Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Chicago to run transgender TV show
by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times
2011-06-08

This article shared 9628 times since Wed Jun 8, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Chicago may soon get due credit for having one of the most active and diverse transgender populations in the country. Locally based cable production company Towers Productions is looking for transgender youth for a new TV series, slotted to air as soon as early next year.

The series, still in early stages of development, will follow between four and seven transgender people 18-24 as they navigate life in the city.

"We're looking for fascinating personal stories," said Towers Productions VP of Development and Executive Director Mike Schmiedeler.

Schmiedeler and crew are working with the West Side AIDS prevention organization,Taskforce Prevention and Community Services to cast young Chicagoans for the show. The organization was featured on a Towers Production series in 2006 called Runaways, which aired on MSNBC. That series followed a young transgender Chicagoan, Angie, who went to Taskforce for services.

According to Schmeiedeler, Angie's story elicited the strongest reaction from audiences.

"Producers were like 'Man, I could make a whole series just on Angie,'" Schmiedeler said. "That idea kind of stuck with us."

Alicia Ozier, the executive director of Taskforce Prevention and Community Services, is casting the show with Towers. She said the show is an opportunity to educate mainstream audiences on transgender issues.

"It's still difficult for youth to be accepted within their churches, within their communities," Ozier said. "In this case, I think that it will be an opportunity for the larger community to learn."

Buzz has been circulating for weeks that the show is slotted to air on MTV, a rumor that neither Ozier nor Schmiedeler would confirm or deny. Schmiedeler said that the company will likely pitch the series to MTV, but said the show is still in development and no deals have been made. Regardless, the series expected to be picked up by a major national network.

According to Ozier, the series will be at least four episodes and feature transgender youth from a diversity of backgrounds. Producers hope it will air early next year.

The show could highlight some of unique realities facing transgender Chicagoans. In a recent National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce survey, Chicago faired a percentage point worse than the rest of the country when it came to workplace discrimination, with 27 percent of respondents saying they had been fired for being transgender. However, a myriad of happenings in recent years have also put Chicago at the forefront of national transgender issues. The Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois makes Chicago the first city with a law firm providing pro bono holistic criminal legal defense to transgender people. In late 2009, transgender Chicagoan Helena Bushong became the first trans woman of color ever to attend an official White House strategy meeting. The efforts of youth organizers, like direct-action organization Gender JUST, have also spotlighted issues facing young trans people in Chicago on a national scale.

How and if those realities will be portrayed on TV remains unclear, but Ozier says she trusts Towers to portray cast members respectfully because of the way the company handled Runaways.

"This is a fantastic opportunity when a production company has the ability to understand different types of material and they see the compelling story and they take a risk to present a story differently than what people are used to seeing on television," she said.

According to Schmiedler, it's not just community that makes Chicago an attractive setting for the upcoming show. It's really about geography.

"There is a big presence of East and West coasts on TV," Schmiedeler told Windy City Times. "The networks, they're looking for real people—and not necessarily New York and L.A. all the time."

Still, like Angie's story, he thinks the show will be relatable to people across the nation. "It's a story that everyone can relate to because everyone struggles with something," he said.

Towers Productions is hosting an open call Thursday, June 16. Anyone interested in auditioning can call Taskforce Prevention and Services at 773-473-4100.


This article shared 9628 times since Wed Jun 8, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Lambda Legal Launches "Speak OUT" awareness campaign uplifting trans, nonbinary voices
2024-03-28
--From a press release. VIDEO BELOW - (NEW YORK, NY — March 28, 2024) In advance of Transgender Day of Visibility, Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal nonprofit working to achieve full equal rights for LGBTQ people and everyone living with ...


Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill
2024-03-27
On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margin—a landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care
2024-03-26
With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced
2024-03-24
The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97
2024-03-22
series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

Almost 8% of U.S. residents identify as LGBTQ+
2024-03-16
The proportion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ continues to increase. LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as LGBTQ+, according to the newest Gallup poll results that ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition'
2024-03-15
Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SPORTS Red Stars prepare to kick off NWSL season against Utah Royals
2024-03-15
It's been a busy winter for the Red Stars, and it's time to put their work to the test. Following a last place finish in the 2023 NWSL season, Chicago has had an active offseason transforming ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.