"This show is changing lives and saving hopes — including mine," says Vanessa Clark, a trans woman from New Jersey. "I never thought I'd see the day when a show of its kind wasn't only mainstream and national, but that it would so truthfully reflect the trans experience as many of us see and live it."
"It's so humbling and touching that for the first time on TV, I'm seeing myself reflected back in its trans characters," Clark adds. "At last, my dating experiences are coming to life on a screen for so many people to see and learn from, and the characters are as vulnerable as I can be when it comes to my body image and self-esteem in this ever-so-judgmental and critical world."
Clark's evaluation reminds me of episode five, titled "Mother's Day." We see Blanca being forced to reconnect with her estranged family after the death of her mother. In one scene, Blanca tells her former house mother, the cunning and flamboyant Elektra, "It's not that I give a f*ck about what people think, but I do want to be seen and respected as a woman. That's who I see myself to be."
So many of us desire what Blanca was yearning for in that scene: wanting to be seen as who we are without restraint and to have the ability to live our truths out loud.
