Coronation Street and Press for Change

Few people can be unaware of Coronation Street’s highly successful trans woman character, Hayley Cropper, even if you don’t make a habit of following the story.

Since she appeared, she has been consistantly in the media, whether as a result of early criticism (from ourselves among others), complaints about the storyline to the I.T.C. or the various controversial twists to the story, which introduced the armchair public to the issues we as trans people face on a daily basis.

Slowly, but surely, the public fell in love with her at the same time as Roy Cropper, because of WHO she was, not WHAT she was.

Julie Hesmondhalgh, the actress who plays Hayley, was a controversial choice; a FEMALE to play the part of a transsexual woman. But she turned out to be absolutely perfect in the role, lending it a vulnerability and innocence that charmed a nation.

She also became highly motived and educated about the condition and it’s ramifications, and started to highlight our issues when being interviewed.

In December 1998, she agreed to become Press for Change’s latest official patron.

In this section we have a few articles which give a bit of insight into the history and process of a character who has, in a short space of time, educated millions of people about transsexualism in a way they found entertaining, poignant and romantic. It’s not a miracle, nor is she the answer to our prayers, but she remains the one trans woman that sixteen million members of the public recognise and sympathise with. And that can only benefit us all in the long term.

The first article, “The Advisor’s Tale” gives the background to the advisor who helped studio writers at Granada with Hayley’s story and emotions.

The second article, “One year on” examines how we viewed Hayley over her first twelve months; from hostility to popularity, using quotes from the UKPFC-Forum mailing list as the character’s development was discussed throughout the year.