Supergirl is about to introduce its first ever transgender character
(The CW)
Supergirl is set to feature its first ever transgender character.
The show attracted a host of LGBT fans in 2016 when Alex Danvers – played by Chyler Leigh – came out as a lesbian, with fans praising it as one of the best coming out stories in years.
Fans have also been keen to ship Supergirl’s human persona Kara Danvers with Lena Luthor, in a prospective couple known as SuperCorp.
(The CW)
And it seems that the CW series will be expanding its horizons in Season 4, which is due to start later this year, likely in October.
A casting call for new character Nia Nal, discovered by ComicBook.com reveals that producers are looking to feature the show’s first trans person.
In the description, they ask for a “transgender woman, early 20s, open ethnicity. A confident, wunderkind of a fashionista.”
(Mike Coppola/Getty)
Nia will join CatCo, a media empire established by Cat Grant – who is now press secretary to President Olivia Marsdin – where Kara works as a reporter.
They explain: “Once a political speechwriter, Nia is the newest addition to the CatCo investigative reporting team.
“With her, she brings sparkling wit and biting humour, but under that banter-y, chic façade lays a soulful young woman who has much to offer the world. A young ‘Cat Grant’ type.”
(castittalent.com)
The move follows the introduction of two trans characters on the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy.
Trans actress Candis Cayne played a patient who came to the hospital for a ground-breaking vaginoplasty.
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 vaginoplasties.
(Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty)
And earlier in the season, trans 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 in February, 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.
(VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty)
“I’ve been waiting for a moment like this on TV my whole life.”
Referring to when the character told the show’s chief of surgery Miranda Bailey that he was trans, he said: “I am so honoured I got to say that line on TV, because it’s a long time coming.”
And we still have Ryan Murphy’s Pose to look forward to, with the show about life in the New York City’s iconic 1980s queer ballroom culture coming in June.
