LGBSteve Review
After a two month hiatus American Dad returned with LGBSteve, an episode that attempted to tackle the ever relevant ‘Transgender Issue’. The episode begins strong with Hayley desiring to befriend likeminded women by joining a roller derby team, but they will only allow her to join if she gets her ‘sister’ Steve to play.
After some persuasion Steve agrees to join the team in order to touch women. This kind of storyline is nothing new for American Dad, however as the episode progressed it became clear that the writers were pushing for something a little more ambitious than a typical episode. After being outed by his sister, Steve begins to suspect that his is a transgender woman. This revelation not only made sense in the context of the episode, as Steve behaved like a confident and well adjusted person as ‘Stevie’, it also made sense in the context of the series, making the character’s unusual mannerisms and attitudes suddenly understandable.
While watching this episode I began to feel a great sense of pride. I was proud of the writers and TBS for creating an episode that so accurately portrayed a transgendered individual coming to terms with their true identify in a positive and insightful way, along with some genuinely good advice for people who may be dealing with a similar issue. As the episode progressed I became hopeful for the future and increasingly excited to see what plotlines this revelation could lead to. How would Steve’s conservative parents react? How would he tell his friends? How would his relationships evolve? I was so excited to see these episodes answered.
Unfortunately, as it seems, none of these questions will be answered, because instead of trying to do something difficult and meaningful, the writers chickened out and decided, out of nowhere, that Steve’s gender crisis was meaningless. How an intelligent person would think that such a conclusion is appropriate is truly beyond me. American Dad had the chance to be groundbreaking, to truly push the boundaries of what’s acceptable and to change minds in this horrible struggle against transphobia, and they chose to play it safe. I finished watching this episode with a pit of disappointment in my chest and a feeling of immense sadness as American Dad, and by extension TBS, essentially told the audience that it’s not okay for one of their main characters to be transgender. I’m truly disappointed in them.
