The Times reports that All My Children character Zarf, played by Jeffrey Carlson, will discover he is transgender after bonding with and kissing Bianca, a lesbian character. “[The experience] triggers something within Zarf about why it made such sense to be falling in love with a lesbian.”

In a story unusual even for a soap opera and believed to be a television first, ABC’s ”All My Children” this week will introduce a transgender character who is beginning to make the transition from a man into a woman.

The character, a flamboyant rock star known as Zarf, kisses the lesbian character Bianca and much drama ensues. The storyline begins with Thursday’s episode of the daytime drama.

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GLAAD and some transgenders were brought in as consultants in shaping the character, teaching the producers when it is appropriate to call a character ”she” even before surgery, she said.

Damon Romine, a spokesman for GLAAD, said he hasn’t seen the show yet but feels people involved were genuinely interested in telling the story with dignity. Emotions are so close to the surface in soap operas, and this story can serve a purpose by showing what transgenders go through, he said.

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