Culture minister calls for more trans stars on British TV

A government minister has called for more “regular” TV roles for trans actors, without the need to “make a big deal out of the fact that they are transgender”.

Speaking to fellow MPs at the first-ever parliamentary inquiry into transgender equality, Minister of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey said transgender representation in the media should not be “somehow exotic, but completely mainstream”.

The culture minister and Conservative MP for Wantage was responding to comments by Tory MP Maria Caulfield that the mainstream media sensationalise the issues faced by trans people by focusing on coming out instead of their day-to-day lives.

Vaizey said he wants to see trans actors in the roles of doctors, lawyers, policemen and MPs, in order to “reflect diversity of society”.

He said, “In terms of working with broadcasters, encouraging them to portray on screen our society as it looks like today, I think there’s an ongoing issue that people can be put into the category that they’re identified as and not seen doing mainstream occupations.

“I hope that more and more we will see people from the transgender community – as indeed from other communities that are under-represented on our screens – cast in mainstream roles and their background is irrelevant in that respect.”

Vaizey also gave a nod to US shows Orange is the New Black, which stars trans actress Laverne Cox, and Transparent, a show about a family’s journey after discovering their father is transgender.

“You have only got to see the success of people like Laverne Cox on Netflix or the success of Transparent on Amazon Prime to see that the sky is not going to fall on your head if you keep pushing ahead with this agenda,” Vaizey said.

Mr Vaizey’s comments come soon after EastEnders made history by becoming the first ever British soap to cast a transgender actor – 21-year-old Riley Carter Millington – in a trans role.

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