On M*A*S*H, was Klinger a cross-dresser? Was Klinger trans?

Eric_the_Cerise
Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:02:50 +0000

I had a long-running discussion about this last year with a trans person on the Fediverse. Before that conversation, it had never even crossed my mind that Klinger was anything other than a cis-het guy desperately trying to exploit a weird Army regulation to escape from a war zone ... who may admittedly have become a bit too attached to his wardrobe in the process.

However, she pointed out that Klinger was the closest thing to a role model she had on TV growing up at the time, and that she had definitely seen and identified a lot of traits in Klinger that strongly suggest he (she?) was a semi-closeted trans character, effectively pulling a double-switch, pretending to be a "regular guy" who was pretending to be a cross-dresser just to get out of the Army, while actually having found a way to be openly trans in the US Army all the way back in the 1950s.

Thoughts?

Comments URL: https://tildes.net/~lgbt/1fmp/on_m_a_s_h_was_klinger_a_cross_dresser_was_klinger_trans

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