Becoming Us

Spouse sometimes brings magazines home from his trainer visits.  As I flipped through OUT or Advocate (I can't remember which) I saw an ad for a TV show called "Becoming Us" on the ABC Family channel, with the tagline "Gender may bend but family never breaks"

 I made a mental note of the show's title so I could look for it on demand.

That night there was nothing good to watch on regular TV so I popped over to the on demand menu and found "Becoming Us".  I watched 2 episodes that night, and the remaining 3 episodes last night.

Its a documentary-style show about 16-year old Ben, his older sister Sutton, and his parents Suzy and Carly who are divorced.  Carly is a trans woman who used to be Charlie, Ben's dad.

By sheer coincidence, Ben has a 17-year old girlfriend Danielle whose father Dan is also transitioning.  Also in the show are Ben's best friend Ayton, his girlfriend Brook, and her brother Lathan.

This show isn't really about being a trans person.  It deals with typical family issues like Ben not applying himself in school and Sutton's engagement and upcoming wedding, but also includes the family members' varying reactions and relationships with the trans people in their family.  Its kind of like the way "Modern Family" isn't about a gay couple with a young daughter, although it includes them in a very integrated way.  This is a documentary-style show, not a scripted one, so things don't always work out in the end, but I find it very interesting to have a look into the lives of a family with a transgender parent.

If your cable provider offers ABC Family, you can watch the 5 episodes shown so far on demand or on your computer at their website.  New episodes air on Mon nights.  Let me know if you've seen this and what you think of it.