<----The #1 Transexual Amanda LeporeIt's not your mother's "All My Children."
In what is believed to be a daytime television first, ABC's struggling afternoon soap will this week introduce a transgender character 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 in a story line that begins with Thursday's episode.
"All My Children" was looking for something new, and knows its audience is always interested in anything to do with sexuality, said Julie Hanan Carruthers, the show's executive producer.
"After 36 years, you start rehashing," she said. "It's inevitable. We didn't want to fall back on the baby-switch story again."
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and some transgenders were brought in as consultants, teaching the producers when it is appropriate to call a character "she" even before surgery, Carruthers said.
"All My Children's" average audience has slipped from 8.2 million in 1991-'92 to 3.1 million last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.
