''Transamerican Love Story'' is an American

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

dating show Dating game shows are game shows that incorporates a variety of matchmaking systems and services in the form of a game with clear rules. Human matchmaking is involved only in selecting the game's contestants, who are usually selected more for the ...

in which suitors woo

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and som ...

Calpernia Addams Calpernia Sarah Addams (born February 20, 1971) is an American actress, musician, spokesperson and activist for transgender rights and issues. Early life Addams grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. She served as a Hospital Corpsman with the Navy. D ...

. Addams chooses a suitor by process of elimination. When the show first aired, viewers could vote their preferences online, but it was Addams who chose whom to eliminate. Calpernia is accompanied by her friend Andrea James; each episode is hosted by comedian

Alec Mapa Alejandro "Alec" Mapa (; born July 10, 1965) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He got his first professional break when he was cast to replace B. D. Wong for the role of Song Liling in the Broadway production of ''M. Butterfly''. He gaine ...

. ''Transamerican Love Story'' is the first reality dating show in the United States in which contestants compete for the attention and approval of a transgender woman. Logo TV, a

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

cable channel Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

with

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

content, announced the series in November 2007, and premiered the first episode the following February. The series finale aired on March 31, 2008. Zack Rosen of the ''

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the ''Philadelphi ...

'' praised the series, describing it as "refreshing for its lack of sensationalism".

Heather Havrilesky Heather Havrilesky (born April 1970)is an American author, essayist, and humorist. She writes the advice column "Ask Polly" for ''Substack''. She is the author of ''Disaster Preparedness: A Memoir'', the advice book ''How to Be a Person in the Wor ...

of ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

'' agreed, and admired Calpernia's composure in the reality show environment. In 2009, ''Transamerican Love Story'' won a GLAAD Media Award in the "Outstanding Reality Program" category, tying with ''

I Want to Work for Diddy ''I Want to Work for Diddy'' is a VH1 reality show which features contestants competing for a job working for Sean Combs (a.k.a. Diddy). The first season of the show tied for the Outstanding Reality Program at the 20th GLAAD Media Awards. The fir ...

''. MTV Networks published the complete series on DVD in 2008. The series is also distributed on Amazon Video, and was previously distributed through

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

, and LOGOonline.

Overview

The show employs the competition-dating format established by '' The Bachelor'' (2002), a long-running series with numerous spin-offs and imitators. The bachelors in ''Transamerican Love Story'' are men who are "open to dating a trans woman". They lodge together in a mansion while Calpernia stays in a separate cottage on the estate. The contestants compete in group challenges, and the winners are granted time with Calpernia. Before deciding which contestant to eliminate in the evening's ceremony, Calpernia confers with her friends Andrea James and (show host) Alec Mapa. James and Mapa have occasion to chat with the bachelors, and they share some of their insights with Calpernia. Viewers also vote their preferences online, but it is Calpernia who chooses whom to eliminate. In the elimination ceremony, Calpernia feeds a chocolate to those suitors whom she invites to stay. In the final episode, when only three suitors remain, they are given makeovers before Calpernia meets with them individually to tell each man whether it is him she has chosen. Most of ''Transamerican Love Story'' was filmed in the

Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Portions of episode six were filmed in the

Western US The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

cities of

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

and

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

The suitors

Eight men compete in the show. They range in age from 24 to 47.

Call-out order

Contestants are arranged in the order in which Calpernia calls their names during the elimination ceremony. In episode five, no competition winner is declared. In episode six, each of the three remaining men gets a date with Calpernia. Episode seven is a

clip show A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicte ...

, and has no elimination ceremony. In episode eight, Calpernia turns down two of the three remaining suitors before declaring the remaining man the winner. : The contestant won the competition. : The contestant won a date with Calpernia. : The contestant won a date with Calpernia, but was eliminated. : The contestant was eliminated. : The contestant was to be eliminated, but Calpernia let him stay.

Episodes

Production

''Transamerican Love Story'' was one of three new

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

shows that Logo premiered in 2008, accompanied by '' Gimme Sugar'' and '' Shirts & Skins''. It was produced by

World of Wonder Productions World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Portsmouth-born Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productio ...

with the assistance of Oh Really! Productions, a company that had recently begun producing ''

The Big Gay Sketch Show ''The Big Gay Sketch Show'' is an LGBT-themed sketch comedy program that debuted on Logo on April 24, 2007. The series is produced by Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actr ...

'' for Logo. After World of Wonder developed the concept for ''Transamerican Love Story'', Logo called Calpernia Addams in the summer of 2007 to offer her the starring role, which she accepted. Addams is an actress, musician, writer, and activist from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. She was 36 years old when the show was filmed. Her friend, transgender activist Andrea James, co-stars in the series, and was a consulting producer. In a 2013 interview, James explains that she saw an opportunity for

social progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...

in a program that accurately represented men who are attracted to

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. Typically, she says, in US media trans-attracted men are stigmatized and shamed, and that can make them hate themselves—and "lead to unhealthy and even dangerous situations for trans women." "No one knows how hard it is for us to date!" Addams adds. Both Addams and James hoped the show would also undermine the media

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

of trans women as "tragic and serious". ''Transamerican Love Story'' was not World of Wonder's first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

program. Their documentary series ''

TransGeneration ''TransGeneration'' is a US documentary-style reality television series that affords a view into the lives of four transgender college students during the 2004–2005 academic year. Two of the students are trans women, and two are trans men ...

