Friday, September 30, 2016

ABC writes role for transgender ‘Modern Family’ character

A transgender child actor joined the cast of the ABC comedy “Modern Family” this week.

The show cast 8-year-old Jackson Millarker to play “Tom,” a friend of the character Lilly.

Ryan Case directed the episode “A Stereotypical Day” and took to Instagram to post about the decision:

This is Jackson Millarker. He's 8 years old, from Atlanta, and just happens to be transgender. He plays Lily's friend Tom in this week's Modern Family and he's wonderful. One of the many reasons I love being a part of this show.

The caption accompanied a photo of Case—whose account is private—and the actor.

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Millarker’s character on the show is also transgender.

The Atlantic explains the circumstance and significance

But, as has also been the show’s M.O. all along, this progressive-minded move happened in a supremely gentle and unthreatening manner. Millarker’s character Tom, who viewers quickly learned was once called Tina, said a total of eight words and was on screen for less than a minute in Wednesday’s episode, ‘A Stereotypical Day.’ His main job wasn’t to do the things that activists often say is the goal when calling for trans casting: humanize a cliché and bring visibility. Instead the episode mostly did the very preliminary work of mass media that addresses social change—thinking about how the minority makes the majority feel.

The characters Cam and Mitch—a gay couple and Lilly’s dads—question their own level of tolerance.

The response on Twitter was overwhelmingly positive:



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