Diana Fronterhouse: Screenwriter, voice actor and audio post-production in Phoenix, Arizona.

Great article, Tennyson! I sincerely appreciate all these points. As a transgender woman, I look at the landscape of how my community's stories are told...and despair. The problem most often comes from a comparison of the writer's own experiences CONTRASTED alongside their impressions of "what life must be like for 'those' people." Since everyone has a gender identity, for example, that's almost always the base upon which the story is told. In other words, instead of allowing the writing to spring from that different reality alone, the narrative is almost always contrasted against the writer's own "normal" experiences. If you want to normalize something, don't ever "other" it. (And don't even get me started on cis actors playing trans roles!)

One of the best things that ever happened to LGB people was WILL AND GRACE. It used humor to ingratiate the show into America's living rooms, while at the same time giving them a glimpse of what real, lived-in humanity looks like for gay people. That moment has not yet arrived for trans people. Instead, I see almost nothing of trans experience portrayed as anything other than sad, little lives. I can assure you that very often the opposite is true. Personally, I feel there is no more fertile ground for telling stories of overcoming adversity, comedy, drama, and joy than can be found in stories of trans people. My community is finding its voice more and more every day. We will all be richer for it.

It's impossible to hate someone when you know their story. As writers, we should consider telling those stories that are outside our experience as an honoring responsibility. There's a lot riding on it.

One very small point- in your opening line, you used the term "cisgendered." the "-ed" is unnecessary. You are cisgender. To add the "-ed" is the same as saying "Matt Damon is masculined." Like I said...a small point, but another teachable moment. Thank you again.

Hi Diana. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 1,000,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

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Hello Diana -

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