Character to Transition on "The L Word"

Moira soon to become Max

2/11/2006

Felicity Huffman won a Golden Globe award for her portrayal of Bree, an MTF who makes a cross-country voyage with her son, in the film Transamerica. The star of Desperate Housewives has also been nominated for an Academy Award; the awards will be given in early March.

Heres more on the L-Words transgender character: According to Nick Adams, of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, This character on "The L Word" is the first regularly occurring FTM character in the history of television *and* the first transgender character to transition during the course of a show. Season three of "The L Word" began on January 8 and introduced us to Moira, the new person Jenny is dating. Moira is a very androgynous computer programmer from a working class background. When Moira follows Jenny back to LA and meets all of Jenny's friends, there is some friction around issues of class and gender expression. In the 1/29 episode, Moira met an FTM artist, and then told Jenny that he had considered transitioning since he was a kid (which was news to Jenny) . In the 2/5 episode, Max faced discrimination when applying for a job because of his gender expression.

Over the course of the remaining episodes, Moira will begin taking testosterone and transition to living as Max. It remains to be seen how the show will handle Max's transition. But given the near-complete invisibility of FTMs on television -- particularly in scripted television -- this is a significant development for FTM visibility.

Read an interview with Daniela Sea, the actor playing Max.