Janet Mock makes history as the first trans woman of colour to direct an episode of television

Janet Mock had her directorial debut this past week with the latest episode of Pose, titled “Love is the Message”. This is marks the first time ever that a trans woman of colour has directed a piece of television. An especially important milestone considering the ground-breaking show depicts the lives of queer and trans people of colour in 1980s New York City.

The show has become a critical hit, “At its core, Pose works because it’s one of the few examples of trans and queer people feeling joy and celebrating themselves,” writes NewNowNext, “despite the hardships that come with identifying as LGBTQ.”

Despite the milestone, Mock says she never had any intention of directing and was happy with writing and producing the show alongside Ryan Murphy.

“Steven [Canals] and I were having intense conversations with Ryan [Murphy] about making sure that the people directing the episodes represented, in some capacity, an intersection of the identities that were onscreen. [Ryan] directed episodes one and two, which he usually does for every single one of his shows [to] set the tone for the series,” she said in an interview with them. “We wanted to make sure that women of colour, women, queer people, and trans folk are actually directors, because directors set the tone for everything!”

She also explained how important it was to depict race issues in the show, not just trans and queer issues. “The ballroom is a black and brown space before it’s a trans and queer space. So you can’t just say we have this great trans and queer show, you have to add in the layer of the race stuff… had to be very clear that a white trans girl’s experience is very different than a black trans girl’s experience — especially a black trans girl that’s struggling with economic resources in 1980’s New York City.

“So we gave Elektra (Dominique Jackson’s character) more pointed lines about whiteness, or Angel (Indya Moore) started calling Stan (Evan Peters) a white suburban boy. We had to put that stuff in there.”

Ryan Murphy also spoke of Mock’s directorial debut when he received an award at the VH1 Trailblazer Honors: “I said, ’No, Janet, you have to direct. You have to!’ And she wasn’t sure, and I pushed her and pushed her. She did it… And I’m so honored and thrilled to say that it [her episode] is perhaps the best hour of television in my entire career that I have been associated with.”

“And I say, to Janet, thank you and I’m in awe of you.”

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