The Riches' dress-loving son not gay

We've been wondering the past few weeks where the new FX show The Riches is going to go with the character of the gypsy family's young son Sam, who prefers Girl Scout uniforms to jeans and sneakers. We'd guessed that the character was intended to be an echo of the show's lead, Eddie Izzard, who himself has been known to wear dresses despite being devoutly heterosexual.

During last week's appearance on Ellen, Izzard referred to his own cross-dressing as an "alternative sexuality" comparable to Ellen's lesbianism (and for a moment it looked like she might debate the point). She raised the topic of the dress-wearing little boy on the show, and though they promised to discuss further after the break, the subject was never revisited.

In a recent TV Guide interview, however, Izzard directly discussed the character, confirming that the little boy is a reflection of his own straight transvestite coming-of-age:

"I pitched it to the show that he should have my sexuality 'cause when I came on board he was already written as being a transvestite. I don't call it "drag," I call it wearing dresses. Basically Sam is like what I would've been. Hopefully his journey, particularly with his sexuality, would be what I would've worn if I was his age and allowed to wear whatever I wanted to at home. So that's what he's going to explore. Straight transvestite sexuality is sittin' here. I know it and you can keep checking with me where it should go."

It's interesting that much discussion of the show has been referring to the kid as gay, and nice to see the folks behind the show speaking directly to the topic -- at least they're not using an "is-he-or-isn't-he" tactic to string people along. And this character is a great reminder that sexuality and gender identity -- though often related -- are not one and the same.

Has anyone else been watching? What do you think about the handling of this character?