I just saw an episode of The Love Boat from 1982. Gopher's roommate from college had a sex change operation

[MIButterfly]

and was now a woman and Gopher couldn't handle it until Captain Stubbing made him see for himself how ignorant he was. If that episode was aired today, the show would be cancelled tomorrow. It's sad to see how far backwards we've gone; to think that people were more tolerant 43 years ago than they are today is astonishing to me.

The Love Boat wasn't exactly woke.

[underpants]

1. Fred Grandy was a 4 term congressman. Harvard grad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Grandy

[Wiz Imp]

2. He was a right wing Republican

I've got nothing good to say about him

[underpants]

5. There's a story about him getting a staffer fired.

The story goes that he was on the elevator and someone else’s staffer stepped off the elevator and said, “next stop the Promenade deck”. Fred tracked down who it was and they got canned.

[marble falls]

3. And in enough time it will be considered high art. Then it will be considered high camp.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. A man I had worked with had the surgery to transition to a woman in 1973 or 1974.

It was quite the story at the time.

[JoseBalow]

6. I recall Archie Bunker's army buddy did too

[synni]

7. Actually, it was rather woke

They had many plots that would be considered "librul" today. Most of the regular cast didn't like how there were no interracial romances, either.

[Wiz Imp]

8. Numerous sitcoms in the 70's and 80's had similar story lines.

The Jeffersons
Edie is George's old army buddy as shown in the Season 4 episode "Once a Friend" and is a trans woman. (1977)

Night Court
In the Season 3 episode "Best of Friends", Dan meets up with a college buddy who is no longer living as a man but is a woman, hence a trans woman. (1985)

It's a Living
In Season 3, episode 12, titled "Gender Gap", Fern Fitzgerald plays a transgender woman who dates Sonny. (1986)

Married... with Children
In season 9's tenth episode, "Dud Bowl", Thad, a former high school teammate of Al, is now a trans woman, to Al's dismay. Nevertheless, she plays football on Al's re-organized team. (1994)

And it's become even more prevalent more recently. TV shows are more "niche" targeted now and don't have the audience size that shows had 40-50 years ago, but plenty of new shows not only have transgender "guest" characters, some have transgender regular characters. So, no, the Love Boat would not be cancelled tomorrow if that episode aired today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transgender_characters_in_television

[MIButterfly]

9. Really? In the America we live in today where right-wing politicians are passing laws against transgender people

practically every month? My point was that people were much more tolerant 40+ years ago than they are now. I think you've helped to prove it by citing those examples.

[Wiz Imp]

11. Do you need me to cite examples from the past 5 years or so?

There's tons more now than there were in the 70's

The Way Home
A Nonbinary teenager who uses they/them pronouns.[Recurring Character] (2023-still running)

The Chi
Imani is a trans woman who has a storyline centered on a romantic relationship. [Recurring Character] (2018 - still running)

Star Trek: Discovery [2 Characters] (2017-2024)
Gray Tal

A trans man, and orphan, who joined Trill living aboard a generational starship with his Human partner Adira.

Adira Tal

A non-binary human, joined with the Tal symbiont who lived aboard a generational ship with their boyfriend Gray. They later became a member of Starfleet.

KAOS
The show features the mythological trans man Caeneus, who used to live with the Amazons until he transitioned. [Regular Character] (2024)

Euphoria
Jules is a trans woman who just moved into town. She is new in school, where she meets Rue, a drug addicted who just got out of rehab. They eventually become close friends, and fall in love. [Regular Character] (2019-2022)

Queen Sugar
It's revealed that Ralph's childhood friend, Antoinette "Toine" Wilkins, was bullied for being gender-variant growing up and Ralph came to their defense. When they reunite in Season 2, Antoinette has transitioned and is a transgender man, and goes by the name of Antoine. Toine is played by transgender actor Brian Michael Smith [Recurring Character] (2016-2022)

Feel Good
Mae, a recovering addict, does not identify her sexuality. She's had relationships with men and women, and called herself transgender, non-binary, and bisexual in one episode. She is in a same-sex relationship with George, who identified as straight before she started dating Mae, and tried to have sex with a man in one episode. [Main Character] (2020-2021)

Pose [multiple characters](2018-2021)
Candy Abundance

Trans woman who is HIV-positive.