'' (2005) won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary in 2006, and ''

Sex Change Hospital ''Sex Change Hospital'' is an American documentary-style reality television series about 12 transgender people who have sex reassignment surgery at the Mt. San Rafael Hospital in Trinidad, Colorado, under the care of OB/GYN Marci Bowers. The p ...

'' (2007) was a nominee for the same award in 2009. ''Transamerican Love Story'' contestant Jim Howley, who is himself transgender, appeared in the premiere episode of ''Sex Change Hospital''.

Response and epilogue

Zack Rosen of the ''

'' called the show "refreshing for its lack of sensationalism".

, in her review for ''

'', observed: "The show’s producers (thankfully) resist the urge to throw in big, manipulative

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

-style surprises. While some of the men get freaked out by each other, Calpernia is likable and accepting and takes the whole crazy assortment of characters in stride." "A reality dating show is… a very difficult circumstance in which to get to know someone", wrote Calpernia Addams, a few weeks after the finale aired. "I look dat it as… a fun romp… rather than a deadly serious path to matrimony." The following July, Calpernia reported that she and competition-winner Shawn "had some dinners and get-togethers, but… have not continued to date". A few days later, she told an interviewer: "The amazing thing that Logo did with this was they showed trans people dating as being so normal, like it really is. I think it’s going to open it up for trans women to feel worthy of love and for guys to not be afraid to date us." About two months after the final episode aired, Addams, Howley, Andrea James, and Alec Mapa all appeared together in the 2008 Los Angeles Pride parade. Later that summer, Jim Howley did a photo shoot with portrait photographer Eric Schwabel for a feature in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'' on the human body. Schwabel also photographed Addams the following February. On June 18, 2009, a few weeks after ''Transamerican Love Story'' won a

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

, Calpernia Addams and Andrea James debuted a short comedy film at the 33rd Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco. They had begun developing the film—called ''Transproofed''—more than a year prior. ''Transproofed'' is the story of a trans woman, Ava, who feels unready to tell the man she's been dating that she's transgender; but when Ava's friend Joyce pressures her into hiding any evidence in her apartment that she's trans (with a long career as a showgirl), Ava feels more and more uneasy. Addams and James wrote, directed, produced, and scored the film. Addams takes the role of Ava, and James plays the role of Joyce.

GLAAD Media Award

At the

20th GLAAD Media Awards The 20th GLAAD Media Awards took place in 2009. They are given out by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation each year to recognize and honor the mainstream media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community an ...

in May 2009, ''Transamerican Love Story'' tied with ''

'' for the GLAAD Media Award in the "Outstanding Reality Program" category. Calpernia Addams and Laverne Cox were at the awards ceremony in San Francisco to accept the honors for the respective shows. Also in attendance was ''Transamerican Love Story'' finalist Jim Howley. He reports that when ''Transamerican Love Story'' won, he impulsively ran past the security personnel and onto the stage. After Addams' acceptance speech, he approached the lectern, introduced himself, and said a few words about transgender progress. Howley was one of the subjects of ''Sex Change Hospital'', which was a nominee that year in the "Outstanding Documentary" category. He attended the awards ceremony with Clair Farley, a trans woman who was the subject of the 2007 documentary ''Red Without Blue''. The couple married in 2011. In 2016, two transgender-related series once again tied for GLAAD's "Outstanding Reality Program" award: '' I Am Cait'' (starring

Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a kne ...

) and ''

I Am Jazz ''I Am Jazz'' (announced as ''All That Jazz'') is an American reality television series on TLC (TV network), TLC about a transgender girl named Jazz Jennings. The series features Jazz and her family "dealing with typical teen drama through the ...

'' (starring

Jazz Jennings Jazz Jennings (born October 6, 2000) is an American YouTube personality, spokesmodel, television personality, and LGBT rights activist. Jennings is one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender. Jennings receive ...

). Chris McCarthy, general manager of Logo and

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

, told ''

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

'' in 2015 that without ''Transamerican Love Story'' and other portrayals of diverse trans issues, "there would be no ''I Am Cait''." Said World of Wonder co-founder Randy Barbato, "We always thought our subjects were ready for

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

. Not that many people agreed with us."

Video releases

MTV Networks published the complete series in a four-disc DVD set in 2008. It is distributed online through Amazon Video, and has also been distributed through

, and LOGOonline.

References

External links

* * * {{Logo TV 2008 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s LGBT-related reality television series Celebrity reality television series GLAAD Media Award-winning shows American dating and relationship reality television series English-language television shows Logo TV original programming Transgender-related television shows 2000s American LGBT-related television series