I have been watching some of the old "Hollywood Squares" shows, and they had "Dame Edna" on as the center square. I remember this character appearing on various shows in the '80s and '90s. I thought, "Was this an early trannie advocate?". So I looked him up. The character was played by a comic from Australia named Barry Humphries. He first started the character in 1955! Turns out he was far from being a trannie, but apparently crosse the line in 2018:
In 2018, Humphries was criticised on social media for making comments considered by some to be transphobic.[108] The comments included referring to gender affirmation surgery as "self-mutilation" and transgender identity as a whole as a "fashion—how many different kinds of lavatory can you have?" The comments prompted the Barry Award, a comedy festival award in Melbourne named after the comedian, to be renamed the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award the next year.[109] (from wikipedia, so sue me)
He died this year, but is not included with the "celebrity death" list USA Today keeps, which includes MANY people I have never heard of. Just shows that if you don't tow the line (or is it "toe the line") in show business, you won't be counted as a celebrity when you die. Of all the groups in the world who shouldn't care what someone thinks about something, pretty sad that a comedy festival showed their full wokeness by changing the name of an award because he showed signs of being "transphobic".
Curious, I never actually considered him a tranny, just an actor with his own speciality.
PS: English is not my native language, but I believe it is "toe the line". ;)
You are correct. The term was used in boxing to start the fight both boxers had to get right up to a line in the dirt and face each other to start the match.