On today's episode of The Bold & the Beautiful, Maya Avant disclosed to her boyfriend Rick Forrester that she is a transgender woman.
The show revealed to the audience in March that Maya, an established character on the show since 2013, is a transgender woman who transitioned many years ago. Since then, several other people at Forrester Creations discovered, through the rumor mill, that Maya is transgender. But her boyfriend Rick did not yet know.
Last week, Rick took Maya up to a mountain cabin to propose marriage to her. Maya had already made up her mind that she would disclose to Rick once she knew that he was serious about their future together.
On Friday's episode Rick proposed, but Maya would not say "yes" until she told him about being a woman of transgender experience.
While Rick was originally hurt that Maya had not told him about her past sooner, he ultimately affirmed that he loves her. He said, "I'm glad you told me. That's what the woman I know would do. So what does it change? […] I just know that I love you and I want to spend my life with you. So please don't walk away from me."
Watch the clip from Friday's episode where Maya begins the discussion with Rick, and click here to see today's episode in its entirety.
What Rick and Maya don't know is that Bill Spencer, media tycoon and tabloid publisher, is simultaneously outing Maya as a transgender woman to the world. Spencer is creating sensationalistic headlines about Maya and Rick's relationship in the hope that the "scandal" will cause Rick's downfall and remove him from his position as president of Forrester Creations. One of Spencer's staff protests, "What am I missing? Transgender people exist. This is not news." When Spencer refuses to listen, the staffer quits rather than be part of outing someone, saying, "Maybe I'd like to work for an actual human being."
Outing someone as transgender against their will is not only inappropriate and unethical, it's also dangerous. Transgender people live in a world that is very intolerant of gender difference - trans people can lose jobs, housing, friends, or even their lives upon revelation of their trans status.
In another scene, Maya's friend Nick, who is a transgender man played by trans actor Scott Turner Schofield, arrives at Forrester Creations to see if Maya needs support. Nick explains to Rick's brother Ridge that Maya has never lied about who she is. He tells Ridge, "Coming out is for when you're hiding something. Politicians, people leading double lives, they tell the truth about themselves and come out from behind the mask. Maya shows her true face every day. She's not in any closet. This one fact of her medical history, in the wrong hands, distorts everything about her, just like it did when she was a kid. Coming out can help gay people feel whole, but disclosure can make [people like] us feel broken."
The Bold and the Beautiful premiered in 1987 on CBS and has won 73 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.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Karla Mosley (Maya) and Jacob Young (Rick) on the CBS series The Bold and the Beautiful. Photo: JPI Studios/CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Scott Turner Schofield (Nick) and Thorsten Kaye (Ridge) on the CBS series The Bold and the Beautiful. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved