How to handle a trans character?

[therosesword]

I agree with @scribesunlimited, don't beat people over their heads with it.

If it is extremely important to the story, then it takes a front seat in the bus. If it's part of their overall make up, subtly is the key otherwise it's too much like tokenism.

I can't remember what detective show I was watching but at some point it became part of the story where the detective's partner told him he was gay. There was a pause, the detective nodded and said "okay." and they went on with it. Later when it had to do with the story it was used but after that, nope. It was just part of this character's natural life, like getting up in the morning and having a cup of coffee.

I've had several trans people in my life for over 40 years, we get together for coffee, we exchange birthday and holiday greetings, we celebrate triumphs and go rock hunting at the beach. Same ol' same ol' life moving on at a natural pace. Usually we're just a bunch of girls getting together for a giggle.

Write hard, write true.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

I’m not trans but, I’ve got a lot of trans friends and coworkers. They’re just normal people. They don’t drink jet fuel for breakfast or anything. Sure they have a unique outlook and a particular set of struggles. Everyone had their own version of that though that’s unique to them and their life circumstances. Just treat them like people. It’s cool if you want to do sub-plots about what the particular challenges of living as a trans person are, but don’t make that their whole story. They still have to put on pants, eat tacos and do taxes like everyone else.

[Kiweevil]

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[nickolaidas]

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!

[scribesunlimited]

Just treat them like people.

Boy, if we could just learn that one rule, all of us, what an amazing world we'd have.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I agree about writing a trans character like any other one.
Now. If you choose to make these characters trans, there must be a reason. Maybe plotwise, maybe because you wanted to discuss some trans related issues, I don't know, but what I would do is focus any trans related talk around this reason that made you choose to write the character trans to begin with.

Also maybe it would be easier to respond to your concerns if they are more precise (maybe later on, depending on how advanced you are in your story writing). (For eg. I struggled a lot -and still somewhat do- to decide how to define/name a trans character I have and show them through the eyes of others, because it is not a modern real world setting so I have to guess and invent something realistic, while trying to not upset modern readers. Such more specific questions are easier to answer and may come up for you too in the future, don't hesitate to ask then).

[girinma]

Ohohoho, an opportunity to talk about myself!

With trans characters, I think it's very important to figure out how much your character wants to transition and how far along they are in their desired transition. From my observations, it's generally easier for cis authors to write that are near or at the "end" of their transition. Throwing an extremely stereotypical depiction of gender dysphoria makes it very easy to see a cis author that hasn't done the research. The longer they've been transitioning and the more time since they've come out, the less their life will revolve around being trans.

As others have said, it's really important to make your character well-rounded and have traits OTHER than being trans. But there's also the issue of totally ignoring it, which also comes off as really unrealistic. You'll want to think about how transphobic your fictional universe is, and how much it fits with the tone of your story. If you're going for realism, make it like reality! But for light-hearted stories, there's nothing wrong with having some escapism from irl bigotry. I bring this up because in a more transphobic setting, a character coming out as trans to another will be a larger symbol of trust than in a world where it's more casual.

There's also mentions of childhood! I was in the girl scouts as a kid and have many tales, but I can't bring it up when relevant if I'm talking with people who don't know I'm trans. Depending on when your characters came out/realized they were trans and their parental environment, they may have had more "male" or "female" activities in their youth, since we gender kids pretty strictly (at least in western society). Again, think consistency in the world - if people are more accepting, it's more likely for them to have come out earlier and experienced a more "cis" childhood.

And one last small thing - if your going for realistic transition and hormone replacement therapy, Lavelie is going to be taking testosterone injections or gels for his whole life! I truly love the look on people's face when I explain that no, I'm only "done" with my weekly testosterone shots when I die. There seems to be a common misunderstanding that HRT "ends" at some point.

[Van]

well, I don't want to spoil the story but there is one character who is sort of homophobic/transphobic but more so because she's sort of stubborn and blunt (also a bit selfish) She falls in love with Lavelie but doesn't know he's trans, when she finds out she questions her heterosexuality and no longer treats Lavelie like a guy anymore

Not from a malicious reason, more so because she's kind of an idiot with old believes.

[nickolaidas]

Sounds like a side-character-plot, which for me is a very good way of handling this.

[joannekwan]

Since you mention a character finding out Lavelie is trans, I advise avoiding compromising situations like stumbling in on him coming out of a shower/bath as a reveal. Instead, do something more natural like showing Lavelie implementing his HRT method.

[Stargazer31]

Try to avoid stereotypes. Don't make it their only personality trait!

[Van]

Oh no no no, not a anime situation like that He just explains it after she finds an old picture of him when Lavelie was still going by his born pronouns
this is him btw:

[indagold]

Just have the character introduction be organic. If the identity comes up in the story, have it flow naturally as with any character who has a less visible minority status. Conversations like these come up in like discussions with friends or partners, something more realistic plus the build up will add to character development like as other people said rather than haphazardly throwing it into the story.

[NickRowler]

My major issue I have had with trans characters, be them written by cis or trans people, is that most of the time they are not allowed to be happy. And what I would like to see is a trans character who isn't absolutely miserable the whole time.

[scribesunlimited]

I don't even think he has to go that far.
Does there have to be a reveal at all?

[joannekwan]

Not necessarily.
I'm just saying in regards to OP's story.

[scribesunlimited]

Right, of course.
But a character doesn't even really need to "come out" at all. Why just have the story go forward, again, without making a big deal out of the transgender issue, and get tons of respect that way?
I just don't think it behooves any creator to bring up a controversial, delicate subject like this and MAKE it something. Much more respect he or she (or they) gain by not calling any attention to it. .

[joannekwan]

I know but OP said that one of the plots is one character falling in love with Lavelie, learns that he is trans and then questions her own sexuality and fumbles with interacting with him.

[scribesunlimited]

I don't think this should be the story at all, I guess.
OP also mentioned this is a detective story so...make it one.
Is it going to be a mystery or a romantic drama?
shrugs just how I see it...

[joannekwan]

Look, I'm just giving more specific advice.
Like of course the best advice is to just treat characters no matter their background like people.
But as with handling a character's race, some things have to be paid extra attention to avoid any stereotypes or harmful tropes.