Portraying Transgender Supporting Character

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ManInBlack

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Hello,

I expect to be coming into this area a lot - it actually has a lot to do with why I was recommended to come to this site in the first place.
For some background, I am of the feeling that the more variety in my characters, the more it will feel both like the things I enjoy in my own life, and the more it will make a difference. I subscribe to the "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" school of writing and while I don't think I'm god, I do understand that writing IS magic and that if my writing is not at least as diverse as my office, I'm doing something wrong.

Conversely, there are things I simply haven't experienced, so I ask questions, and research doesn't always cut it.

When looking for a forum to post to, I was originally going with "how the hell do I write this?" and/or "do I have the right to write this with all the questions I have?". Ultimately I have a plan, and I now would just prefer some dialogue and/or critique.
Story background: I am writing a group of characters, 90+% original in an established universe. The two established characters are a lesbian couple, and they are in an all-female community with 2-3 male supporting characters appearing within the story. The established universe is one that is known for being very inclusive but one that was established before it became as "common" as it is now for a writer to have any clue what Transgender really is. As such, I feel a Transgender character would be very meaningful simply appearing, but as the story is about the established characters, none of the Transgender writing FAQs that I've found are very useful as they all seem to focus on the main and/or POV characters. I'm also very uncomfortable with having any of the "redshirt" characters or the business-like, martial character be the trans representation, both for the sake of very easy misreadings I'd like to avoid. This means either introduce a less developed character JUST for this, or go with something even more challenging for me as a writer: writing a trans girl with an on-page boyfriend.
For the sake of what I am discussing going forward, it is worth noting that this is a female community comprised of gifted individuals potentially anywhere from 13 to 23, though I will probably be keeping it within 14-21. It's also worth noting that the "gifted" part of that description largely comes with a mystical inheritance that can only be inherited by females.

Ultimately, I've come up with the following action plan, and this is what I would like feedback on. (Note that the character traits I'm describing to you are the relevant ones; the most important thing in this situation is that they are separately developed characters, but I don't need to clutter this up by telling you which one is a nerd or anything else.)

  1. Girl A (character that I am thinking of as gay but could just as easily be bi, considering how few males she interacts with, but young enough that she's more exploring what that means to her than an "established" gay character, if that makes ANY sense. Also a very inquisitive character) either off-screen or via hints in-story develops a history of occasionally watching other girls bathe without their knowing.
  2. Off-screen, Girl A sees Girl B (closeted [is that even the appropriate term?] transgender girl) bathing and discovers that she is trans.
  3. On-screen, Girls A and B make eye contact. Girl A blushes and looks down, causing Girl B to realize what she has seen.
  4. Girl B either quietly approaches Girl C (Leader, older, lesbian in relationship) or C witnesses awkward conversation and realizes what has occurred.
  5. C speaks with A, covering the following:
    • You shouldn't watch your team-mates in that way, though she understands the temptation.
    • Yes, a trans girl can have their power because it is what's inside that matters.
    • Does B's boyfriend know? C doesn't know, and tells A not to ask.
  6. C, being a person who is used to the rules not applying to her and who is dating D, who is even more curious than A, eventually finds out how B is handling this fact with boyfriend (although at the moment I have no idea, so this may be cut).

Any feedback at all would be very appreciated.
 

kuwisdelu

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This means either introduce a less developed character JUST for this, or go with something even more challenging for me as a writer: writing a trans girl with an on-page boyfriend.

I would say don't do the former.

As much as I applaud including diverse characters for no reason other than "why not?", they do actually need to be a part of the story, otherwise it's just tokenism.

First and foremost, you need to figure out what role this character actually plays in the story. Or examine your story, and figure out which character is actually trans.

I understand how that could be difficult with an establish cast when you don't want to add any more characters, but I'd be very disappointed to see a trans character introduced only to immediately disappear and have literally 0% impact on the story.

Also, if you have a trans girl who is more than a token "diversity character", I don't see why that requires her to have a boyfriend. For one, trans girls can be straight, lesbian, or any sexuality in between. Or, of course, be single.
 

ManInBlack

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Okay, let me explain.

