GLEE (2011-14) Collection of 303 wardrobe test photos of transgendered characters

Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox Television, 2011-2014. Approximately 300 pp., 11 x 8 1/2″ (28 x 22 cm.), with 303 6 x 4″ (15 x 10 cm.) color photos affixed, often with handwritten notes on the side. These pages also include printed notes about the set and costume featured, and a smaller piece of paper with MS notes affixed on the right hand side. In two substantial loose-leaf albums, each page with three punch holes, overall near fine.

Glee (2009-2015) was a comedy-drama television series broadcast on the Fox network. It centered on the New Directions, a glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School in Ohio, which competes as a show choir while its disparate members deal with issues of sexuality and sexual identity, teen relationships and teamwork. The show became celebrated for its portrayal of LGBTQ people.

This is a collection of wardrobe test photos (sometimes referred to as continuity photos) for the show’s two transgendered characters: Wade/Unique Adams and Coach Beiste. These are unique photos, most often one copy of the photo is printed, done for the show’s wardrobe department. In the process of dressing these characters a huge number of different clothing options were explored — making this a fascinating visual archive in the history of queer representation in modern television history.

• Wade “Unique” Adams (Alex Newell): Throughout the show, this character goes back and forth from male to female. The character is a biological male. When they wear women’s clothes, they present as female in women’s clothes with a female name. They also present on the show as male with a male name, but less frequently. Wade and Unique are the two character names they use. This character first appeared in the show’s third season and returned as a recurring character in the fourth season. Because this character became an audience favorite, Newell was promoted to the main cast for season five. For the show’s final season, Newell was a recurring guest star. Wade broke ground by being one of the most visible transgender characters on television and one of the first on a network primetime show
  

• Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones): Coach Beiste originally presented as a heterosexual, cisgender and gender non-conforming woman. However, in the sixth season it is revealed that Coach Beiste is actually a gay and transgender man. After this revelation, Beiste underwent gender confirmation surgery and changed his first name to Sheldon. A recurring role starting in the second season, Jones as Beiste was promoted to the main cast in the sixth and final season. Jones received Emmy nominations in 2011, 2012 and 2013 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Beiste in Glee’s second, third and fourth seasons respectively.