Elektra Abundance

Trans woman who is a former shrewd house mother and reigning champion within the ballrooms, and takes on the occupation of a dominatrix in secret

Lucinda "Lulu" Abundance

Trans woman, also named Lucinda "Lulu" Ferocity, who is an exotic dancer based in New York City who is a member of the House of Abundance.

Angel Evangelista

Trans female sex worker living near Blanca Rodriguez, a former escort, was romantically interested in Stan Bowes and later became romantically involved with Lil Papi Evangelista.

Blanca Evangelista

Trans woman who has HIV and is, as such, disabled.

Supergirl
Trans woman, said to be the first onscreen transgender superhero. She works at CatCO [Regular Character] (2015-2021)

Generation
A trans woman who is attempting to be a positive role figure for her niece. [Regular Character] (2021)

We Are Who We Are
A drama set on an Italian army base exploring the lives of the characters there, particularly Caitlin and Fraser played by Jack Dylan Grazer. During the course of the series, Caitlyn explores her gender, presenting first as a cross-dressing girl but near the end is learning toward trans man, adopting the name Harper at least tentatively. It's a coming of age story of the teenagers who live there and while the trans storyline is not the main one, it intertwines. [Regular Character] (2020)

Orange Is the New Black
Trans woman and inmate who was incarcerated at Litchfield Penitentiary. (Laverne Cox is transgender, with The Advocate suggesting that this series is the first women-in-prison series that includes an out trans woman playing the role of a transgender person. [Recurring Character] (2013-2019)

Transparent
Trans woman who is HIV-positive. [Recurring Character] (2015-2019)

When They See Us
A young trans woman who is Korey's sister. [Guest Character (2019)

Sense8
Nomi Marks is a computer hacktivist, and lesbian trans woman, living in San Francisco who finds herself mentally linked to 7 other people from around the world, and is in a relationship with Amanita Caplan. Nomi is also part of the Cluster. [Regular Character] (2015-2018)

From Google AI
Trans characters in television shows expected in or continuing into 2025

Heartstopper (Netflix): Elle Argent, played by trans actress Yasmin Finney, continues to be a prominent trans character on the popular series.

Fallout (Prime Video): The series features Dane, a nonbinary character played by Xelia Mendes-Jones, whose inclusion was noted for its natural integration into the story.

The Murderbot Diaries (Apple TV+): The series continues to feature the nonbinary character Pin-Lee, played by nonbinary comedian Sabrina Wu, in its new episodes.

Jane Noury : This series follows the life of a transgender teenager and her family.

Dead End: Paranormal Park (Netflix): The animated comedy includes Barney, a trans character voiced by trans actor Zach Barack.

Doctor Who (Disney+): Rose Noble, the young trans daughter of a beloved companion, is featured in the long-running science fiction franchise.

Sort Of (Max): The groundbreaking series with a Pakistani nonbinary lead, Sabi, concluded its final season this year.

Glamorous (Netflix): The series finale saw the trans protagonist come out as a trans woman.

The Umbrella Academy (Netflix): The series concluded with the gender-transitioned character Viktor Hargreeves, played by Elliot Page.

[MIButterfly]

12. Fine, you win. I'm sorry I'm so ignorant.

I'll try not to express my stupid opinions anymore.

[Wiz Imp]

13. I did not call you ignorant or stupid and did not even imply that

I'm sorry that you took offense

I was simply making the point that while the "right" has tried to use transgender issues to target the left doesn't mean that TV and movies are being censored from including transgender characters in TV shows and movies anymore. Partly because much of TV has moved to pay cable channels (like HBO) or streaming services (like Netflix), producers actually feel more free to include such characters now.

It seems that the most recent TV shows to face backlash for offensiveness were targeted because of something the star said or did - like Roseanne reboot in 2018 & House of Cards in 2017 due to Kevin Spacey - not the actual content of the show.

[MIButterfly]

14. I accept your apology and thank you for your explanation.

Perhaps I was a bit overly sensitive and overreacted. I apologize for that.

[Figarosmom]

10. Yeah but in those days

They had to go to Sweden or Denmark to get the surgery. I guess it's that way again now.