Transgender role model Georgie Stone signs on to Neighbours

Transgender role model Georgie Stone wrote a letter to Neighbours bosses. Two hours later they were asking for a meeting. Now the Melbourne teen is set to bring the message of diversity to the much-loved soap opera.

Transgender role model Georgie Stone is bringing the message of diversity to Ramsay St, signing on to the much-loved soap opera Neighbours.

Passionate about acting, Stone, 18, approached the show’s executives a year ago suggesting the idyllic TV suburb of Erinsborough would be the perfect setting for a transgender character and that she wanted the role.

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Georgie Stone on the set of Neighbours. Picture: Wayne Taylor

“Both my parents have been on Neighbours so I have grown up with the show,” Stone said.

“When watching it I could see that essentially, amid all the drama and soapy stuff, it is about human stories and genuine stories that reflect the viewers and society as a whole, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell a story that isn’t often told on Australian TV.

“I came up with the idea of having a trans young person on the show so I wrote a letter to the executive producer, Jason Herbison, with a few ideas on how it could happen.”

Stone received a response asking to meet just two hours later.

Filming of her in the guest role will start in June, with her character being seen on screen towards the end of the year.

Stone said as a transgender woman, being able to play a transgender character on Australia’s most enduring TV soap was significant not only for her personally, but for the trans community as a whole.

“When I was growing up as a trans young person I did not see anyone out there who I could relate to,” she said.

“There was no one on Australian TV screens, on any TV screens really, that had a positive depiction of a trans person, specifically a trans young person. There was no one who I could connect to and I felt quite isolated because of that, so that is why I am so excited about this opportunity.”

“Yes, it is breaking new ground, it is a great story, and people will really like it, but I really hope that there will be some trans young people out there who have felt isolated before and then see this character and feel that they are not alone, or that they feel OK to be who they are, and that this story can teach other people how to treat trans young people.”

Neighbours has been on our screens for decades. The 1987 cast, including Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue (centre).

Melbourne-based Stone is well used to breaking new ground.

At 10, she became the youngest person in Australia to be granted hormone blockers, at 15, she started hormone replacement therapy, she has been featured on Australian Story, she was named the 2018 Victorian Young Australian of the Year, and last November she was successful in campaigning to change the law that required transgender children and their families having to apply to the Family Court to access hormone treatment.

Herbison said of Stone’s casting: “Georgie approached us last year regarding a guest role and I could see she was passionate about acting. Seeing her talent during the audition process, I knew she would be able to tell the story truthfully and authentically. She is an exceptional young woman.”

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