By Garth Bardsley
From the moment 24-year-old Katelynn of West Palm Beach, Florida, walks into the expansive waterfront loft in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, pushing her long bangs off her face and hugging her new roommates, she takes on the responsibility of being one of the few transgender people to be represented on broadcast television — and makes "Real World" history.
"The Real World: Brooklyn," the 21st edition of the show that brought you Pedro Zamora and Irene McGee, threw very few curveballs in its season premiere Wednesday night: There are eight roommates instead of seven, and the producers seemed to decide to eliminate the role of the ditz this go-around. But with the casting of Katelynn, a male-to-female transgender person who had sexual reassignment surgery just a few months before taping began, the show obviously hopes to add a few sparks.
While a few transgender people have begun popping up on television, most recently Isis King from the 11th season of "America's Next Top Model," most people still don't necessarily know what it means to be transgender. Katelynn obviously hopes to change that.
But by the end of the first episode, she had opened up about her gender identity to only one of her roommates, though the others, most notably Iraq war veteran Ryan, were definitely suspicious. Now that we've all had a chance to meet the chosen eight in Brooklyn, MTV News decided to reach out to a few members of the transgender community to see how well they think Katelynn represents.
"I made it to 10:49 p.m. before I turned off the TV," said Murray Hill, a New York-based drag king comedian. "Hearing Ryan refer to Katelynn as 'it' was the last straw — 2009 is about change, not the same old crap.
"I had hope at the opening credits with the positive portrayal of Katelynn living a normal life," he continued. "But the show quickly reverted back to tired stereotypes and cheap reality show formulas and setups."
Kevin, a 28-year-old transgender living in Philadelphia, said that he considered Katelynn to be "pretty classy" about the whole thing, though he objected to her discussion of polyamorous relationships, in which she mentions having sex with as many as five people at a time. "People like the Army kid are going to spend the rest of their lives saying things like, 'Transgenders are freaks, they have fivesomes.' "
"I applaud the fact that she didn't just open up about it immediately to the rest of the cast," said Jenn, a 28-year-old pre-operative transsexual living in Maryland. "I don't think it's their business, and since she is post-operative, she just wants to blend in. All I do is try to blend in. Nobody that isn't close to me knows my secret."
"On first impression," said Jazmine Perez, a 29-year-old transgender from Brooklyn, "I enjoyed the fact that she breaks the stereotype of what or who a transgender person is. I am glad the producers chose someone that young transgender girls and boys can look up to for being so courageous. I felt for Katelynn and understood her, because I could see her go through those emotions you get when you meet someone you don't know: the anxiety, the guilt, the fear and, for some reason, shame."
A staple of the past few "Real World" seasons has been the open bathroom, and the Brooklyn loft promises more of the same. In the first episode, Chet, the Mormon from Salt Lake City who says he may be metrosexual, has an entire conversation about Katelynn while in the shower. Having to bathe in such a revealing place can be particularly sensitive if you're transgender.
"I am glad that she is post-op, because I wonder how her roommates would react to her showering in the exposed shower stalls," Perez said. "What if she were pre-op? How much would that change things?"
It's not surprising that the people we talked to said they hoped for the day when a person being transgender isn't the focal point of their life and isn't the first thing that everyone cares about.
"I get the need for visibility," Kevin said. "I mean, I genuinely get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of having to be treated in an emergency room for some sort of trauma. This fear was instilled in me. So, of course, part of me thinks Katelynn being on the show is rad."
"Some day I hope transgender people will be portrayed like everyone else and not be judged because of their sexuality," Hill said. "Once again, it's the transgender person who is dissected, isolated, mocked, referred to as an 'it' and has to teach everyone else about tolerance.
"I'd rather watch 'The Golden Girls' — that's more realistic than 'Real World Brooklyn,' " he added.
Lucky for MTV, Hill isn't harsh on all of the channel's properties. "I tell you what," the comedian said. "I am hooked on 'The City'!"