A properly researched, rounded tranny character... In Hollyoaks??

So I'm doing the washing up with the Simpsons on in the background, which ends and then Hollyoaks comes on. I never watch Hollyoaks. I'm not saying it's crap, it's just not aimed at my age group, but my hands were too soapy to change the channel so I kept it on.

And... there's a tranny in it! Why did no one tell me!?

And what's more, the writer's have actually done their research, judging from the episode I saw. The character, Kris Fisher, has been beaten up for dressing. He talked about keep a stash of clothes when he was young, being discovered by his parents, and not wanting to be a woman, just wanting to wear the clothes. Channel four have even gone to the effort of promoting a link to an article on cross dressing at the end of the program.

Okay, it's not going to be perfect, and I bet there are trannies on forums right now berating Channel 4 for getting it horribly wrong. But I'm very impressed indeed.

From what I've seen it's not being sensationalised, and the character isn't "just" a tranny. He's not effeminate, they've even given him a Northern Irish accent* (officially the most manly accent in the UK). More importantly he's not being presented as a pervert. But perhaps most importantly of all: he's a young man, on a program that's watched by young people.

That's really to be applauded, I can safely say that I never saw anything like that in my teens or twenties, when I really could have used it.

I've long hoped that someday a mainstream British soap would tackle transvestism in this way, I must admit I didn't expect it to be Hollyoaks!

*Makes you wonder what websites the writers studied. ;-)