'Friends' Prop Auction to Benefit The Trevor Project

When a TV show is accused of homophobia and transphobia, if the people behind it acknowledge their mistakes, we expect something to change. But how does that work when the show has been off the air for 15 years?

Friends may have found a small way to start making good.

In celebration of the show’s 25 year anniversary Warner Bros is auctioning off props, costumes, replicas, and scripts from the show. And all of the proceeds from the sales will go to benefit The Trevor Project to support LGBTQ youth.

While we don’t know who made the decision to rope in The Trevor Project, it’s a good one, and a smart one. Friends is one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, and its legacy is still going strong. But while it did provide some important representation, like having Ross’s ex-wife Carol in a long-term same-sex relationship that ultimately resulted in an on-screen wedding, we’re also having important conversations these days about where it failed the LGBTQ community.

Co-creator Marta Kauffman has previously said she seems something in every episode she’d do differently today, but particularly noted how the show messed up the storyline with Chandler’s estranged trans parent, Helena Handbasket. Chandler repeatedly misgendered and deadnamed her, and usually for the sake of a joke.

Kathleen Turner, who played Helena, recently acknowledged that she wouldn’t have taken the role if it had been offered to her today.

“Of course I wouldn’t do it now, because there would be real people able to do it,” she told Andy Cohen last week.

And though that content will always be there for anyone rewatching Friends, having this auction go to support a prominent LGBTQ group feels like at least some sort of quiet acknowledgement that the show could have done better.

The auction runs December 3-17, and you can pre-register for it now.