'9-1-1 LONE STAR' ACTOR QUICKLY BECOMES ICON FOR THE TRANS COMMUNITY

Ryan Murphy has been at the forefront of queer representation on television for the past few years. Pose. American Horror Story. Glee. Currently 9-1-1 Lone Star has shattered stereotypes of how transgender people are viewed. Carrying that flag on his sturdy shoulders for his community is Brian Michael Smith. The 40-year-old actor plays Paul Strickland on the hit Fox television series.

 

Smith has always used his celebrity for the greater good, just this week alone presenting Michaela Jaé Rodriguez with the 2023 Equality Award at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Los Angeles dinner. He also discussed making the decision to transition as a young adult and embracing his identity during Dotdash Meredith’s From Invisibility to Trans Visibility Week panel, which was moderated by writer and actor Scott Turner Schofield. The discussion also featured ACLU Deputy Director for Transgender Justice Chase Strangio, Olympian Chris Mosier and actor Vico Ortiz. (People magazine.)

 

The actor, who was also in Queen Sugar discussed in his own words how he felt when he realized he wasn’t alone in the world.

 

“I spent my 20s doing what everybody does in their 20s but I just took a different journey with mine and by the time I was able to actually access the care, I had discovered that there are other people like me. When I was 19, I was in college in the middle of Ohio, and I didn’t know what I was going to do about that I just felt so good to know that I wasn’t the only person, that, historically, there were other people, that there were standards of care that have already been established. There was a process. There were clinics, there were places to go. And there were actually other people to meet, who were further down the road than I was.”

 

*on starting hormone therapy

 

“I was able to see myself expressed on the outside physically in a way and really be inside my body for the first time and be visibly seen and taken into the world as myself for the first time. I really just wanted to enjoy that. I am myself and the person that I’ve seen in my mind’s eye for so long is looking back at me in the mirror, is out on the streets.”

 

*on publicly coming out as transgender after his career was established

 

*on the current hatred towards the Transgender community from Republican lawmakers

 

“I feel like that’s something I have a really hard time navigating. We have these sort of arguments and these debates where people are trying to tell me about something, and I’m like, ‘I’m the one living the experience. I’m here, I’m telling you, I’m a trans person. You’re not, that’s okay. You don’t have to be trans. I am. Let me live.'”

 

*on living an authentic life

 

“I could be out and then take the sort of crumbs of bad trans representation that was available. Or I could just define who I am as a person and as what I want to explore now. And then, when the moment comes, I can share this part of myself. Around, 2015 or 2016, I was like no, I distinctly want to take ownership of this full part of my identity.”

 

“We’re trans people. We’ve been trans the whole time. So I never was a woman who became a man. I was me the whole time. You know, you just thought I was but we are who we are. And just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean that we’re not real.”

9-1-1 Lone Star airs Tuesday nights on Fox.

 

SOURCE: INSTINCT MAG

🏳️‍⚧️ BRIAN MICHAEL SMITH IS ONE OF PEOPLE’S SEXIEST MEN ALIVE AGAIN 🙌🏽

It’s his second year on the list in a row!

For the second year in a row, 9-1-1: Lone Star hottie Brian Michael Smith has been included in People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive issue. This time, Smith is featured as a part of People’s list of 10 of the Sexiest Firefighters on TV Now.

The article, which features actors from both 9-1-1 shows, Chicago Fire, and Station 19, also celebrates real-life firefighters.

“Physically what it takes to actually do the job of a firefighter, you have to be in pretty good shape,” Smith told People about what he’s learned about the real-life occupation under a pic of him flexing his giant arm while shirtless putting on a helmet. “Even if you're not necessarily aesthetically in the greatest shape, physically you have to be able to do the job. And we found out as we were training for it, it really is demanding to do that.”

“I’m floored,” Smith wrote about his inclusion on Instagram.

“This level of recognition and visibility as a Trans man is so important to me because again there is a concerted effort across this country and around the globe to legislate Trans and non-binary people out of existence,” he said. “But we are here, we are real and we aren’t going anywhere.”

“My hope is that my visibility can encourage and empower others who want to be their full selves but are afraid or can’t see a future for themselves, to take a step towards being who they are,” he continued.

“It’s possible! Do you, find your tribe, keep fighting and help others,” Smith concluded.

Last year, Smith became the first out trans man to be included in People’s annual issue focusing on the Sexiest Men Alive.

“Well howdy, partner,” People wrote about Smith at the time. “The 9-1-1: Lone Star star was one of People's Ones to Watch in 2021 and we will definitely not have a hard time keeping an eye on him!”

We’ll certainly never get tired of seeing Smith on this list! Let’s make it three years in a row!

Our only question is, where are Rafael Silva and Ronen Rubinstein on this hottest firefighter list???

SOURCE: OUT DOT COM

🏳️‍⚧️ TRANS ACTOR BRIAN MICHEAL SMITH IS AMONG PEOPLE'S SEXIEST ALIVE ⚧

It was a celebratory, historic moment for transgender men and Paul Rudd fans alike last Thursday, when actor Brian Michael Smith became the first transgender man featured in People’s annual ‘Sexiest Men Alive’ issue. With success on the hit show 9-1-1 Lone Star, Smith plays a popular character — firefighter Paul Strickland. He originated the role in 2020, but even then he was no television rookie.  His past TV appearances include Girls, Homeland, and The L Word: Generation Q.

