Lost Girl Producers Apologize for Unintentionally Perpetuating The TransPanic Meme

An outraged trans community made our concerns be heard and Lost Girl producers listened.

Yesterday I published guest blogger Diana O'Brien's article Thought SyFy Channel’s Lost Girl [Caged Fae] Was LGBT Friendly? Think Again!. Diana was incensed a show that portrays lesbians in a positive light would base it's season opener plot around what boils down to be transpanic.

Essentially it's about a female warden in a women's prison who turns out to be a man who is using his position to rape woman and sell the babies into slavery. Nice huh? Well its all cloaked in science fiction and sexualized lesbian domination fantasy so the producers reasoned is it wasn't overtly offensive.

 It wasn't offensive in that context if a person isn't a transgender/transsexual and isn't deathly afraid of dating for fear of someone murdering you after sex to massage their ego/silence you/is a gang member who doesn't want his homies to find out. As happens nearly every other day.

I couldn't find Prodigy's apology on their Facebook page or their twitter timeline. The only place I saw it was on Glaad's blog. So for the record here it is:

"We want to let you know that the Lost Girl writers base all episodic characters off of researched folklore, and that the character of The Warden in the premiere of Season 3 is a character based off the mythological shapeshifter known as the Liderc. The Warden was only intended to represent this mythic being. We did not intend this character to be seen as a transgender person, we apologize if the character was seen as such. We do hope that you accept that no comparison or discrimination toward the transgender community was intended by the depiction of this mythological character.

Lost Girl prides itself on being open and accepting to everyone, and are enthusiastic supporters of the GLBT community. We want to encourage a society in which everyone can feel comfortable to express and be who they are without judgment. Equality and a world without labels is important to all of us at the series. We strive to create three dimensional characters, who empower all viewers regardless of sexuality or gender."

Sincerely,
The Producers of LOST GIRL

A nice apology and explanation but it would have been a lot better if it had appeared somewhere else in addition to the Glaad Blog.

Now here's where we get real messy.

There is a disturbing amount of push back from this advocacy from some gay and lesbian cis people in the GLAAD article's comments. They are really upset we have criticized a show that portrays LGBT Bisexual and lesbians in a favorable light.

Not just upset, they are incensed that we are 'making a mountain out of a molehill"

Got a memo for them. We are trans. We have a voice and we are here. Respect us.

Thought SyFy Channel’s Lost Girl [Caged Fae] Was LGBT Friendly? Think Again!

Guest blogger Diana O'Brien is a transgender advocate, writer and licensed esthetician & electrologist in Wilton Manors, FL. She current writes a guest column for the South Florida Gay News.

The third season premiere of Lost Girl just demonstrated the well-worn path for advancing gay/lesbian/bisexual themes in the media. That path continues to be walking over the crushed public image of transgender people.

Lost Girl has received a lot of attention for its sexually charged plot lines and positive portrayal of lesbian and bisexual female characters. Even GLAAD has taken notice of the show, promoting it in The GLAAD Wrap and What to Watch.

Season 3 Episode 1 titled Caged Fae brings transphobia and trans panic back into the mix It depicts this week’s villain as a man impersonating a female prison warden so he can impregnate the all-female inmate population and sell their babies. After “outing” the corset-clad warden with a telling kiss, the show’s heroine Bo leaves justice in the hands (and riot sticks) of the female prison guards. The men-hating prison guards do a hands-on package check, and haul the warden away for some off-screen punishment. This whole scenario sets up the moment when Bo and her female love interest decide to make their lesbian relationship status official.

So here we have it – the whole reason our opponents say trans people (specifically trans women) should not have rights.

We are just a bunch of men that want into women-only facilities so we can “trap” them and violate them. We deserve whatever severe punishment our discoverers decide to meet out. We are the villains. Again.


It is particularly offensive that SyFy Channel takes a page out of the defense playbook of Angia Zapata’s murderer. Trans panic was the supposed justification for beating Angie to death in 2008, after her boyfriend “found out” she was trans. A jury saw through this defense and found her murderer guilt of first degree murder and a bias-based hate crime. This episode shamefully exploits trans panic violence as justified.

This kind of defamation has to stop. The media needs to take responsibility for its continued promotion of transphobic stereotypes and justification of trans panic violence. NBC Universal and the SyFy Channel need to be held accountable and take corrective action. We need GLAAD to take direct action on this now, and stop promoting Lost Girl until its content is friendly towards the whole LGBT community!