Today in 2SLGBTQI+ history…
All in the Family shook up television in 1975 with the first trans character that was not used as a comedic relief. Beverly LaSalle, who was played by an actual female impersonator and actor known as Lori Shannon, became a recurring character after Archie Bunker saved her life one night when he performed CPR on her in his cab in the Season 6 episode “Archie the Hero.” Beverly would teach both Archie and his wife, Edith, about accepting and loving queer people through her unwavering acceptance of herself. Of course, the Bunkers still bumbled through using pronouns and understanding Beverly, but they still cared for her.
Beverly appeared on three different episodes of All in the Family. Her third and last appearance was in Episode 13 of Season 8, “Edith’s Crisis of Faith: Part 1,” which was directed by Paul Bogart, and originally aired on CBS on Christmas Day, December 25, 1977. In that episode, Beverly, who has no surviving family members, has Christmas dinner with the Bunkers. Just prior to her departure from the Bunker home, the audience is, for the first (and only) time, able see a glimpse of Beverly dressed as a man. After leaving the Bunker home, Beverly (dressed as a man) and Mike are attacked and beaten up as they walk together to a subway station. Beverly risks her life to save Mike, and ultimately suffers fatal injuries. Later, Mike notes that he didn’t think the “rotten kids” who attacked them were after their money, with the rest of family also accepting that their intent was to harm Beverly.
Edith is left to grieve and must come to terms with the violent and senseless death of her friend at Christmastime. Her faith is shaken and she curses God because she can’t grasp how someone so loving could be murdered.
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