A Single Unified LGBT Character Thread

Long story short, you can have a sexy trans character, as long as they're not meant to be sexy because they're trans (in particular avoid implying that they're more attractive than a cis person of the same gender would be, definitely avoid playing up any cosmetic changes they underwent through their transition and absolutely avoid portraying them as the "spicy" option).

Another simple solution is the goto solution for a lot of problems with LGBTQ+ rep: Don't make them the only trans character.

Sf Debris points out that a good character is more than just one character trait, a bad one isn't just a Flat Character, the author hits the audience over the head with that one trait.

Star Trek: Voyager had Capt. Janeway who could never be wrong nor could other character challenge her authority because she was "the woman captain".

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had Commander (later Captain) Ben Sisko. He was written as the captain, his race only came up on a few episodes.

The Transgender Fetishization page image compares two characters who identity as women. One is a generic list of RPG attack moves, the other starts with "Whip of Love" and goes downhill from there.

The key is to only mention the character's gender transition when it's important to the plot: e.g. the character is taking about their past to a fried, at a doctor's appointment, talking with their parents, etc.

Other characters who go out of their way to mention that this character is trans tend to drag (no pun intended) the story down because of the above reasons.

Now if a character's sexuality is part of their role or identity in the story (e.g. a model, a character who has an Onlyfans page), then again, being transgendered should be part of the story.

I would recommend the writings of Bek D. Corbin in the Whateley Universe - the stories have trans characters but the story isn't just about them being trans.

* being transgender

"Transgendered" isn't a word (well, it technically is, but you know what I mean).

Edited by Bisected8 on May 2nd 2020 at 6:04:00 PM

I've seen trans, transgender, transgendered etc. that I just picked one. But then again I'd one of those people pronounces GIF "GIFF" just to tweak people.

I'd rather use transgendered or transgender over other terms. "Trans" is kinda slang-y, more for a character's dialog than in formal writing.

The only people who say "transsexual" are those born before 1995, talk show hosts and TERF's, and the only people who say "trap" are those who think posting on /b/ is edgy.

Edited by TairaMai on May 2nd 2020 at 8:06:17 PM

I was born before 1995 and my freshman sociology class taught me the difference between transsexual and transgender, and that the later is better, and the former is really too specific to use in most cases.

My current understanding isn't much removed from that. Transgender moves the topic from parts that are delicate to talk about in general company to psychological makeup/social labeling, and so "transsexual" is obsolete except maybe in strictly medical settings.

"Transsexual" was the label when I was growing up. Lynn Conway has a section called "Transsexual Women's Successes". This is due to the Grandfather Clause, as the term was Fair for Its Day when it was first used.

As a gen-x kid, I admit to burn out on the term due to all the banner ads and every Point-and-Laugh Show using it.

To be clear transgendered is grammatically incorrect, and somewhat offensive (transgender should only ever be used as an adjective).

Hence the correction.

I have found that it is a lot easier and a lot more informative to listen when people in a community I don't belong to tell me something I think I know is incorrect. I have also found it helpful to remember that their perspectives are more accurate that mine, especially if they belong to a marginalized community about which much misinformation has been disseminated quite intentionally. I also had to let myself be wrong and admit I was wrong in order to learn.

Thanks for answering my earlier question, sorry I didn't get back to you on that. :V

Something else I was just wondering; are there any common pitfalls or stereotypes that writers fall into when writing Trans Men? I know that the vast majority of Trans folk in media are Trans Women, so they receive the brunt of the misconceptions, but I feel like there's probably enough representations out there to notice a bad pattern to be avoided?

I'm a trans woman, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but the most common issues I see brought up are:

• Trans men are always portrayed as white and androgynous
• Conflation of AFAB nonbinary folk and trans men (the Netflix Sabrina series was criticised for portraying a trans man who started off NB, implying it was a sort of stepping stone).
• People just straight up ignoring the fact trans men exist.

Yeah, that scans. The first point about Trans Guys looking androgynous sounds like the inverse of the 'Trans Women always look like men in drag' issue. The 'NB treated as a stepping stone' is a bit surprising, though; I figured Non-Binary folks are even less acknowledged.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on May 15th 2020 at 7:04:28 PM

There's something of a stereotype that nonbinary people are all AFAB (and teenagers trying to be quirky), which does create a paradoxical situation where the stereotypical nonbinary person is also the stereotypical trans man (because the stereotype is that neither exists).

A lot of transphobia basically boils down to "we'll treat you as whatever best lets us screw you over" (much in the same way a trans woman can be arrested for being shirtless, then sent to a men's prison).

As someone who is planning on having non-binary characters in their works, what would you say would be the right and wrong way to introduce the characters, develop the characters etc.

I'm writing a story with an agender character. Being a cis woman, I want to make sure I'm writing their experiences accurately.

I'll have to leave that to an actual nonbinary person, as a binary trans person.

Figure out what makes Archwarhammer mad and do that.

Um, explain, for my...uh... friend (Yeah that's the ticket!)