On the L Word, Smith portrayed political strategist Pierce Williams. He broke ground for his performance on that show, becoming the first out trans male actor in a recurring network TV role.

As for this newest accolade from People, Smith took it in stride, stating he was incredibly honored. He celebrated with an Instagram post, writing, “I’ve been called many things,” but “this is a first.” 

The timing couldn’t be more perfect as this week marks Trans Awareness Week. The entertainment industry more commonly celebrates trans female performers, however trans men don’t often receive that same visibility in media. That is what  makes Smith’s recognition all the more important. Hopefully it signifies more to come.

Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s associate director of Transgender Representation, shared with Yahoolife the significance of People inclusion of Smith in the iconic issue,

“Trans men should be recognized alongside other men, and People’s Sexiest Man Alive issue is sending a powerful and inclusive message by including the very worthy Brian Michael Smith this year. While trans men still remain largely underrepresented in media, especially Black trans men, Smith continues to use his personal and professional platforms to drive visibility and expand representation for other trans men to see greater possibilities for their lives.”

Instinct Magazine congratulates Brian Michael Smith on his continued success in Hollywood and for being a shining example of the power we all can claim when we live authentically in our truths. 

SOURCE: INSTINCT MAG

HOW TRANS ACTOR BRIAN MICHAEL SMITH SHAPED HIS HISTORIC TV CHARACTER

The history of trans representation in Hollywood is bumpy, to say the least. While we can now celebrate shows like Pose on FX and the recent hit series Veneno on HBO Max — an entire series based on the life of the Spanish trans icon Cristina “La Veneno” Ortiz Rodríguez — there are just as many examples that feature inauthentic, even dangerous depictions of trans people (see the recent documentary Disclosure for more examples).

Still, with this new blossoming of trans lives on-screen, the vast majority of those depictions are of trans women. In 1999, Brandon Teena, a real-life trans man who became the victim of a brutal murder, was portrayed in Boys Don’t Cry by Hilary Swank, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Television has featured some trans male supporting characters since then, but nothing that's reached mainstream audiences to the degree that Boys Don’t Cry did.

“Most of the representation that I had seen were women who decided to cross-dress as a male for some sort of game. So it was this woman’s empowerment story in trans male packaging,” says Brian Michael Smith, one of the stars of the TV series 9-1-1: Lone Star, now in its second season on Fox. Movies like She’s the Man, the 2006 romantic comedy that starred Amanda Bynes pretending to be a boy to join the soccer team at school, became the closest thing that trans men had to point to that represented their experience in the smallest way. On the LGBTQ&A podcast, Smith says, “At the end of the day, once her love life was on the line, or once she got what she needed, or she proved that she can do anything, she takes all the male stuff off and becomes a woman again. So there was this whole belief almost that trans men don’t exist and it was always a woman in disguise.”

For all the misses and mistakes Hollywood’s made over the years, relying on clichés and transition-focused storylines, they now seem to be listening. In 9-1-1: Lone Star, audiences can see Smith play a fireman who is also trans. Not only is Smith, who appeared on the first season of The L Word: Generation Q, the first out Black trans man in a series regular role on television, but that role is a hero, a character that defies easy stereotypes. The character’s gender is acknowledged and is a part of the story without it being made to be his only interesting or defining aspect.

“That’s something I really like about Lone Star, is that they allow my character to just be who he is, while also at other times exploring his trans experience and giving room for that as well,” Smith says. The storylines and dialogue that involve his character’s trans identity should be held up as the gold standard on television, and it’s something that Smith’s had a hand in.

In the first episode, during a locker room scene with Smith and Rob Lowe, it’s revealed how seriously Lowe’s cisgender, heterosexual character takes his skin care, while Smith’s character is clueless. The way it was originally written, Smith was supposed to explain that his acne was the result of medication and hormones. But he pushed back on that.

“I’m like, in no world would a trans man in a new environment, who is coming from an environment where he was experiencing discrimination and animosity for being different, would he be that open and forthcoming with someone that he does not really know. And it’s an open locker room. There’s other people walking around,” he says. “We are introducing this character and his experiences to Middle America to understand. There’s ways to do it that make more sense for the character and for the experience, and it’s just more authentic.”

The writers listened and the dialogue was changed.

“It’s just been a beautiful, beautiful year in terms of transmasculine representation, and I see where that trajectory is going,” Smith says. “I think it’s going to continue to move in this direction.”

Listen to the full interview with Brian Michael Smith on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

9-1-1: Lone Star airs Fridays on FOX. 

LGBTQ&A is The Advocate's weekly interview podcast hosted by Jeffrey Masters. Past guests include Alok Vaid-Menon, Pete Buttigieg, Laverne Cox, Cleve Jones, and Roxane Gay. Episodes come out every Tuesday.

SOURCE: ADVOCATE