CBS soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" revealed in Wednesday’s episode that character Maya Avant, played by Karla Mosley, is transgender.
Mosley was told that her character had a secret but was surprised to learn what it was.
"My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that's truthful and not sensational,"
Mosley said, according to USA Today. "My second reaction was, 'Thank you.' It's a gift. It's a privilege. It's a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world."
The plot twist was revealed when Maya’s sister confronted her with her birth certificate, revealing that she was born Myron.
Executive producer Bradley Bell said the story is about tolerance.
“It is about people respecting other people’s differences and their uniqueness. In the end, we all want to be loved and in order to love someone else you first have to love yourself. If you are transgender, gay, straight, it doesn’t matter. It’s about finding love in life. This is a love story,” Bell said in a statement.
Angelica McDaniel, CBS Entertainment’s senior vice president of daytime, said daytime TV has a history of tackling important social issues.
“The producers have developed a beautiful story here, and are committed to telling it in a way that is responsible, truthful and authentic,”
she said, according to The Wrap.
Mosley tweeted about the story.
Twitter users commented about the plot twist.
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