When it was announced last week that Ryan Murphy’s TV show Pose was premiering in the UK later this month, my heart skipped a beat.

If you’re unfamiliar with Murphy’s work, he’s the mastermind behind legendary binge-worthy classics such as Glee, Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story. And his latest (and possibly greatest) slice of American pie is primed to raise the bar even higher.

Pose is set in New York City in the late 1980s, a time when shoulder pads were higher than skyscrapers, Donald Trump began his rise to power and the AIDS crisis obliterated the LGBTQ community. The streets of the Big Apple made for a cheap, nasty and fabulous playground, where greed and ambition got you to the top.

Helen Parshall

The distinction between Pose and Murphy’s other work, is that Pose is largely based on factual events, and picks up where Jennie Livingston's now cult documentary Paris is Burning left off.

It’s against this backdrop that we meet the show’s main protagonists, several transgender women and gay men, paying their rent by means of sex work and stripping, all fighting for visibility and acceptance in the face of adversity.

The Show Keeps It Real, And Nuanced

As a trans woman, I’ve been waiting years for a show like this to come along. Pose elevates trans narratives and takes the time to explore the complex, nuanced and intersectional reality of our experience, with poise, authenticity and flamboyant realness.

Rhyannon Styles - who writes for ELLE Ekua King

I can’t think of any other examples of trans characters that represent and capture our stories so vividly.

It Isn't Afraid To Tackle The Tuck

Pose doesn’t shy away from controversial topics, either. Instead it highlights the taboos and myths that have trolled the transgender community since day dot.

Spoiler alert – when I watched Elektra, a transgender woman, tucking her penis between her legs in episode 4, it was one of the greatest, most uncomfortable and revelatory experiences of my transition. I wept. Never before had I seen something reflecting the bane of my existence so sensitively handled in a TV show.

The Writers And Actors Are Living The Experience

All credit to Janet Mock and Our Lady J – the powerhouse writers - who expertly scripted the show on the basis of their own experiences as trans women, and partly why this show is breaking ground across the pond.

In another bold and defiant move, Pose features the largest cast of transgender actors ever seen on screen, which represents a huge shift in the TV industry.

FX

Here in the UK it’s only recently that we’ve seen trans actors playing trans characters, with the likes of EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Boy Meets Girl finally becoming all en pointe with their casting.

In most cases, trans identities on screen are rarely portrayed in such fabulous scenarios. Take There’s Something About Miriam, a 2004 reality TV show where men competed to date a model with a ‘secret’. When Miriam reveals she is a transsexual woman, the men burst out laughing and openly mock her. It makes for uncomfortable viewing.

You could argue that Hayley’s storyline in Coronation Street was one of the first trans narratives to break through, but she did very little in representing my experience of being transgender, particularly as Hayley was played by a cis-gendered woman. It’s taken years for shows to get it right, but it finally feels like we’re on an upward trajectory in representing trans women correctly.

Transgender Women Of Colour Are Centre Stage

Pose’s greatest achievement is creating space for transgender women of colour to be accurately represented within a scene and community they participate in. There is no white washing here. Let’s not forget, the average life expectancy for trans women of colour in the USA is 35-years old. It’s staggeringly low, because of violence and because of suicide, and highlights the many challenges still faced by the trans community today.

To support each other through these troubling times, many LGBTQ people form houses. A house is a group of individuals who live together as a family – largely due to them being made homeless by their biological parents because of their sexual or gender orientation. Each house has a mother, typically a trans woman who nurtures and supports her 'children.'

It Has Mothers, Moods And Memes

In Pose, the sanctuary away from prejudice and the beating heart of this electrifying drama is the ballroom scene. As Blanca, mother of the House of Abundance quips: ‘Balls are gatherings of people who are not welcome together anywhere else’.

Once inside the ballroom, our cast of outsiders are transformed into opulent beauties, competing for trophies and accolades, judged on their outfits, attitude and dance skills, a queer twist on the typical beauty pageant. It makes for hilarious viewing and perfect for internet memes.

FX

Pose is finally allowing trans actors to reach their potential, to break through into the mainstream and empower trans people around the world. With a second season already commissioned, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of these legendary children.

FX

As individuals we shine, as a community we thrive. Strike a POSE!

Pose premiers on BBC2 on the March 21 at 10pm.





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