FOX Network’s musical comedy-drama Glee tackled a sensitive subject in Friday night’s episode, as one of the show’s supporting character’s revealed she was suffering from “gender dysphoria” and would be undergoing gender reassignment surgery in order to become a man.
In the episode, Coach Beiste, as portrayed by Dot Jones, explained to a student and fellow school staff member her condition and describing it as a disorder in which, “your outsides don’t match how you feel you are on the inside.”
Student Sam Evans then queried, “So you’re like, a lesbian?”
Beiste revealed she would still be attracted to men, despite her plans to go under-the-knife, and said, “This isn’t about who I want to go to bed with – it’s who I want to go to bed as. I’ve always been attracted to men and they say that’s not gonna change.”
“You wanna be a gay man?” a confused Evans asked.
Head coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) then chimed in, “Wow, I really thought I’d heard of every conceivable version of a gay man coming out.”
The two accepted Coach Beiste, and Sylvester assured her she would still have her job if she made the decision to return to the school, post-surgery.
Jones spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about the new direction the show will be taking her character. “Like it or not, it’s real life. I think FOX is amazing for putting this on broadcast television,” she said.
We know it will make a difference. Look at all the things that all the kids on our show have gone through, everything that Chris Colfer and Kurt have gone through. Of any show on broadcast, it should be a FOX show because they are the risk-takers. I don’t even thinking [sic] taking a risk is the right word. It’s just real.
Watch: GLEE | Coach Beiste’s Revelation from “Jagged Little Tapestry”