In 2018, in an interview with Homework for a text on transidentity in fiction series, Stéfany Boisvert, professor at UQAM’s School of Media, argued that gender diversity being complex, it was necessary to represent non-binary characters on screen. She cited the example of Taylor Mason from the American series Billions.
“What is touching with Taylor is that her interpreter, Asia Kate Miller, mentioned that it was while reading the script for trillion and on this character claiming to be non-binary that they understood that it was the term that defined their identity”, explains the professor.
As early as 2016, Taylor’s prime-time presence had a positive impact, as it allowed for characters to appear that felt neither male nor female, felt like both, or felt like several combinations of the two. The professor also believes that the coming out nonbinary of stars, including Jonathan Van Ness of Queer-EyeSam Smith and Demi Lovato, has something to do with it.
“It still remains a marginal phenomenon on TV, continues Stéfany Boisvert, but we feel an increase in their representation and an awareness within the industry of the lack of representation of non-binary people. After Taylor, I feel like there was a latent period. It is only in 2020-2021 that we begin to see it in a greater number of series. »
She also recalls that before Taylor, there were other non-binary characters, including Yael in the Canadian series for teens Degrassi: Next Class. Unlike Theo in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and to Che in And Just Like Thatplayed by non-binary artists Lachlan Watson and Sara Ramirez, the role of Yael was played by a cisgender actress, Jamie Bloch.
If all these characters are secondary, on the Canadian side, we show more audacity. Launched in October on CBC, broadcast in English on CBC Gem and, since Friday, in French on Extra de Tou.tv, the dramatic comedy somehow (Sort of) stars non-binary artist Bilal Baig as Sabi, a non-binary person from a Pakistani and Muslim family. And with us, then?
“In Quebec, I have the impression that in the last year, it started with Lou in Without an appointmentyou and also with Humberto in six degreeswho makes his coming out not gendered in the last episode, ”answers Stéfany Boisvert.
The Lou case
If we get attached to Lou, unlike Che who was unanimously against iel, some deplore that it is the cisgender actor Mikhaïl Ahooja who embodies him in the adaptation of the Australian web series Sexy Herpes (on Youtube).
The author of Without an appointment (on Tou.tv), Marie-Andrée Labbé, justifies this choice by the fact that they are in transition. In the eyes of his girlfriend Mélanie (Julianne Côté), they remain Jean-Philippe, while they are Lou for their colleagues and the patients of the clinic where they work. Except for the Dr Gagné (Stéphane Crête), who likes to misgender him.
“We were also going to flashback, adds the screenwriter. It’s hard to ask a non-binary person to play the transition backwards. The steps were taken, but at the auditions, those who surrendered to me were not non-binary. The fact that Mikhail approached this role with such openness and accuracy opens a door. The feedback I get about him is positive. Mikhaïl put his sensitivity at the service of Lou and we are all winners. And he also wins! »
Having made himself known to the general public thanks to his role as Lucas, a teenager at the beginning of his transition who continued his pregnancy in All the life (on Tou.tv), Lé Aubin, who defines himself as a transmasculine non-binary person, is sorry for certain distribution choices.
“All of a sudden, we have a non-binary character, but once again, it’s a cis man who plays him, expresses Lé Aubin. Again, you have to go through a cis man to get some business done. There are plenty of trans and non-binary people trained in acting, in dance, but we don’t know them. In the casting, we want to select people who have visibility and experience. As long as you write a non-binary character in a series where no one on set and in the crew is non-binary, why not take this opportunity to introduce a non-binary artist? In this way, we avoid falling into clichés, ”believes the actor, who finds that the theater is more advanced on the subject.
“Being from the LGBTQ+ community, confides Marie-Andrée Labbé, I aspire to see more and more people of various sexual orientations and gender identities on TV to play binary, non-binary, cisgender, transgender. For me, for now, it’s important that the actors can play everything. In the conversations we have cast, the file is progressing. »
Complex identity
The representation of non-binarity in Quebec series being more recent than in American series, Stéfany Boisvert points out that this has an impact on the issues experienced by non-binary characters.
“In the United States, these characters are part of the story, but the story about them isn’t just going to be about their gender identity. They are integrated into the narrative in such a way as to show that their non-binarity is not in itself their identity; they are much more complex beings than that. In Quebec, we focus the story on the issues and relationship problems that the character experiences because of his non-binarity. The story is very much centered on this famous coming out. »
“If you look at the history of trans representativeness, I say trans in a broad way, because non-binarity is part of transidentity, there has always been a little negative connotation. Often the narrative revolved around accepting that person, and therefore the negative backlash around them, the microaggressions. It would be so nice to have non-binary or trans-positive characters whose story isn’t focused on their identity and played by non-binary or trans people. We are really taking the first steps, so let’s put the odds on our side, ”suggests Lé Aubin.
For her part, Marie-Andrée Labbé hopes that one day we will drop labels: “Lou has a story; we are going to detach ourselves from gender identity, because it should not be used only for that. In the long run, we will no longer need to name. In a scene from Without an appointment, there is a group of polyamorous within which there is a non-binary person whose sex assigned at birth is unknown and it is not named. I thought it was perfect like that. One should get used to stopping asking questions about identity and orientation. Soon we won’t be interested anymore. For the moment, we still have to clarify a few matters. »
Although Quebec television wants to be more and more inclusive, Stéfany Boisvert notes that not all battles are won. “We have to shake up the hierarchy of characters presented on television, heteronormativity and cisnormativity. The ethnocultural identity of non-binary characters should be diversified. From an intersectional point of view, there is still something blocking. For many TV creators, either we represent cultural diversity or sexual diversity, as if we could not represent both at the same time, ”concludes the professor.