Grey’s Anatomy is going to have a groundbreaking transgender storyline
(Getty)
The new season of Grey’s Anatomy will have a groundbreaking transgender storyline, it has been revealed.
Trans actress Candis Cayne will play a patient who comes to Grey Sloan for a vaginoplasty later in season 14.
The show’s writers were inspired by the story of Hayley Anthony, a trans woman who helped Dr Jess Ting to create a revolutionary new procedure for vaginoplasty surgeries.
(Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
The show intends to bring worldwide attention to this newly available surgery.
Showrunner and writer Krista Vernoff told The Hollywood Reporter that the surgery “revolutionises the making of a vagina, and we thought that was a really cool story and Candis is playing a character inspired by something we read.”
Cayne posted a screenshot of THR’s article with the caption: “So excited about this!”
This isn’t the show’s first trans character.
Candis Cayne (instagram/candiscayne)
Just this season, intern Dr Casey Parker was introduced into the show.
Played by trans actor Alex Blue Davis, Dr Parker is, in his own words, a “proud trans man.”
But the character’s gender identity has not become his defining trait – instead, it’s just an aspect of who he is.
When his character was introduced earlier this month, Davis said: “What’s cool about the show, the episode and Krista’s vision for this character is he’s about way more than being trans.”
He added: “I cried at the table read, it was very moving for me.
“I’ve been waiting for a moment like this on TV my whole life.”
(VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)
Referring to when he told Chief of Surgery Miranda Bailey that he was proudly trans, he said: “I am so honoured I got to say that line on TV because it’s a long time coming.”
The show has been previously praised for its representation of LGBT characters and was awarded a GLAAD award in 2012 for best drama series.
Another trans actress, Laverne Cox, has previously spoken out against cisgender actors being cast in trans roles, which Grey’s Anatomy has not made the mistake of doing.
Last month, Yance Ford became the first trans director to be nominated for an Oscar.
