The portrayal of transgender female characters on mainstream television has been offensive, abusive, and derogatory. A GLADD article titled “Victims or Villains: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television,” examines 102 episodes and storylines from mainstream television that have contained transgender characters since 2002. Of these, more than half were characterized as containing negative portrayals of transgender. In 2007, only 1% of television series had a recurring transgender character, a figure that slowly increased to 4% in 2013. Negative portrayal of transgender television characters Many television programs have transgender characters portrayed in an offensive manner, which clearly demonstrates a widespread problem. Transgender characters are depicted as “victims,” portrayed as murderers, and work as prostitutes. The first thing media writers think of when using a transgender character is prostitution. That's the immediate preconception because in reality sometimes the only job a trans person can get is in sex work. As we saw in Screaming Queens, the transgender community has been forced into prostitution among many other degrading consequences of being trans. This idea has stuck and is more likely to be represented in the media when it comes to assigning roles to transgender characters. There are many shows that contain anti-transgender jargon and negative categorizations. Some examples of some cruel portrayals include: Rebecca Romijn played the first recurring trans character on Ugly Betty in 2007 on ABC. She was a scheming, lying and devious woman. She went from “behind-the-scenes villain to the more complicated role of ruthless magazine editor” (Kane, 2013). Even if this role was a first moment of prime time… middle of paper… terrible)” (Valenti, 176). I hope that the representation of transgender people and characters on television can evolve even further and represent the transgender community in an inspiring and positive light. Works Cited Kane, Matt. “Transgender characters who changed cinema and television”. EntertainmentMedia at GLAAD. November 12, 2013. Web. March 9, 2014. Kane, Matt. “Victims or Villains: A Ten-Year Examination of Transgender Images on Television.” HAPPY. Np, November 21, 2012. Web. March 8, 2014. Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria. Director Susan Stryker. 2005.Documentary.Serano, Julia. Whipping Girl: A transsexual woman on sexism and the scapegoating of femininity. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2007. Print.Valenti, Jessica. He's a stud, she's a slut and 49 other double standards every woman should know. Berkeley, CA: Seal, 2008. Print.