Skyler, the trans man from episode 5 of the latest season of Queer Eye, ‘Sky’s The Limit’, took to the Instagram comments section to share his feelings about the episode and how it’s been received by the LGBTQ community.
The episode has been criticised for being gratuitous, because it shows video footage of Skyler’s top surgery, with one Instagram commenter describing it as “transition porn for the masses”.
It’s also been criticised for its ‘Trans 101’ approach, particularly the scene where Tan, who admits that he’s never met an openly trans person before, sits down with Skyler and asks him about his experience and journey as a trans man.
While there’s been a lot of discussion of this episode, and more than a few hot takes published about it, nobody’s actually asked Skyler for his thoughts on how the episode portrayed him and his Queer Eye experience.
Luckily, I stumbled upon Skyler responding to some of these criticisms in the comments of an official Queer Eye Instagram photo. Responding to a commenter who described the episode as ‘transition porn’, Skyler wrote:
“I opened my world and my experiences to them so that our community would hopefully be more understood and also more visible. I think my episode accomplished both.”
As for the way the episode was edited, Skyler said:
“My ONLY problem with the show (now having lived it and watched it). Is how much the audience misses out on. I actually spent HOURS talking to tan on that couch, we dove deep into the Trans experience. And I did that same with the other guys as well. And they all soaked it up and have been great megaphones since. I’m very proud of them.”
The majority of criticisms I’ve seen are from people who are very involved in the LGBTQ community, so it makes sense that something that takes an introductory approach to trans issues would seem basic and oversimplified to them.
But Queer Eye has a much wider audience than the already-sympathetic LGBTQ community – the purpose of the original series was to normalise being gay, and it was celebrated for doing so in a time when even same-sex marriage seemed like a pipe dream.
Ultimately, the episode was about transforming and improving things for Skyler, and his comments suggest he feels the Fab 5 were successful in doing so. It sounds like filming the episode was a learning experience for the Queer Eye guys, and hopefully watching it will be one for viewers out there who, like Tan, have never met a trans person before.