TransTainment 6/7/21

Josie Totah

Josie Totah Produces

The original 1990s version of the popular sitcom Saved by the Bell didn’t have a transgender character. In the 2021 reboot there’s not only a trans woman character, she’s the hot girl on campus. Lexi, played by Josie Totah, is popular at her school and is melodramatic, smart, witty, and a little mean but “ultimately kind”. Totah was thrilled to be offered the part and said in an interview that playing the character was just a matter of thinking what was the craziest thing she could do in her normal life and do that on the show. She had concerns though that the transgender character had to be real. To achieve that she told the powers that be that she would only take the role if she was also a producer on the show. As a producer she would have input into and influence on the characters and scripts. Learn more about Josie Totah and the show from Variety.

Danger Force Features Trans Teen

In case you’re not a fan of Nickelodeon’s Danger Force you may not know that the wacky show stars Michael D. Cohen, and that Mr. Cohen is a trans man. Cohen transitioned over two decades before he was cast in Danger Force and only came out as trans last year. After telling the world his gender status Cohen launched a Trans Youth Acting Challenge aimed at helping trans and nonbinary young people break into the acting business. One of those who submitted an audition to the Challenge has now been cast on Danger Force. 13-year-old trans actor Sasha A. Cohen (no relation to Michael) and his twin sister Natalie R. Cohen will appear on the June 19 episode. Learn more about their roles and Michael D. Cohen’s Trans Youth Acting Challenge from Variety.

Dancing Queens in a Bird Cage

The cast of Dancing Queens.

One effect of all these years of RuPaul’s Drag Race is an abundance of drag queens all over the world. Sweden has gotten into the act with a new television show called Dancing Queens. It’s not a dance contest or reality show. It follows a young woman whose mother has recently passed away. Dylan, like her mother, is a dancer but she lives in a small fishing village with little opportunity to dance professionally. Her grandmother believes in Dylan’s talent and encourages her to go to the big city to try out for a modern dance company. Dylan makes it to the city but the audition falls through and instead of going back to the village she finds a job cleaning a drag club. The drama at the club is between a young performer and the old established star. Dylan’s need to dance leads her to team up with the young challenger and develop a slinky act with Dylan impersonating a drag queen (shades of Victor/Victoria). Of course the new act goes over well and the crowds start to get larger. The review in Variety isn’t one hundred percent positive but if all you need is drag performers and a young, cisgender dancing queen then Dancing Queens might be for you. It is available on Netflix. 

Former Top Model Contestant Comes Out as Nonbinary

Lio Tipton

Lio Tipton was a star on America’s Next Top Model in 2003 and placed third in the competition. Their career spanned modeling campaigns and TV series (the short-lived ABC romance Manhattan Love Story), and they had starring roles in major movies opposite actors like Steve Carell and Julianne Moore (Crazy, Stupid, Love), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), and Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies). For Pride Month Tipton has announced that they are queer and nonbinary. Learn more from Entertainment Weekly.

5 SFF Novels with Trans Protagonists

For a long while the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres have been dominated by male voices. It’s been going on since the Golden Age of SF. The dashing blue eyed hero and the plucky yet vulnerable female character were standards. The heroes always like strong, independent women—but not too independent. It’s the hero’s job to rescue the heroine from the slimy space monster. It wasn’t often that you came across a book with a female hero. Yes there were some, even in the mid twentieth century, but while you could find them, you would have a very hard time finding a trans woman as the main character in any story. (Sure, The Left Hand of Darkness in 1969 had gender changing people on the planet Winter) Things have begun to change and in the 21st century there are transgender heroes showing up in science fiction and fantasy more and more often. One writer has compiled a list of five books with trans women as the lead characters. She includes her own work but, hey, nothing wrong with that. You can find out what the five books are in her article on the TOR website.

Bretman when he was promoting Colorpop cosmetics.

Bretman Rock no Longer a Beauty Influencer

Back in April we ran a photo gallery of Beauty Boys, males who wear and promote the use of makeup. One of the boys was Philippines born Bretman Rock. In 2020 he was the winner of the Beauty Influencer award of the People’s Choice Awards. Now he has announced that he’s no longer interested in going on social media and talking about makeup. Oh, he still wears makeup. It’s just that he finds the social media landscape inhabited by the beauty community to be riddled with scandals and beefs. So, you can still find Bretman Rock on TikTok but he won’t be plugging any brands of cosmetics, just wearing them. Get the whole story from Insider. 

Who Are You Wearing?

Laverne Cox

Giuliana Rancic who reported on Hollywood events for over 20 years has left the red carpet but fear not! Red carpet duties for the E! network will be in the capable hands of Laverne Cox. Alysa Washington pointed us to the story on LGBTQ Nation. Cox will takeover officially in 2022. Along with the red carpet position Cox will be in charge of doing celebrity interview specials. One sees that as a sit-down in the studio activity and not grabbing celebs on the fly. If there is one problem with Ms. Cox’s new job it’s that she may out show the celebs for glamor.

I Really Need This Job

In other Laverne  Cox news recommended by Alysa, like many people we see as stars today, Laverne was preparing to quit show biz at one point. The rent was past due. She was in debt up to her false eyelashes and was considering going to graduate school and leaving acting behind when she got the audition for Orange is the New Black. She went from debt to stardom after that. Read more about her rise to star status in Pink News.

Tags: entertainment, featured, Transgender

Category: Media, Transgender Fun & Entertainment