While trans actors and actresses are making huge strides in the media there's one group that has yet to have a big breakthrough. Trans men of color. 26 Year old screenwriter Seven King is set to change all that with his new web series Eden's Garden.
Seven King who also serves as the series director, is a transgender man from the Bronx in New York City. "Eden’s Garden" stars a an all trans-male cast: Seven King, D’Jamel Young, Kamar Porter, Chance Lombardi, Bryce Richardson who hope to bring something new to our viewing experience.
King recently sat down with the Advocate to go in detail about the new show and what he hopes it will accomplish for trans men of color.
From the Advocate:
Premiering this summer, the 13-episode show will offer audiences an unprecedented look into the everyday lives and loves of black and Latino trans men in New York City.
Echoing Logo's gone-before-its time comedy Noah's Arc, which revolved around the a tight-knit group of non-trans black gay men in Los Angeles, Eden's Garden will "go there" with images and stories of trans men of color that viewing audiences have never seen elswhere. Notably, three out of the five main characters are either bisexual or pansexual, while main character Eden's storyline portrays an underexplored narrative of love between a straight trans man and trans woman.
The show aims to expose audiences to numerous aspects of what King calls "trans-reality" — including dating while trans, trans men in same-sex relationships, HIV and AIDS, and gay- and trans-bashing — all grounded in themes enshrined by the show's character-driven dramedy predecessors: sex, love, betrayal, and friendship.
In the trailer below, audiences are given the first glimpses of the sensitive Eden (played by King himself), wisecracking Papo (D'jamel Young), fiercely loyal Jacob (Bryce Richardson), commitment-phobic Angel (Chance Lombardi), and quiet Dre (Kamar Porter), who struggles with dating while "stealth" (not disclosing about his trans history) — five complex men who King says are drawn from his own life experiences and those of other trans men he knows.
"The content in the writing is like a diary for me, but also a representation of numerous guys' experience that may be trans," he explains to The Advocate. "The life of a trans-male is a different experience from a cis-male in certain ways. ... I wanted to create a series that will not only educate and advocate, but give suspenseful entertainment in scripted form." King adds that he feels "the media has a bigger platform for the trans woman experience than the trans-male," which has left audiences unversed in some of the daily realities trans men may face.
Eden's Garden's growing fanbase seems to agree, with the series trailer already garnering more than 22,000 views online. Still fundraising as he produces the episodes, King tells The Advocate that he has big plans for Eden's Garden. "Just Season 1 will be provided for the world. Season 2 is looking for a liable network to pick the series up as a TV show."