I started this story with about 6 characters in mind, including some of the traits I've described, one of them being a male who makes most sense as somebody's established boyfriend (as my word count is already escalating, I'd rather not need to put much into introducing this character, so this is almost definitely the way I want to introduce him). Over time, I decided that the character I most wanted him to be paired with was the character I later decided was the one I was most comfortable with portraying trans (due to one already being "Girl A", several of the characters having the pitfalls I described above, and any remaining characters not being on-screen enough to have enough plot for the audience to ever know if they are trans or not). I am stubborn enough as a writer that I am not going to break off their relationship just because of a new element I'm not familiar with unless I fail to write their relationship through at least the first three drafts. It's not that I feel a trans character has to have a boyfriend to be in the story, it's just that I'm not allowing one to convince me to back down from the other unless I HAVE to give up.
 

Osulagh

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I want echo Kuwisdelu on the tokenism here. If the only purpose of having them in the story is to have a more diverse cast, and that character does nothing revolving around their unique attributes, I see no reason to have them.

Also, if someone is transgender, they wouldn't identify themselves as transgender nor would others (unless they find it weird, which you'd probably not want). They're "trans" because they wish to be a different gender or don't agree with their assigned one. Thus, a man to woman transgender might identify as a woman--and the purpose of saying otherwise would be to compound the idea for some important story element.
 

kuwisdelu

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I really think at this point you need to take a step back and solve your story issues before worrying whether you can write a good trans character.
 

Layla Lawlor

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I want echo Kuwisdelu on the tokenism here. If the only purpose of having them in the story is to have a more diverse cast, and that character does nothing revolving around their unique attributes, I see no reason to have them.

I might be misreading one or both of you here, but I think Kuwisdelu was saying that every character in the story needs to have a reason to be there, as opposed to appearing ONLY to increase the story's diversity, which I agree with .... not that a trans character's status needs to be part of the plot in order to be included. I disagree most emphatically with that -- trans people exist in the world, so there's no reason why a member of the cast can't "just happen" to be trans with no plot significance at all.

Anyway ... I gather the gist of the OP's question is how to convey that a minor character is trans in a natural-seeming way, right? Personally, I don't see why your scenario wouldn't work -- someone else sees her bathing, has some questions which a third party answers, and bang, you've established that she's trans without making a big deal about it.

If shared baths or shared locker rooms are a thing for the girls (and also depending on the personalities of the people involved) you might be able to do it in a way that relies even less on coincidence, by having the trans girl explain to the others to avoid misunderstandings: "You might mistake my body for a boy's body, but it's not, because I'm really a girl. But I didn't want you to be startled when you see me take my clothes off." Or something of that nature. Obviously there's a certain risk of this coming across overly didactic/preachy, but it's the sort of situation where you could have a character come right out and explain their situation in so many words without it feeling like an authorial intrusion, because it's the sort of situation where someone might.

(I am not trans myself, so there might be pitfalls to these scenarios that I'm not seeing, however.)
 

kuwisdelu

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I might be misreading one or both of you here, but I think Kuwisdelu was saying that every character in the story needs to have a reason to be there, as opposed to appearing ONLY to increase the story's diversity, which I agree with .... not that a trans character's status needs to be part of the plot in order to be included. I disagree most emphatically with that -- trans people exist in the world, so there's no reason why a member of the cast can't "just happen" to be trans with no plot significance at all.

I applaud inclusion of trans characters regardless of whether their identity is significant to the plot.

I shake my head at characters of any kind with no plot significance at all.
 

ManInBlack

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I might be misreading one or both of you here, but I think Kuwisdelu was saying that every character in the story needs to have a reason to be there, as opposed to appearing ONLY to increase the story's diversity, which I agree with .... not that a trans character's status needs to be part of the plot in order to be included. I disagree most emphatically with that -- trans people exist in the world, so there's no reason why a member of the cast can't "just happen" to be trans with no plot significance at all.
That's the same conflict I had. While I don't want to be one to write a character just for the sake of the mythological checklist that some people claim diverse writers have, I don't want to slide to the side of "character must have a reason to not be SWM or else must be SWM as default" as some people seem to hold firmly to.

Anyway ... I gather the gist of the OP's question is how to convey that a minor character is trans in a natural-seeming way, right? Personally, I don't see why your scenario wouldn't work -- someone else sees her bathing, has some questions which a third party answers, and bang, you've established that she's trans without making a big deal about it.

If shared baths or shared locker rooms are a thing for the girls (and also depending on the personalities of the people involved) you might be able to do it in a way that relies even less on coincidence, by having the trans girl explain to the others to avoid misunderstandings: "You might mistake my body for a boy's body, but it's not, because I'm really a girl. But I didn't want you to be startled when you see me take my clothes off." Or something of that nature. Obviously there's a certain risk of this coming across overly didactic/preachy, but it's the sort of situation where you could have a character come right out and explain their situation in so many words without it feeling like an authorial intrusion, because it's the sort of situation where someone might.

