When Ally becomes the attorney for Stephanie (played by openly gay actor and GLAAD board member Wilson Cruz), a transgender fashion designer who has turned to sex work to pay the bills, the lawyer finds herself offering an unorthodox defense for the solicitation rap: An insanity plea based on "transvestite fetishism."

While Ally makes it clear that she does not think that Stephanie is crazy, and that it is just a defense tactic, Stephanie expresses great reservations and eventually refuses the strategy, noting she left home to escape being called "sick."

Still, Ally calls upon psychological "experts" to diagnose Stephanie with "gender dysphoria," and one of them says that "He's [Stephanie] more like a woman, or thinks he's one," and calls Stephanie "confused."

After Ally makes a deal with the judge to postpone ruling for a year while Stephanie works at Ally's law office, Stephanie finds a largely accepting environment, though is still faced with a few insensitive remarks.

But Stephanie goes back to prostitution, and is murdered by, as a cop tells Ally, "A John [who] went crazy when he found out the Jane was a guy." Ally wonders why Stephanie would go back to the streets if she had a job, but applies Stephanie's last coat of lipstick as a way of trying to honor her in death.

Throughout the episode, confusion prevails among many characters-What pronouns should be used to address Stephanie? Is transsexuality a mental disorder? Does being comfortable with one's transgender identity make a person "not well?"

The only one who is not confused is Stephanie, who has a clear sense of who she is. If this were the only message, the episode would have been a strong exploration of trans identity. Unfortunately, there are many unresolved assumptions which left a bad taste in the mouth of many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their friends who viewed the program.

Without psychologists to counter the assertion that Stephanie is "confused," the viewer is left with the impression that she may have been mentally ill because of her gender role, even if she saw it otherwise. Also, the show fails to give a larger context to the reason Stephanie returns to the streets after getting the law office job.

If one knew nothing about transgender people beyond this show, it would be easy to think that the murder had been caused by Stephanie's hooking, without recognizing the real threats all transgender people--not just sex workers--face in a society that is frequently hostile and violent towards their very existence.

Please let Fox and David E. Kelley Production's know that their exploration of transgender themes is noteworthy-but that the character got lost in the show's "confusion" about how to address the larger issues of societal transphobia and reliance on the stereotypical media representation on transgender people as sad, desperate hookers.

… Brett King, Programming Director, Fox Broadcasting Company, PO Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900, fax: 310.369.1433, e-mail: askfox@foxinc.com;

… David E. Kelley, Executive Producer, Ally McBeal, David E. Kelley Productions, 10201 W. Pico Blvd., #80/26, LA, CA 90035, fax: 310.369.3037.