Bold & Beautiful Soap Opera Reveals That Long-Running Character Is Transgender

On yesterday's episode of The Bold & The Beautiful a long-running character was revealed to be transgender. USA Today reports:

The news that Maya was born Myron inserts a plot twist (de rigueur on soaps), and could explain why the character has been fearful of intimacy. Non-trans actress and soap veteran Karla Mosley, 33, who's played Maya for more than two years, is thrilled with the development. When she was told after Christmas that Maya had a secret, this wasn't the first thing that popped into her head. "My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that's truthful and not sensational," Mosley says. "My second reaction was, 'Thank you.' It's a gift it's a privilege," she says. "It's a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world." Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer, says the story the soap is telling is about love and tolerance. "It is about people respecting other people's differences and their uniqueness," he says in a statement. "In the end, we all want to be loved, and in order to love someone else you first have to love yourself. If you are transgender, gay, straight, it doesn't matter. It's about finding love in life. This is a love story."

Entertainment Tonight reported on the show last night.