On Friday's episode of Fox's
musical-comedy Glee, Coach Shannon Beiste, who is played by
out actress Dot-Marie Jones, came out transgender.
In the third episode of the show's
final season, an emotional Coach Beiste comes out transgender to
assistant coach Sam (played by Chord Overstreet) and principal Sue
Sylvester (Jane Lynch).
Citing a letter from a psychologist,
Beiste tells Sam: “This letter is my first step into legally
transitioning from a woman to a man.” (The video is embedded on
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Jones discussed filming the powerful
storyline with gay glossy The
Advocate.
“My biggest thing is just being
respectful,” Jones said. “The last thing I want to do is
disrespect anybody in what I'm portraying, and to do it respectfully
and with class, and with dignity and pride, and I could not have been
prouder than I was that day [that we filmed those scenes].”
In 2013, Jones
married her wife during Disneyland's annual Gay Days.