Ryan Murphy’s Record-Setting LGBT Drama, Pose, Gets A Series Order From FX

Back at the end of October, Ryan Murphy’s planned TV series, Pose, caused a lot of interest due to the news that it was set to feature five major trans roles in the show, all of them to be played by trans actors – that’s more than any mainstream US series before it. However, at that point the American Horror Story, Feud and Scream Queens producer had only got the go-ahead to make a pilot show. Now it’s been announced that the FX network has given the show a full-series order.

Murphy has also revealed that the series isn’t done setting records, as he’s revealed, “Along with being a dance musical and an affirming look at American life in the 1980s, I’m so proud that Pose and FX has made history right from the beginning by featuring the most trans series regular actors ever in an American television production. Additionally, the first season Pose will feature 50-plus LGBTQ characters – a record in American television history. I can’t wait for people to see this incredibly talented, passionate cast.”

The show itself has been described as a period piece set in the mid-’80s in New York City, examining the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in Manhattan: the emergence of the luxury Trump-era universe, the ball culture world, and downtown social and literary scene. The trans and other LGBTQ characters will mainly feature the the ball culture section of the show, which will focus on the the LGBT subculture that emerged in the 1980s, and sees different ‘houses’ and people competing against one another in balls.

MJ Rodriguez (Blanca); Indya Moore (Angel); Dominique Jackson (Elektra); Hailie Sahar (Lulu) and Angelica Ross (Candy) are playing the major trans roles, with James Van Der Beek, Kate Mara, Evan Peters, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Billy Porter, and Dyllon Burnside also set to star (however, Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) won’t be in the show, despite starring in the pilot). Pose will start shooting in February, with plans to have it on TV by the summer.