The Advocate: "Beau Bridges on Sex Changes, High Heels"
Filed by: Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
December 16, 2009 1:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/12/the_advocate_beau_bridges_on_sex_changes_high_heel.phpThe Advocate on Monday published an article on an interview with actor Beau Bridges, who portrays a transgender detective on TNT's TV show, "The Closer."
The article is written by "Advocate.com Editors," who appear not to have read the GLAAD Media Reference Guide and are unaware that the term "sex change" is listed in the section of GLAAD's Guide labeled "terminology to avoid." Bridges, who notes that he did a lot of research on the subject and met many transgender people for his previous role in the movie Looking for Normal, stated that he has profound respect for people who get sex changes.
This is by no means the first time The Advocate has used the term. In fact, a search of The Advocate reveals that they used the term in five stories in the last month alone. A Google search shows 1,940 such references in The Advocate altogether, although some of those may have been in reader comments. While Bridges obviously felt that the portrayal was sensitive, he obviously did not understand that the show portrayed the transgender character in a negative light. There's no mention of that in The Advocate article.
