Trans ‘Family Guy’ character inspired by writer’s mother, Seth MacFarlane reveals
Twelve years later, Seth MacFarlane is reflecting on “Quagmire’s Dad,” the 2010 Family Guy episode in which Quagmire’s war-hero parent comes out to him as a transgender woman named Ida.
When it first aired, “Quagmire’s Dad” drew the ire of Queerty, GLAAD, and other LGBT groups for its portrayal of Ida, including a scene in which Brian vomits after hearing that Ida, with whom he’d had sex, is trans.
The episode also bears a joke that equates trans people to sex offenders. (For more about Hollywood’s reprehensible history of trans portrayals, check out the Netflix documentary Disclosure.)Related: ‘Disclosure’ director Sam Feder on the complicated history of trans representationIn a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, MacFarlane, creator of the animated Fox sitcom, says there “isn’t a big change” he’d make in that episode, but he would change some jokes in the script.“Look, there are always things that you would do differently when you look back at earlier points in your career,” he says. “For me, it’s more about nuance.
There isn’t a big change I would make. It’s more about individual moments and individual jokes. The intent of the Family Guy episode was to show that Quagmire’s father was still a war hero, and still someone that he could look up to and respect.”MacFarlane also reveals a Family Guy writer’s experience informed the storyline.
