Ramsay Street is about to get more diverse as it has been announced that Neighbours will be introducing a new transgender character.
And playing this new character is none other than transgender youth rights advocate and up-and-coming actress Georgie Stone.
Exciting news! Actress and advocate for gender diverse youth @georgiestone16, is heading to Ramsay Street to play Neighbours' first transgender character.
The 18-year-old originally approached the show’s producers and impressed them in her audition. #neighbours pic.twitter.com/EiqKPeMXmu
— Neighbours (@neighbours) March 23, 2019
This is huge diversity win for Neighbours as Georgie Stone’s character will be the first ever transgender person to be introduced in the long-running soap opera, which has been going on for a mindboggling 34 years.
After being named Victoria’s Young Australian of the Year in 2018 for her work as a transgender youth rights advocate, Georgie saw an opportunity to promote a positive message on the show (via The Herald Sun).
“There was no one on Australian TV screens, on any TV screens really, that had a positive depiction of a trans person, specifically a trans young person.
“There was no one who I could connect to and I felt quite isolated because of that, so that is why I am so excited about this opportunity.”
For those who are unaware of Georgie’s story, she is the youngest person in Australia to receive hormone blockers and helped set a precedent that eventually changed the law so that transgender children and their parents no longer needed to go through the Family Court to have access to stage one hormone treatment.
Georgie originally had the idea to introduce a transgender character to Neighbours and contacted the show’s executive producer, Jason Herbison, with her pitch.
Out of the blue pitches to TV shows normally fall through the grapevine (because it’s TV) but Georgie received a response to meet after just two hours.
With her Neighbours role, George is hoping she can help educate others on diversity while also connecting with other transgender youths in Australia an
“Yes, it is breaking new ground, it is a great story, and people will really like it, but I really hope that there will be some trans young people out there who have felt isolated before and then see this character and feel that they are not alone, or that they feel OK to be who they are, and that this story can teach other people how to treat trans young people.”
Not enough good things can be said about Neighbours‘ decision to do this as it represents a big step forward in equality. The show still garners a big audience and having Georgie play a transgender character not only helps represent the trans community in a positive light to many people, it also helps normalise the perception that transgender are just like everyone else.
As for when we’ll see Georgie on our TV screens, it’s reported she’ll start filming her role in June and will be introduced to Neighbours towards the end of the year.