Speaking as an actual nonbinary person: There isn't a right or wrong way. Everyone is unique and everyone's experience is different. I would suggest maybe trying to spend some time with your character, thinking about what their experience has been like — What age did they discover they were nonbinary? Was it more like a single realisation or a slow and gradual process? Have they told anyone? How did people react? Is it more accepted in their society, or did they spend most of their life not even realising it was something that exists? How does it affect their day-to-day life? — and then keep their answers in mind and let them percolate through and determine the way you write them.

Much like any other character, really.

Hello. I need some constructive advice. I was working on my magic system for my urban fantasy setting, that takes place in our world. I was debating with myself about if it's okay to make it so magic-users who are trans could use magic to alter their body into their gender identity, or possibly help other people physically transition, to be clear being trans doesn't make them able to change to their gender identity, I was thinking it might qualify as a form of permanent shapeshifting magic that would change them outside and inside, and because permanent shape shifting is a form of advanced magic in my magic system it would require a lot of years of training to be able to achieve that thus it doesn't violate my magic system's established rules as the same would be for shapeshifting into anything else.

My main concern is overall that magic being used to transition might come off as a oversimplification for people transitioning, or if will be passed as Acceptable Breaks from Reality

I ask this because one of my characters is a Ft M who has only socially transitioned due to still being a young teenager roughly 14-15 but he's in the process of being approved for testosterone, and he does want to get surgery when he gets older. While his transitioning journey isn't going to be his only character development and he will have a more fleshed out personality than the token character. I feel like my previous question is going to occur to some readers and create a case of Fridge Logic

I have seen a positive reception of fantasy settings with magical analogs/replacements to HRT/SRS treatment from my trans friends. Though it is of course a touchy subject and will depend on specifics oh how its handled in each individual case. I.e. if setting-wise the shapeshifting/body modification is easily available to all (The Culture for instance), then it would make sense for every trans person to easily have the body they desire. ^note Though ofc it shouldn't always mean gender-binary compliance in transitioning. Some people take the bottoms surgery, some do not.

Specifically to your case, both the overall setting and specific character sound fine. Fridge Logic here has an answer - "yes, they do have it." You defined how shapeshifting magic works in your setting in general, and acknowledge that trans people would seek it out if they can and need to. But it isn't made overly easy for no reason, and you aren't breaking the logic of your setting for it, so all is fair.

There is some treacherous ground to tread in the area of "is magical transition better than surgical? Is surgical even good?" so give that some careful thought.

Edited by Adannor on Jun 11th 2020 at 11:15:16 AM

It's definitely a complicated matter. One setting that's always rubbed me the wrong way is Shadowrun.

It does the typical "medical transition is NBD now" thing (aside from the fact it costs as much as a new car — but that's ignored despite economic issues kinda being cyberpunk's thing) and makes it clear that nobody would think twice about a trans person.

It also has "posers". Humans who wish they were orcs/elves and try their best to impersonate them, which are explicitly stated to be that setting's equivalent of trans people. They're sometimes accepted by orcs, always rejected by elves and portrayed as being delusional, and kind of pathetic.

Basically, you can have magical transitions, and even have being trans no longer being a big deal. Just make sure you actually are removing transphobia from the setting.

Side Note: Later editions introduced "changelings"; people who spontaneously become Petting-Zoo People, which make a much better analogue (no idea if that was deliberate). They have no control over it, are often subject to mockery (depending on the traits they develop; although some are considered cute, or even fetishised) and might run the risk of being mistaken for something more dangerous/vilified (for example, insect traits might get someone mistaken for being an Insect Spirit).

Cyberpunk 2020 had some problems as well, making any sort of body modification linked to mental instability. Very yikes for the trans people who literally have to do body modification for their mental health. Mechanically it's meant to balance out how good the implants are of course, as well as reflecting the cyberpunk genre's sorta inherent dystopic mistrust of technology as the answer to our problems.

It's still present in Cyberpunk RED as far as I can tell (which isn't out yet) but the jumpstart kit specifies the following - note the bit I highlighted in italics:

Might pick that book up whenever it drops.

I was thinking that it might actually be better if my trans character were a trans man instead of a trans woman, as that was the original intent for them. When they were a trans woman, I had the girl they re-encountered as their girlfriend before they came out, but now I'm thinking they thought they were lesbian and only realized they were trans after the girl went missing.

Since their name would be unisex, I was thinking that they simply made their name the masculine form of their deadname since nobody ever referred to them by their full name anyway. I would envision someone like Michael Cera playing them as he could conceivably play a boy going through puberty.

@Golden Kaos in Cyberpunk 2020 it was always the combat 'ware or extreme body mods that caused someone to go 'psycho. There was minor 'body sculpting' and then there was "I want to be a cat/insect/dragon" type 'sculpt that would cause a character to go 'round the bend.

I do like that in CP Red, gender correction surgery isn't going to drain the EMP stat. Now the player who wants their character to have a flamethrower arm on the other hand....

Could we discuss gender-nonconforming characters here? I plan to have a story starring a Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy.