens	Libba Bray	N/A	2011	Petra	Woman
Being Emily	Rachel Gold	N/A	2012	Emily	Woman
Bloodhound	Tamora Pierce	N/A	2009	Okha (aka Amber)	Woman
Boy Meets Boy	David Levithan	N/A	2003	Darlene	Woman
Breakfast on Pluto	Patrick McCabe	N/A	1998	Pussy	Woman
Eva Luna	Isabel Allende	N/A	1987	Mimi	Woman
For Today I Am a Boy	Kim Fu	Cis	2014	Peter	Woman
Freakboy	Kristin Elizabeth Clark	N/A	2013	Brendan	Genderfluid
Freakboy	Kristin Elizabeth Clark	N/A	2013	Angel	Woman
Full Fathom Five	Max Gladstone	N/A	2014	Kai Pohala	Woman
Gracefully Grayson	Amy Polonsky	N/A	2014	Grayson Sender	Woman
A Harvest of Ripe Figs	Shira Glassman	Cis	2015	Micah	Man
I am J	Cris Beam	N/A	2011	J	Man
If You Could Be Mine	Sara Farizan	Cis	2013	Pavreen	Woman
Kafka on the Shore	Haruki Murakami	N/A	2002	Oshima	Man
Kitchen	Banana Yoshimoto	N/A	1988	Eriko	Woman
The Left Hand of Darkness	Ursula K. Le Guin	N/A	1969	Estraven and others	Agender
Nevada	Imogen Binnie	N/A	2013	Maria, and others	Women and men
Parrotfish	Ellen Wittlinger	N/A	2010	Grady Katz-McNair	Man
Pantomime	Laura Lam	Cis	2013	Micah	Man
Poison Study	Maria V. Snyder	N/A	2004	Commander Ambrose	Man
Rainbow Road	Alex Sanchez	N/A	2005	B.J.	Woman
A Safe Girl to Love	Casey Plett	Trans	2014	Carla, and others	Women and men
The Secret of Lost Things	Sheridan Hay	Cis	2006	Pearl	Woman
Stone Butch Blues	Leslie Feinberg	Trans	1993	Jess
Trans-sister Radio	Chris Bohjalian	N/A	2001		Woman
Two Boys Kissing	David Levithan	N/A	2013	Avery	Man
The World According to Garp	John Irving	N/A	1978	Roberta Muldoon	Woman

Non-fiction

Title	Author	Trans/Cis Author	Release Date	Trans Characters	Gender	Notes
Becoming a Visible Man	Jamison Green	Trans	2004	Jamison Green and others	Men primarily
Conundrum	Jan Morris	Trans	1974	Jan Morris	Woman
Excluded: Making Feminism and Queer Movements More Inclusive	Julia Serano	Trans	2013		Women and men
Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us	Kate Bornstein	Trans	1994	Kate Bornstein
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation	Kate Bornstein	Trans	2010	Kate Bornstein
Just Add Hormones: An Insider's Guide to the Transexual Experience	Matt Kailey	Trans	2005	Matt Kailey	Men	Autobiography
A Queer and Pleasant Danger	Kate Bornstein	Trans	2012	Kate Bornstein	Woman	Autobiography
Redefining Realness	Janet Mock	Trans	2014	Janet Mock	Woman	Autobiography
She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders	Jennifer Finney Boylan	Trans	2013		Women and men	Autobiography
Trauma Queen	Lovemme Corazón	Trans	2013	Lovemme Corazón and others	Women and men	Autobiography
Whipping Girl	Julia Serano	Trans	2007		Women primarily	Manifesto

Comic books/Manga

Title	Trans Characters	Gender	Notes
a + e 4ever	Ash	non-binary, possibly	Gender portrayed as fluid
Batgirl	Alysia Yeoh	Woman	Batgirl's roommate
Dragon Age: Those Who Speak/Until We Sleep	Maevaris Tilani	Woman
Kuroshitsuji	Grell Sutcliff	Woman	A chainsaw-wielding shinigami that identifies as a woman.
Ouran High School Host Club	Bisco Hatori	Woman	Manga
Wandering Son	Takako Shimura	Women and Men	Manga
The Wicked + The Divine	Cassandra	Woman	Ongoing series
The Wicked + The Divine	Inanna	Non-binary	Uses he/him pronouns currently, writer Kieron Gillen confirmed that those "feel too small [to Inanna], but will do for now" and "[Inanna]'s thinking about it".[1]
Tokyo Ghoul	Tooru Mutsuki	Man	Manga

Webcomics

Title	Trans Characters	Notes
Khaos Komix	Charlie Trueman and Tom Blake	A teenage trans girl and guy, respectively, who are best friends and live in England
O Human Star	Sulla Pinsky	Teenage trans girl who is also an android, living in a near-future version of Minneapolis
Questionable Content	Claire Augustus	Trans woman in her mid twenties, graduate student and library employee at the fictional Smif College in Northampton, Massachusetts
Rooster Tails	Sam Orchard	An autobiographical comic about a trans man living in New Zealand
Trans Girl Next Door	Kylie Summer	An autobiographical comic about the artist's experiences as a young trans woman
El Goonish Shive	Sam, Tedd Verres	An Action Adventure Dramedy Webcomic. The main character, Tedd, recently discovered he was genderqueer. Sam, a trans guy, is a recently introduced supporting character.
Venus Envy	Zoe Alexis Carter	A teenage trans girl who goes to high school while struggling with sexuality and acceptance.
Assigned Male	Stephie	Tells the story of an 11-year-old transgender girl.

Film

Title	Release Year	Trans Characters	Gender	Notes
Anger Management	2003	Galaxia the prostitute	Man
Boy Meets Girl	2014	Ricky	Woman	Ricky played by trans actress
Breakfast on Pluto	2005	Kitten	Woman	Based on the book of the same name.
Nånting Måste Gå Sönder (Something Must Break)	2014	Ellie/Sebastian	Woman
Orlando	1992	Orlando	Woman and Man	Orlando changes genders
The Rocky Horror Picture Show	1975	Dr. Frank N. Furter	Man, transvestite
Romeos	2011	Lukas	Man
Transamerica	2005	Bree	Woman
Soldier's Girl	2003	Calpernia	Woman	Trans woman played by cis man. Fictionalized account of murder of Barry Winchell.
Tomboy	2011	Mickael	Boy
Dallas Buyers Club	2013	Rayon	Woman
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective	1994	Lt. Lois Einhorn	Woman	Trans woman played by cis woman; referred to in film as a 'man'; villain.
The World According to Garp (film)	1982	Roberta Muldoon	Woman	Trans woman played by cis man.
Dog Day Afternoon	1975	Leon	Woman	Trans woman played by cis man. Based loosely on a true story.
The Crying Game	1992	Dil	Woman	Trans woman played by cis man.
Tangerine	2015	Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra	Woman	Trans women played by trans actresses.

Television

Title	Trans characters or personalities	Gender	Notes
Becoming Us	Carly Lehwald	Woman	Reality show focusing on a family whose father has come out as a trans woman.
The Bold and the Beautiful	Maya Avant	Woman	The first U.S. daytime soap opera to feature a trans woman character as a series regular.
Brave New Girls	Jenna Talackova	Woman	Reality show focusing on aspiring model Jenna Talackova.
Coronation Street	Hayley Cropper	Woman	Played by Julie Hesmondhalgh, a cis woman.
Degrassi: The Next Generation	Adam Torres	Man	Teen trans man, played by cis female
Doctor Who	Cassandra	Woman	Tells Rose that she was "a little boy" in The End of the World
Glee	Unique Adams	Woman	Teen trans woman, played by cis man
Glee	Sheldon Beiste	Man	Adult trans man, played by cis woman
The Fosters	Cole	Man	Played by Tom Phelan, a non-binary trans person
Hit & Miss	Mia	Woman
Hunter x Hunter	Alluka Zoldyck	Woman	Constantly they referred to her as "it" and "he". Her brother, Killua, constantly reminds people that she is a girl. Strong, not afraid to stick up for herself, but still a cute and lovable character portrayed right by most of the fandom.
Hunter x Hunter	Kite (Hunter x Hunter)	Genderfluid	A man in their past life, Kite was reincarnated as a little girl later in the series and is struggling with their gender identity. It is still unknown whether they consider themselves to be a male or female, or genderfluid.
Hunter x Hunter	Neferpitou	Genderless
I Am Cait	Caitlyn Jenner	Woman	Reality show focusing on the gender transition of Caitlyn Jenner.
I Am Jazz	Jazz Jennings	Woman	Reality show on transgender teen Jazz Jennings and her family.
The L Word	Max Sweeney	Man	Trans man played by a cis woman.
My Transsexual Summer	Maxwell Zachs, Sarah Savage, Drew Ashlyn Cunningham, Lewis Hancox, Rapheal Fox, Donna Whitbread, Karen Gale	Woman	A 2011 British documentary series.
Orange Is the New Black	Sophia	Woman	Trans woman, played by trans woman.
Orphan Black	Tony Sawicki	Man	A clone of a cis woman.
RuPaul's Drag Race	Various	Drag Queens	A reality show about drag queens, features two trans women as contestants.
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman	Berg Katse	Genderfluid	Katse is an intersex mutant created from the synthesis of male and female twins in utero, they were created by the alien leader of evil organisation Galactor.
Sense8	Jamie Clayton	Woman	Trans woman, played by trans woman.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Jadzia Dax, Ezri Dax	Woman	Dax has changed genders throughout their lives.
Soul Eater	Crona	Unconfirmed
The Switch	Sü Phan and others	Women and men	All transgender characters are played by transgender actors.
TransGeneration	Various	Women and Men	A documentary series.
Transparent	Maura Pfefferman	Woman	A trans woman played by a cis man.
Ugly Betty	Alexis Meade	Woman	A trans woman played by a cis woman. Regularly misrepresented by her father and brother, though her brother eventually adjusts his behavior. Often referred to as a "tranny" by several characters.
Twin Peaks	Denise Bryson	Woman	A trans woman DEA agent played by a cis man

Web series

Title	Character	Gender	Notes
Carmilla	LaFontaine	genderqueer character who uses they/them pronouns[2]	nonbinary character played by a nonbinary actor; unconfirmed for a while in-series
Like As It Is	Ross Grant	Agender character who uses they/them pronouns
The Grey Tarmac Road	Leone Jinjur	Genderfluid character who uses they/them, she/her and he/him pronouns	played by a trans actor
Paranatural	R.J.	Non-binary character who uses they/them/their pronouns
The Adventures of Jaime Watson (And Sherlock Holmes)	Stanley Hopkins	Man	trans man played by a trans man, introduced in season 2

Theatre

Title	Character	Gender	Notes
Hedwig and the Angry Inch	Hedwig	Woman	A trans woman, played by both men and women on the stage.
Rent	Angel	Woman
The Vagina Monologues	"They beat the girl out of my boy...or so they tried"	Woman

Video games

Title	Character	Gender	Notes
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate	Ned Wynert	Man
Catherine	Erica Anderson	Woman
Dragon Age: Inquisition	Cremisius 'Krem' Aclassi	Man
Guilty Gear	Bridget	Man	Born with a penis but assigned female at birth. He becomes a bounty hunter to prove his virility and to be accepted as a male.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	Vivian	Woman
Shin Megami Tensei / Persona 4	Naoto Shirogane	---	Prefers to be treated without reference to gender.
Super Mario Bros 2	Birdo	Woman	Prefers to be called Catherine (JP) or Birdetta (US)
Street Fighter	Poison	Woman

Music

Title	Artist	Gender	Notes
"Transgender Dysphoria Blues"	Against Me!	Woman	From the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues
"True Trans Soul Rebel"	Against Me!	Woman	From the album Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Music videos

Title	Artist	Gender	Notes
"Sexy Dreams"	Spoonboy	Genderfluid	Spoonboy plays a trans Batman.[3]

See also

• List of media portrayals of bisexuality
• List of American television episodes with LGBT themes
• List of television shows with LGBT characters
• Media and sexual orientation
• Media portrayals of bisexuality
• Media portrayal of lesbianism

References

1. Gillen, Kieron. "What are the right pronouns for Inanna? Everyone on tumblr started using "they/them" after the last issue, but I remember Luci referring to Inanna as "him". Was it negligence and insensitivity on her part?". Tumblr. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
2. Simpson, Ellen. "Carmilla FAQ". anamatics. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
3. http://spoonboy-sexydreams.tumblr.com/