Judith Light On Her 'Transparent' Role And What She's Learned From The Transgender Community

Judith Light dropped by HuffPost Live to talk about her new role on the highly-anticipated new Amazon series, "Transparent."

Light hopes that the comedy-drama, which centers on a Los Angeles family and their lives after they discover that their father (played by Jeffrey Tambor) identifies as transgender, will have "universal" appeal.

"It may not be that you have a parent who is [transgender], but you have something else," Light, a two-time Tony Award winner, said. "It's got a lot of heart and it's brilliantly written."

Light, 65, has been a longtime advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, as evidenced by her involvement with the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the Point Foundation, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and other organizations.

She now says she was inspired to get involved after witnessing the "resilience" of the LGBT community during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

"That community became the phoenix that rose from the ashes," she recalled. "You had a community that was caring for its own when nobody else was doing anything for them and, at the same time, vilifying them."

She went on to note, "The gay community, I think, has taught us so many things about sexuality, and now I think it is the transgender community that is teaching us about gender fluidity."