Lately, some former fans have been complaining that Law & Order: SVU is too woke because some episodes involve transgender kids or adults.
I couldn’t disagree more, and not only because I’m a transgender adult who was once a closeted trans kid.
Law & Order: SVU rarely has transgender characters, so the idea that the series has been ruined by this community’s presence is silly. However, there is a problem with the way the series depicts transgender characters.
Transgender Characters Have Only Been Featured A Few Times — But They’re Almost Always The Victim
Over its 27-year history, Law & Order: SVU has featured transgender characters seven times. Considering there are well over 500 episodes at this point, that means that transgender characters have been featured about 1.3% of the time.
Sorry for the math, but the whole assertion that trans characters are taking over the show is ridiculous.
Anyway, of those seven times, the majority were victims — and they weren’t always portrayed accurately.
Law & Order: SVU Season 17 Episode 3 is widely considered a turning point, nearly two decades after the series began.
This episode featured a transgender teen who was accidentally killed while fighting with transphobic bullies.
While the teen was yet another victim, she came from a loving home, and the young boy involved in her death was horrified by what he had done.
At the time, I fell hard for this episode because it offered a level of nuance that hadn’t been seen previously, and I still give SVU a lot of credit for having evolved past the way it usually showed trans people.
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It took until 2015 to get there, but better late than never.
It Still Was Yet Another Victimization Story, And There Was Another Problem, Too.
Looking back ten years later, this story told us everything we needed to know about the boy who killed Avery, and very little about her.
Beyond knowing she loved smoothies and had a family who supported her, Avery was an enigma, while her killer was portrayed as a talented artist and mostly good kid who did something horrible he’d have to live with for the rest of his life.
This sent the message that Avery wasn’t nearly as important as her killer.
She was nothing but a victim. He was a living, breathing human being we could feel bad for.
I’m sure this was inadvertent.
The authors of this episode have said that they wanted to spark conversations in American households about the issues raised, including the problem of trans kids getting bullied for who they are.
Still, the message in “Transgender Bridge” illustrates how problematic it is to always make trans people victims rather than allowing them to play a variety of roles.
Showing trans people as victims is often meant to illustrate that prejudice against them can be deadly.
It’s supposed to help viewers understand that hatred is not an excuse for murder and that trans people are as human as anyone else, but it often sends the opposite message.
When Trans People Are Always Victims, It Sends Different Negative Messages, Depending on Who You Are
While the majority of SVU cases feature victims who are still alive, in many cases, transgender victims die.
That makes it harder to show them as full human beings because we don’t get to see much of who they were, only that their lives ended tragically.
It’s ironic and tragic because I know SVU’s intention is to uplift our humanity, but the opposite happens when the trans person is rarely more than a dead body.
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Furthermore, it can be harmful to transgender people who are watching to always see themselves as victims, especially if Benson has to shut down doubt about the victim’s gender identity or deal with family that is refusing to acknowledge their gender even after death.
Look, the suicide rate among transgender teens is 40 to 50%, depending on other factors like race and which gender(s) you identify as.
I’m not saying that’s all TV’s fault, of course, but when a young person only sees people like them being raped or killed on TV, it only adds to their feelings of depression and powerlessness.
SVU has come a long way from its initial, borderline offensive treatment of trans people, but I hope this is the season when the series makes a significant change.
With trans people under attack from our government, it’s time to stand up for them, and one way that SVU could do that is by showing trans people as more than victims.
There could be transgender witnesses, cops, or even siblings of victims.
Showing us as existing in all areas of life, not just as victims, would go a long way toward SVU’s mission of supporting all survivors and sparking important conversations.
What Do You Think?
Cis, trans, agree, disagree… I want to hear your opinions.
Your voice matters. Without it, we would only be talking to ourselves, so there’d be no point to keeping our site open.
Hit the comments with your thoughts.
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and streams on Peacock on Fridays.
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