Argentina: Alejandro tells his "Big Brother" housemates he is a trans man


  • UPDATE: Trans man Alejandro is voted out of the "Big Brother" house (March 24, 2011)
This is turning into one of my favorite stories of the year and we are only halfway into January.

On December 16th I wrote about the shocking twist that greeted viewers of the new season of "Big Brother" in Argentina: One of the houseguests, whose identity was kept secret until the airing of the first show of the season, is a transgender man.

On the debut episode, producers shared Alejandro Iglesias' revealing casting tape with the viewers but other houseguests had yet to find out. Amazingly, Alejandro quickly became the viewers' favorite contestant, even if some media observers thought he'd be the first guest to be booted out of the show.

The main reason why some predicted Alejandro would be the first to go was that he initially came off as being shy and off-standish, particularly among the other male participants of of the house. But many of those other participants proved to be insufferable showoffs - which meant that two other houseguests were the first ones to be let go in the twenty or so days since the season began.

In the meantime, Alejandro has not been shy about sharing his true identity with others.

In the casting tape he said that the reason he wanted to join the show was to have the chance to win the prize money so he can afford to pay for an expensive gender-reassignment surgery. He also said he would not have a problem telling others about it as long as he came to trust others in the house.

In this video clip, which I've posted on YouTube, you can see Alejandro share his true identity with several people in the house, including his main confidante, Luz, who revealed early on that she was a lesbian.

Ariana, who was the second participant to get booted out of the show, says she had no idea Alejandro was a trans man.

Alejandro's participation in the Argentinean version of "Big Brother" is probably as visible a forum as there ever has been for trans issues in Latin America and I have a feeling that the positive impact will long outlive the negatives.

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