GLAAD.org –
Ugly Betty Gets Gorgeous With ABC’s Second Transgender Character This Year
ABC’s family comedy Ugly Betty has taken a bold step forward by offering the only male-to-female transgender character on primetime television. ABC also introduced a transgender character on its daytime drama All My Children in early January.
Since Ugly Betty premiered, viewers have seen Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) plotting with a bandaged woman in a hospital to take over Mode, the Meade family’s fashion magazine. With the unveiling of the mystery woman, actress Rebecca Romijn (X-Men) joins Ugly Betty as Alexis.
Why the months of veiled secrecy? Alexis recently transitioned from Alex, Daniel Meade’s (Eric Mabius) believed-dead brother. After undergoing gender reassignment surgery, Alexis has teamed up with Wilhemina to exact revenge on her father.