(I am not trans myself, so there might be pitfalls to these scenarios that I'm not seeing, however.)
I can see where you mean, but at least the way I'm understanding the character to be is that she's only really comfortable telling the person in charge of the group. The fact that this girl does receive powers that only females are capable of inheriting is the preachy moment, if anything, and when I write her "origin" scene (most likely just for my own integrity than to appear in the story, except in bits) that is going to be a defining moment for her.

As for the bathing, the setting lends itself more toward sharing a bathroom with a roommate than anything else, so this might be an alternate way to portray this if I rework the story a bit. The idea my suggestion is that this is a group used to having bedrooms but comfortable enough in a protracted period in wilderness to go off and bathe on their own, and that spying in such a circumstance is a very believable thing to happen (at least, with the character traits I described).
 

Layla Lawlor

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I applaud inclusion of trans characters regardless of whether their identity is significant to the plot.

I shake my head at characters of any kind with no plot significance at all.

Yes, excellent, that's what I thought you were saying. And I agree. :D
 

Osulagh

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I might be misreading one or both of you here, but I think Kuwisdelu was saying that every character in the story needs to have a reason to be there, as opposed to appearing ONLY to increase the story's diversity, which I agree with .... not that a trans character's status needs to be part of the plot in order to be included. I disagree most emphatically with that -- trans people exist in the world, so there's no reason why a member of the cast can't "just happen" to be trans with no plot significance at all.

I'm saying that anything introduced to the story should have a reason for being there other than to fulfill some standard that doesn't matter to the story (like diversifying the cast, tolkienism), and that if a specific attribute for something should come out that it should have a reason for existing within the story (other than to fulfill another standard).

I believe as a writer, if anything should be added to a story it should have some point to it. It doesn't have to have a monumental reason for its existence, like to be directly connected to the MC's goals and without it the MC wouldn't be able to meet their goals. But the purpose of that element should change the story somewhat, even the teeniest, tiniest bit.


I must state: I'm focusing on written fiction. Anything that would be made into a visual medium might require, depending on the circumstances, a more diverse cast. For example, in a novel, you don't have to mention skin color whatsoever until it becomes important. It can just not come up and that's fine. But, if you're writing a screenplay for a show that takes place in New York city, certainly there's going to be someones who's not just white in the cast or else that might be seen as off or completely wrong.
 

ManInBlack

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I applaud inclusion of trans characters regardless of whether their identity is significant to the plot.

I shake my head at characters of any kind with no plot significance at all.
Thanks for clarifying, because I was a little confused at your posts. Partially because I've gone out of the way not to say anything about the characters that's not related to what I'm asking for advice on to avoid clutter. I do want to re-iterate that while gender, orientation, etc, are traits of these characters, it is not the most important trait in any of them, although some of the symbolism-related details might make the girl who does the peeping in the above scenario's orientation more important by writing them out (she happens to be a werewolf, with all the metaphors that implies).
 
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Diana Hignutt

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Only include a character if they move the story forward.
 

JimmyB27

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I'm saying that anything introduced to the story should have a reason for being there other than to fulfill some standard that doesn't matter to the story (like diversifying the cast, tolkienism), and that if a specific attribute for something should come out that it should have a reason for existing within the story (other than to fulfill another standard).
Do you have straight, cisgendered characters? For what reason do they have those attributes?
 

KimJo

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In my opinion...

Yes, if a character exists in a story, they should have a solid reason for existing there *other than* "Oh, I need a trans/gay/bi/queer/etc. (or any other "diverse" character type) character so I'm gonna put one here."

But, I disagree that if a character who serves a purpose within the story *is* diverse in some way, there should be a reason why they're that way. A character doesn't need a reason for being trans* any more than a real-life human being needs a reason for it. They simply *are*.
 

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I'm kind of in a similar situation. I find the identity of gender fluidity to be an interesting topic and I've thought about making a character I'm writing Trans, but I've got a few issues.

Basically, said character had been a background character in my first novel, but it looks like he might play a bigger part in the sequel, but I don't know how to go about revealing his complicated gender identity without feeling like I'm pulling the rug out from under readers. Granted a little rug-pulling in fiction is good, but too much and the reader will shout, "Oh come on!" and throw your book against the wall. I'm worried that saying, "Surprise! He's biologically female!" might be too much of a rug-pull, so I'm wondering if I should just back out and make him cis.

