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My Transsexual Summer is a British documentary-style reality series about seven transgender people in different stages of transition. For five weekends in the summer of 2011, they stay together in a large holiday home in Bedfordshire, where they meet and help each other with some of the struggles that transgender people face. Between these weekend retreats, they go back to their lives and real-world challenges. In the early 2010s, Channel 4 resolved to improve the accuracy and depth of their representation of transgender people. My Transsexual Summer was the first transgender programme they created after making this resolution. Channel 4 broadcast the series in November 2011. It was rebroadcast in the UK on More4 in 2012, and on ABC2 in Australia in 2013. Also in 2013, two of the show's participants themselves started making documentary short films and videos about being transgender. Background In April 2010, non-profit organisation Trans Media Watch published a study called "How Transgender People Experience the Media", which found that there is "an endemic problem with negative and inaccurate representations [of transgender people in British media stories], and observed that this leads to considerable real-life suffering". The following September, the Westminster Media Forum hosted a keynote seminar on the representation of LGBT people in British mass media. Two speakers in particular addressed the subject of transgender representation: Stuart Cosgrove, Director of Creative Diversity at Channel 4; and Tim Davie, chairperson of the BBC Working Group on Portrayal and Inclusion of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Audiences. They noted a general absence of transgender people in British broadcasting, and reported that "transgender storylines… are frequently lacking in breadth and substance." In a later interview, Cosgrove added that there are "high levels of inaccuracy" in British media reports about transgender people. In an effort to improve this situation, Trans Media Watch drafted and published a memorandum of understanding for media companies: signatories of the memorandum agree to "work toward… increasing positive, well-informed representations of transgender people in the media." In March 2011, Channel 4 became the first company to sign the memorandum. "Our editorial independence always come first; but it is part of our remit to reflect the diversity of the UK", said Cosgrove. After signing, Channel 4 engaged journalist/activist Paris Lees of Trans Media Watch to be a production consultant for the show; Lees served as consultant for the duration of production. Production Channel 4 gave the programme the working title Girls Will Be Boys and Boys Will Be Girls. Mark Raphael, the commissioning editor for documentaries, contracted a British production company called Twenty Twenty Productions to make the series. Twenty Twenty was at the time a subsidiary of Shed Media. Former commissioning editor for documentaries Meredith Chambers served as executive producer for Channel 4, and Sam Whittaker was executive producer for Twenty Twenty. The series producer and director was Helen Richards. Filming began several weeks after the signing of the memorandum, and continued over a period of four months. My Transsexual Summer aired on Channel 4 in November 2011. Participants The participants in the programme are four trans women and three trans men from different parts of England. They range in age from 22 to 52; five of the participants are under 30. Drew-Ashlyn Cunningham Drew-Ashlyn, a 22-year-old trans woman from Wakefield, has been living as a woman for more than four years. Her family are supportive, but before the show she had never met another trans person—let alone trans people near her own age. Fox Fisher Fox (age 30) is a screen printing artist from Brighton. Since starting HRT six months ago, Fox is all-too aware that the hormones are slow to manifest visible changes. Karen Gale Karen, from Essex, worked for many years as a police officer, and later as a lorry driver. She divorced in 1985, and wants to be able to see her daughter again. At age 52, she is about to undergo vaginoplasty. Lewis Hancox Lewis (age 22) is from St Helens, Merseyside. Like Drew, he says he has never knowingly met another trans person before. He decided at age 18 to transition, and he has been living as a man for three years. Sarah Savage Sarah (age 29) is from Jersey. She has only recently begun presenting as a woman full-time; during the course of the show, she comes out to her mother. Donna Whitbread Donna is a 25-year-old from Norwich. She and Drew have both been on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for two years. Maxwell Zachs Max is a 25-year-old trans man from Tottenham. He is Reform Jewish, and hopes to become a rabbi. Max was living in New Zealand when he began preparing to undergo mastectomy. After seeking help locally, he had the procedure done in Thailand instead. Episodes Response Before the first episode aired, journalist Patrick Strudwick asked, "Channel 4, why call your new documentary My Transsexual Summer? It sounds like gender tourism, a fun little trip to the other side." Sarah Dean, an entertainment editor for The Huffington Post UK, called the title "sensationalist". Although Sarah Lake of Trans Media Watch found the title contentious, she defended it by pointing out that transition is a temporary process like coming of age; even so, she believed the title to be "only slightly better" than the "dire and totally inappropriate" working title, Girls Will Be Boys and Boys Will Be Girls. Her overall assessment was that "although the programme makers undeniably made some compromises to draw in viewers, millions will have enjoyed the company of these seven, shared in their lives and learned a lesson in diversity.… They will now have an entry point to broadening their understanding of the rich and joyful diversity of gender experience, something which has always existed but of which they were previously unaware." Politician and activist Zoe O'Connell described some of the wording in the narration as "cringeworthy", but felt that "it’s more than just a step in the right direction, it’s a programme that pretty accurately reflected how many trans people carry on with each other in private." Musician, activist, and writer CN Lester listed some ways in which the show perpetuated misconceptions or otherwise fell short, but still saw it as a turning point in the representation of transgender people on television: "It felt like a game changer. The overall feel of it—of hope, of warmth—that felt totally new to me. And hats off to the seven trans people... for putting that across." When the second episode aired, transgender journalist Juliet Jacques posted her thoughts to the New Statesman's politics blog, The Staggers: "At this point... the limited level of improvement in trans representation on TV shown by My Transsexual Summer is probably the best we can expect." She felt the major b.... Discover the Karen Drew popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Karen Drew books.