Real World New Season has TG Cast Member

Okay - so I'm NOT a fan of reality TV (American Idol doesn't count - LOL) but I have to admit, reality TV seems to be a big fan of the LGB and especially the T community. The new season of MTVs The Real World premiered this week. It seems the big news was the constant speculation about the orientation of Katelynn - the tomboyish girl.

Well Katelynn did disclose her secret to one cast member. She is transgender. This is definitely a first for the show. The remainder of the cast seemed to have figured this out (or I should say the cast seemed to come to this assumption) without her actually telling them. It should be interesting to see how this carries out in upcoming episodes. I haven't watched The Real World since the season in Philly with Karamo (I'm still debating if I'll watch this season).

I guess this is the new trend for reality TV. Right now I'm not sure if this is good or bad. Last year we saw Isis on America's Next Top Model and Laverne on I Want to Work for Diddy. My fear is that these these indivuals are on TV not because they are remarkable and deserving. The reality of reality TV is that these people are probably there for the shock value and for a degree of sensationalism that our LGB brothers and sisters don't bring anymore (let's face it - no one is shocked when someone comes as gay out on TV now).

But inspite of the reason for them being on these shows I feel like transgender visibility is a wonderful thing. If people see individuals that identify as TG maybe they'll learn that these are individuals that just want to live their lives with some degree of descency and respect. Maybe learning the histories and trials and witnessing the journies of these individuals will help end transphobia. With the growing number of transgender murders that happen every year - maybe one of these stories will help save a life.

Kudos to Katelynn for bringing your story to the tele and kudos to The Real World for making this bold step.