The Trans Characters That Changed TV and Film

During this Transgender Awareness Week, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation looks back at some of the characters who have helped push the boundaries of acceptance in film and television.

BY Matt Kane of GLAAD

November 19 2012 1:30 PM ET

Tales of the City (1993)
Certainly one of popular culture’s most beloved transgender characters, the enigmatic landlady Mrs. Madrigal is in many ways the heart of author Armistead Maupin’s San Francisco-based book series, Tales of the City. Years after it was first published, Tales was adapted into several miniseries and movies on PBS and Showtime that featured Olympia Dukakis as the matriarch Madrigal.