TV & Film
Jay & Pamela, a heartfelt new reality series on TLC, is an instant trailblazer making history as the first reality show to feature a Black, disabled, trans man as one of its leads. The show, which airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on TLC, follows the lives of Jay Thomas Manuel and his partner Pamela.
Jay is a content creator, advocate, and producer, who also goes by the alias “Mini Producer”. As the first Black, disabled trans man to have a reality TV show, Manuel is committed to revolutionizing how LGBTQ+ and disability identities are perceived in the media.
“This is more than just a TV series; it’s a moment for visibility,” says Jay Thomas Manuel, a content creator and disability advocate. “Growing up, I never saw anyone like me on screen. Now, we’re changing that.”
Pamela is a proud, queer, first generation Mexican-American disability advocate, who embodies both warmth and strength as Jay’s equal. Viewers get an in depth look at how her Mexican-American identity plays a significant role in their relationship and activism.
In the series, Jay and Pamela navigate love, independence, and the world around them while sharing a rare genetic condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type 3 (OI), also known as brittle bone disease.
OI is a heritable, lifelong condition present at birth that causes abnormal bone formation. People with OI often experience constant bone fractures due to having soft bones that easily break.
Despite the multiple challenges Jay and Pamela face, from barriers to access to societal misconceptions, Jay and Pamela approach life with such immense enthusiasm and tenacity, that it’s truly contagious.
With marriage on the horizon and plans to live more independently, Jay & Pamela bring audiences to their reality in an unfiltered look at what it means to build a life together amidst a world that normally overlooks disabled and LGBTQ+ voices.
A first of its kind series, Jay and Pamela is igniting crucial conversations about the intersections of disability, queerness, and race, challenging mainstream media to embrace a larger diversity of human experiences.
Watch the official trailer here.