Transgender Roommate Called "It"

Katelynn Cusanelli of “The Real World Brooklyn” was the first transgender Real World roommate in the history of the show, and she had just gotten her transgender surgery in Thailand the summer before she entered the house. What’s interesting about Katelynn’s dynamic with her roommates was how the housemates all reacted differently and treated her differently depending on their own personal life experiences, gazes, and beliefs. By the end of the first episode, there was speculation amongst everyone in the house about whether or not Katelynn was a transgender, a boy, or a girl, but each roommate reacted to the situation in a different way.

Ryan, the Iraqi War veteran, is the roommate who struggled most with the idea of Katelynn being transgendered, and he couldn’t believe that Katelynn would cut off her penis. He even goes so far at one point to call Katelynn “it,” because he does not know how to categorize her. Ryan really represents conservative middle America, and him calling Katelynn “it” is a great example of transgendered people struggling to have a “place” in society. It seems easier for him to call her gay, a lesbian, or bisexual, but as a transgender person, she does not have any of those titles. JD, who is the gay roommate, immediately reprimands Ryan for these statements, and it’s clear that JD, being gay, is more open and understanding about Katelynn’s situation than Ryan is. The female roommates in the house all have no problem with Katelynn being transgendered, she is accepted as “one of the girls,” and they become very close with her and support her.

A theme throughout the entire season is Katelynn trying to explain to people that she is a female. She is a girl, she had identified with being a female her entire life, she has a boyfriend, and she finally became comfortable with her body after having her transgender surgery. While Katelynn was living in the house, she worked frequently with LGBT, and has really shed light on this situation on a national level. She has been deemed a pioneer in helping people to understand the transgender community, because her entire struggle was broadcast on television. She does not represent a stereotypical transgendered person that might be present in a sitcom, but she instead sheds light on the very real and genuine struggle of a person dealing with their transition, as well as society’s view of her as a transgendered individual. Towards the end of the season, even Ryan had begun to accept her as a girl, but the relationship between Ryan and Katelynn is a great example of people’s difficulty in categorizing transgender people.