In Its Final Season, ‘Pose’ Strikes Again

The Emmy-winning FX series has been a game changer for LGBTQ representation in Hollywood

there were just two Hiv-positive characters across these three platform types. The premiere of “Pose” in June increased the amount of transgender characters on television to while doubling the number of Hiv-positive characters, per the - “Where We Are on TV” report.

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis calls “Pose” “groundbreaking,” not only for its portrayals of Black, Latino and LGBTQ characters and for shining a light on HIV/AIDS but also for “what’s going on behind the camera.”

“This is truly one of those pieces of content that takes the people that the stories are being told about and puts them in the storytelling position as well,” she says.

“Pose” counts writer-producer Our Lady J, writer-producer-director Janet Mock and actors such as Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore and Dominique Jackson among the trans artists it has made household names. It also expanded Tony winner Billy Porter’s fame footprint and got him three-quarters of the way to an EGOT.

All of this was by design, says FX chairman John Landgraf. “You’re not only trying to make the change, but you’re also throwing down the gauntlet,” he explains. “If FX is an elite brand and its work is of elite quality, it therefore has to have the best possible core of creatives working there. By definition, the best core of creatives is a diverse core of creatives, because true talent and true excellence is equally represented in every segment of the human population.”

The decision to end the show with the third season came from the creatives, Canals says, because they reached the “natural” end goal that had been agreed upon when he first met with co-creator Murphy. To date, the show has picked up Emmy nominations (with one win, for Porter), multiple Golden Globe noms, awards from AFI and GLAAD and a Peabody.

Perhaps even more important, though, is how the series shines a light on the fullness of the experience of being a queer and/or trans person of color, which has inspired empathy, understanding and relatability across viewing demographics. While “Pose” does not shy away from some of the harsher realities, from being kicked out of one’s house for being gay to the often-fatal violence against trans women, it does not exploit the community’s trauma.

“We’ve always seen all of our heroes working to get out of dire circumstances and to work to be bigger than something the world has told them they can be or should be,” says Canals. “And in this third season, we finally see all of our heroes get to that place.”