How to handle a trans character?

@nickolaidas Nickolaidas
Fri, 04 Dec 2020 17:08:10 +0000

@nickolaidas wrote:

What @scribesunlimited said. Being transgender should be an aspect of the character, not his defining trait. It would be like making an Asian character's defining trait being the fact that he's Asian.

Of course another character could react to it, or their transition could play a part with the characters' relationships with other characters. If you want to touch sensitive subjects like acceptance, validation or the ugly nature of homophobia, you should create characters who will help or hinder your character's growth accordingly.

Personally I do not want to act as if bigotry, sexism or homophobia do not exist in the world when I tell a story, so I do try to create characters who may act as bigots due to various reasons (self-esteem issues, immaturity, etc.). I like to think it's a way for trans or homosexual readers to relate to the character of the story when they see some of the hardships the character may encounter due to his gender or sexual orientation.

HOWEVER, those should be handled as sub-plots, especially in a story like yours which sounds like a different thing entirely. Hammering the 'homophobia is bad' plot point has been done a billion times in webcomics, so you won't be offering anything new by simply doing that.

My two cents, always. Whatever you do, I hope all the best!