The first time I ever saw anything about the transgender community was this episode of The Jeffersons.
The main character, George Jefferson, is going to meet his old navy buddy. Little does he know that his friend has had a sex change operation. George acts predictably uncomfortable but finds that he must rely on his friend because Louise, George's wife, believes that he is having an affair.
I personally thought that this episode was well ahead of its time on so many regards. A transgendered woman did not play George's friend but I still loved her performance. While she was definitely wanting to keep George's friendship, she did not take any disrespect.
If there is anything that can be seen as offensive in this episode, it would have to be the sequence where George tries to pass off a male employee as his friend. However, I don't think the sequence was making fun of the transgender community, but people's ignorance of them.
Anyway, I loved the episode, especially the ending. There was one thing I noticed about the character of Louise Jefferson that I particularly liked. See if you can guess what it is.
