Yesterday CBS' daily drama The Bold and the Beautiful kicked off a new storyline with Maya Avant (Karla Mosley) disclosing to viewers that she is transgender. Maya's recent story has seen the arrival of her much younger sister Nicole who wants Maya's help to get started in the fashion industry. Nicole will do whatever she it takes to to make her dream come true, including threatening to reveal that Maya is transgender.
Maya first appeared on the series in January 2013 after coming to Los Angeles to pursue her dream to become a professional actress and singer. When she was convicted of a crime committed by her then-boyfriend, she gave her daughter up for adoption. Upon her release from prison, Maya learned that her daughter and the adoptive family were all killed in a car accident. During this time she met and fell in love with Rick Forrester (Jacob Young), head of Forrester Creations, a top fashion company. Rick not only fell in love with Maya, he made her the face of the Hope for the Future fashion line at the company. Rick and Maya are now the reigning power couple on the show, facing various attempts from jealous rivals to unseat them from Forrester Creations.
Maya has not yet disclosed to Rick that she transitioned many years ago, and the show has the opportunity to address why some transgender people are cautious about disclosing their transgender status to others.
"Scripted gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters have become more common on television, but transgender characters continue to lag behind. We are happy that audiences who already love Maya Avant will now have the opportunity to get to know her as a trans woman. We look forward to future stories exploring her life as a fashion model and all the twists and turns that The Bold and The Beautiful brings to viewers every day," said Nick Adams, GLAAD's Director of Communications & Special Projects, who consulted with show writers on Maya's story.
Totally not supposed to be tweeting, but thanks for all the LOVE. So much more to come. #BoldandBeautiful
— Karla Mosley (@karlamosley) March 18, 2015
The Bold and the Beautiful premiered in 1987 on CBS and has won 31 Daytime Emmy Awards, including three wins for Outstanding Drama Series. The show airs on over 100 countries and reaches 35 million people daily around the world.
Catch new episodes daily on CBS to see how Maya's story unfolds and see interviews with the show's creator and Karla Mosley here, here, and here.