Is transgender community ready for close-up?

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

Bruce Jenner could end up being the new Will & Grace hero for transgender Americans.

Just as W&G helped familiarize Americans with gay people, proliferating TV shows and films about transgender people could help make those who have switched gender seem less like outliers.

And Olympic hero-turned-reality star Jenner will be among them, according to his mother.

There are hopeful signs of progress, say some of those who pay attention to these matters, such as GLAAD, the leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

One such sign could be public expressions of support for those who are transitioning, from their nearest and dearest.

So far, Jenner hasn't confirmed or denied he's planning to transition to a woman. But the Associated Press interviewed his widowed mother, Esther Jenner, 88, at her Idaho home Wednesday, and she said she spoke to her son about his transition.

"It was brief and I said I was proud of him and that I'll always love him," she said. "I never thought I could be more proud of Bruce when he reached his goal in 1976 (at the Olympics where he won a gold medal in the decathlon), but I'm more proud of him now. It takes a lot of courage to do what he's doing.

"It was a shock. It's hard to wrap your mind around it," she added. "(But) I am at peace with what he is and what he's doing."

Increasingly, many Americans are, and that might be the result of increasing visibility of transgender people in the culture.

Such as budding film star Michelle Hendley, 23, a transgender woman from Missouri about to make her feature debut in a transgender love story, Boy Meets Girl, opening Feb. 6.

"In a way, all publicity is good publicity," says Hendley, who's been working in a beauty salon and delivering pizzas part time in Columbia. Soon she's headed to New York for her first red-carpet premiere and to try to make it as an actress.

"We're coming up at a time where what Will & Grace did for gay people, we will see that for trans people, when they can come out and speak out proudly about who they are. ... It's no longer taboo or strange, because we see more and know more about it."

The writer/activist Jennifer Finney Boylan, co-chair of GLAAD and Barnard College writer-in-residence, says it's been a great year for transgender progress, and media figures and acclaimed TV series, such as Transparent and Orange is the New Black, have helped move the needle.

"The more examples we see of transgender people living their lives openly and without shame, the better," says Boylan, author of She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, the first book by a trans writer to become a best seller, in 2003.

"The more people who are out as trans, people who have dignity and confidence, who are seen as part of the mosaic of this country, the better it will be," she says. "(But) there's nothing remarkable about coming out as gay, and sometime soon, there will be nothing particularly remarkable about coming out as trans."

Indeed, more transgender people are going public, and not just in entertainment.

Zoey Tur, once known as Chopper Bob as a TV helicopter pilot/reporter in Los Angeles (he was famous for covering the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase), became the first transgender reporter to appear on national TV, on Tuesday on Inside Edition, as a special correspondent.

Her story (she had the sex reassignment surgery a year ago in Thailand, at age 53) was a leading headline for IE.

"Trying to erase 53 years of being a macho aggressive guy to trying to be a woman, and this is greatest challenge of my life," she told reporter Jim Moret.

Nick Adams, one of GLAAD's transgender staff members, says there's no doubt the media have a powerful role in helping spread greater understanding of transgender people.

When trans celebs — such as Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black, writer/transgender-rights activists Janet Mock and Boylan, Chaz Bono, director Lana (formerly Larry) Wachowski — are visible and active in the media, they help familiarize a minority that used to be hidden, shamed and frightened, he says.

Even today, acceptance for trans people is occasionally blotted by tragic stories of suicide, especially by young people rejected by their families. Last month, a 17-year-old Ohio youth, born a boy but seeking to live as a girl, committed suicide by running in front of a tractor-trailer on an interstate highway. Why? "I am transgender," she said in a suicide note, and her parents couldn't accept it.

"Nine out of 10 Americans say they personally know someone in their school, workplace or family who is lesbian, gay or bisexual, but only 8% of Americans say they personally know someone who is transgender," Adams says.

"So when people like (Cox and Bono) share their stories, it's an opportunity for the public to get to know a transgender person and learn more about our lives."

Source: Bruce Jenner is 'transitioning to a woman' Bruce Jenner's changing looks have been at the center of attention as of late. A source close to the family revealed to 'People Magazine' that Bruce is indeed transitioning into a woman, and that his family is accepting of his decision.

Now they might be about to learn even more, given reports that former Olympic gold-medal winner, father of 10 and TV reality star Jenner, 65, plans to transition to a female and document the change for a series of TV documentaries.

Jenner has not confirmed he is transitioning or that he plans to film it, and neither have his network or his representatives or members of the sprawling Kardashian-Jenner clan of reality TV stars.

But multiple reports, from the likes of People and TheWrap, quote sources within the family about Jenner's plans, plus hints from stepdaughter Kim Kardashian that Jenner plans to share his "journey" when he's ready.

Add in the numerous paparazzi shots of Jenner's altered appearance in recent months, plus word that ABC's Diane Sawyer has lined Jenner up for an interview special, the building volume of Jenner buzz suggests something is about to happen.

On the whole, Boylan says, she's hopeful that Jenner's story, assuming a transition tale turns up on TV, will have a positive impact, but it's not without its pitfalls, especially given the circus atmosphere that routinely surrounds anything to do with the Kardashians.

"If I have any reservation about the Bruce Jenner story, it seems to be gearing up for a huge revelation, and really it's not that big a deal," she says. "Being trans is one more way of being human. It really shouldn't demand a reality TV show or an interview with Diane Sawyer. "

Some transgender people say the media should just stop the speculation about Jenner.

"When we feed into these rumors — even if they turn out to be correct — we're not showing respect," says activist Parker Marie Molloy, in a blog post on Slate, titled "The gossip about Bruce Jenner needs to end."

"When we dig through that especially personal part of someone's life and make it public without their consent, any good we believe we're doing is nullified by the violation," she wrote.

But if handled right, says Hendley, "the Bruce Jenner story would bring attention to transgender issues, and hopefully it will be a positive thing."

It would certainly be rare. Up to now, few trans people, let alone a celebrity, would share such an intimate transition with the world.

, born Chastity, daughter of , and one of the most famous transgender celebs, has shared his often painful struggle in a documentary, Becoming Chaz, which premiered on the Sundance Channel and then aired on Oprah's network, OWN, in 2011.

A close-up look at a person going through transition also could spotlight the differences between transitioning as a young person with a supportive family and in the age of social media, and transitioning as a middle-aged adult who remembers when transgendered people were viewed as outcasts.

Hendley, for instance, had a largely positive transition, when she was in her first year at college, thanks to a loving family, her residence in a liberal college town, and access to support and approbation via her Twitter feed and Facebook pages.

In fact, she was discovered by Boy Meets Girl director Eric Schaeffer from her YouTube videos.

"Before my transition, I was very quiet, very much introverted but as soon as I opened up to the Internet, I immediately gained all kinds of attention and all of it positive," she says.

"We live in the age of information, we can learn about anything we want through Google, and more and more people are learning and able to see (trans) individuals all across the spectrum."

The growing visibility of feature films and TV dramas and comedies featuring transgender characters, actors or actors playing transgender characters, is already having an impact, at least in the money, ratings and awards categories.

Transparent is a hit for Amazon Prime, and just won a Golden Globe. Orange is the New Black is a hit for Netflix, and has a fistful of Emmys and Globes. Same for Glee on Fox. Hilary Swank won an Oscar for Boys Don't Cry, and Felicity Huffman won an Oscar nomination for TransAmerica. Hedwig and the Angry Inch has been a hit on and off-Broadway, winning a Tony for Neil Patrick Harris.

And that's just the beginning.