Trans man Schofield pops up on dating show
Color us floored yet not completely surprised that writer, performance artist, trans man and Atlanta homeboy Scott Turner Schofield rolled past on ABC’s “Conveyor Belt of Love” reality dating show on Monday, Jan. 4.
One the one hand, we were floored because you don’t expect to see someone you know while surfing through ABC’s mindless Marry Me Monday lineup that also includes the new hottie on “The Bachelor.”
On the other, we weren’t really surprised because we’ve come to expect anything from Schofield (photo), whose introspective, articulate works include successful touring productions and repeated Atlanta runs of “Underground TRANSit” and “How to Become a Man in 127 Easy Steps.”
Schofield was also a 2009 Lambda Literary Award nominee and a 2008 Atlanta Pride Grand Marshal.
For a taste of this incredibly intelligent man’s viewpoint and sense of humor, his website describes him as “a man who was a woman, a lesbian turned straight guy who is usually taken for a gay teenager. A former debutante and homecoming queen coming out in the Deep South…”
ABC describes “Conveyor Belt”: “Five women take a shot at finding love when 30 men are given the chance to impress them as they pass by on a moving conveyor belt.”
We’ll just say it. The show sucks, but we were tickled pink that Schofield’s gender status was never mentioned to the contestants, and that he rocked the fast-paced interview portion. Four of the women declined to put him on their “maybe” list, but one was intrigued. She later chose another guy—presumably born male, but who knows?—from the bunch for a date.
Better luck next time, Scott.
While we were picking our jaws up off the floor, PopEater.com was the first to catch Schofield’s identity and cite it as a victory for LGBTs everywhere in a Wednesday post. They also had this to say:
‘Conveyor Belt’ never disclosed the full story on Schofield, but ABC has a decent track record of representing the LGBTQ community, even casting transgender actor Candis Cayne on the brilliant but canceled ‘Dirty Sexy Money.’ Looks like this only adds to the network’s growing portfolio.
Well, PopEater almost gets that right. They seem to have forgotten November’s hubbub over Adam Lambert oddly being banned/not-banned from the network after his American Music Awards performance, and the allegations of homophobia and gender bias in the matter.
We forgive PopEater completely, though. “LGBTQ” just ain’t their everyday beat, and besides, who can fault a media outlet for total support like that? Extra credit for even knowing about the “Q.”
Schofield did tweet during the show’s airing that he “never thought this would air.” Apparently, he can’t talk about it in detail due to contractual obligations.
PopEater reached out to Schofield who declined an interview due to contractual obligations. “I have nothing to hide about myself, hence my decision to participate in a prime time reality TV show,” he wrote in an e-mail.
That’s OK. We’ll snag him the next time his shows roll him through Atlanta, and in the meantime, you simply must watch this video of his appearance on “Conveyor Belt of Love”:
Trans man Schofield pops up on dating show — Project Q Atlanta:
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