But maybe some of commenters on this board will have some good suggestions for me.
 

ManInBlack

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If the characters feels trans, they probably are. The idea of the rug-pull comes from subconscious heternormativity: it feels unusual that trans people exist, so it feels like a surprise for the character. Reread the first novel with the idea that this character is trans the entire time. If there is a scene that strikes you as "wait, that doesn't work!" that is when you should seriously start to question it.

While I'm posting in here...this is probably pointless, and probably won't come up, but I want to be in my character's head, and every bit helps. The girl in my story happens to be a training witch/sorceress/your preferred term. Obviously somebody who is affected by any sort of body or gender dysmorphia undergoing training to impose your will on reality is going to have it affect them...anything to consider other than the obvious?
 
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Viridian

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Basically, said character had been a background character in my first novel, but it looks like he might play a bigger part in the sequel, but I don't know how to go about revealing his complicated gender identity without feeling like I'm pulling the rug out from under readers. Granted a little rug-pulling in fiction is good, but too much and the reader will shout, "Oh come on!" and throw your book against the wall. I'm worried that saying, "Surprise! He's biologically female!" might be too much of a rug-pull, so I'm wondering if I should just back out and make him cis.
What level of technology is available to your character? What's the setting? It's up to you how obvious his female biology is and what his body looks like.

Here's a suggestion: have him take his shirt off. A transman who has had top surgery (surgery to give him a male chest) recently may have visible scars on his chest. A transman who hasn't had top surgery might wear a binder to flatten his breasts.

There are a couple trans characters in Dragon Age, and I like how the writers handled it. The first trans character (a woman) was revealed during a capture scene. She's chained in a dungeon, and her dress is ripped to reveal she has a male chest. Beyond that, I don't think her trans identity is ever discussed.

The second trans character is a man. It comes up naturally during a conversation. He makes a joke about binding his breasts, and then the player character has the option to act surprised and question him.

EDIT: also, please don't make your character cis! :) Even if you don't find a way to explicitly mention he's trans, you don't have to make him cis. He can just be... well, a trans character whose trans identity is never revealed in the book.

It doesn't have to be a big deal. Say your characters are on the run and suddenly he's like, "Fuck, this binder is hard to run in." And he unzips/unlaces his binder and continues on his way. Or say someone who knows he's trans makes a rude comment about his biology. Or say he's chatting up a girl at the bar, but suddenly he gets bashful and backs off, and later he mentions he's uncomfortable having sex with women because he's not sure how to bring up the fact he's trans.
 
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Emermouse

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If you're wondering, the story is a Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic where the adults are dead as result of a virus. So that in itself kind of limits how far my character can go with his transformation. In fact, I've been reading up on Trans Men, and trying to figure out what means are available to my character. Yeah, I know there are several, low-tech ways of strapping and packing so to speak, but I also wonder about other stuff he could do. I suppose he could get access to hormonal therapies from hospitals and pharmacies and whatnot, but yeah, that sounds like a risky avenue to go down.

I have sketched out a rough background for him. He knew from an early age that he was boy, no matter what everyone else said. It was a long time before he stumbled onto the concept of being transgender, but once he did, he pretty much did everything he could to educate himself on passing, the tricks and all that, dreaming of someday trying them for himself.

But the trouble is, his family couldn't except him as a boy, so he spent much of his childhood miserable, trying to be the girl everyone considered him to be, all the while feeling like some freak of nature: he couldn't be the girl people wanted him to be, but he also couldn't be accepted as a boy, so he existed in some kind of weird netherworld.

As horrible as it sounds, when the Virus hit and his family died, he was sad, but at the same time, losing his family provided an odd form of liberation. He could walk away from his old life, move to some place where no one knew him, and be the boy he always wanted to be. He feels vaguely guilty about this, that his freedom came at the cost of people he cared about.

But for the most part, everyone regards him as a guy and generally have no reason to see him as anything else. That's one of the beauties of the post-Virus world; generally, people assume you are who you say you are, unless presented proof otherwise. No one has to worry about papers or anything anymore. He has fallen in love with a girl and together they've gathered together a bunch of mechanics and builders and inventors and look forward to getting everything up and running again. But the problem is, yeah, he hasn't exactly figured out how to go about giving voice to his complicated identity. As a result, he's more or less accepted that there's a limit to how close he can get to the girl he loves.
 
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