Marta Kauffman, who created the
long-running NBC sitcom Friends with David Crane, recently
said that she regrets how the show portrayed Chandler Bing's
transgender parent.
Helena Handbasket was often referred to
as “he.” The sitcom, which ended in 2004 after running for a
decade, often poked fun at Helena's sexuality and gender identity.
During a recent appearance on the BBC
World Service's The Conversation scheduled to air on July 11,
Kauffman, 65, said that “mistakes” were made.
“We kept referring to [Helena] as
'Chandler's father,' even though Chandler's father was trans,”
Kauffman said.
“Pronouns were not yet something that
I understood, so we didn't refer to that character as 'she.' That was
a mistake,” she added.
Kauffman said that she does not
tolerate anti-LGBTQ language in the workplace.
“It's very important to me that where
we are is a safe place, a tolerant place, where there's no yelling,”
she explained. “I fired a guy on the spot for making a joke about a
trans cameraperson. That just can't happen,” she
said.
Kauffman also co-created the Netflix
series Grace and Frankie.