In a recent episode of “Modern Family,” two children, a boy and a girl, play a round of broom hockey in a living room. In those 12 seconds, the first openly transgender child appeared as a transgender character in a mainstream sitcom.
The performance of Jackson Millarker, 8, is part of a new era in television, signified by a small but growing number of transgender characters. It is inspiring talent agents, writers, producers and parents to gingerly explore a frontier within a frontier as they bring young actors into the fold.
Jackson’s character, Tom, is not the only one to make headlines this season. In the third season of “Transparent” on Amazon, Sophia Grace Gianna played a young version of the lead character, a transgender woman named Maura Pfeffermann.