How to Write a Transgender Character?

Writing a transgender character can feel intimidating if you’re not sure where to start, especially when you want to be respectful and accurate. Whether you're a cisgender or transgender writer, this guide will walk you through the process of creating a transgender character.

Process

1. Create the character you want to write by making sure they are well rounded and fit their role in the story.
2. Determine your character's gender identity. It can be male to female, female to male, or non-binary. Non-binary genders include demiboy, demigirl, androgyne, neutrois, and more.
3. Decide how much your character knows about their gender identity. Realizing that one is transgender can take a long time for some people and a short time for others, so you should decide what point of self-discovery your character will be at during moments of the story. Different phases of transgender discovery include:
   1. Denial: a stage in which a character denies their transgender identity.
   2. Questioning: a stage in which a character questions and explores their queer identity.
   3. Acceptance: a stage in which a character accepts their transgender identity.
   4. Detrans: a stage in which a once transgender character believes they're currently cisgender.
   5. Retrans: a stage in which a detrans character believes they're transgender again.
      • Note that a character's trans journey can stop at any phase.
4. Introduce your character without mentioning their transgender identity first nor only.
   1. When a character is revealed to be transgender, it should come naturally. For example, a character looks at the main character's childhood picture and realizes the protagonist is transgender.
   2. You don't need to tell your audience that your character is transgender. I's okay whether or not they figure it out themselves.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do's

• Talk to transgender people, read stories including transgender characters and do research on transgender topics and people. In general, learn about their experiences to understand your character better.
• If you know transgender people, have them read your work and listen to their feedback. What may sound innocent to you may sound offensive to them. Even as a transgender writer, you can make mistakes when it comes to representing transgender characters.
• Treat your transgender characters like cisgender characters, but allow their transgender problems to slip in. For example, your character can deal with being misgendered and losing a pet simultaneously.
• Include allies in your story to let them be integrated into society as a valid transgender person. Those who misgender or deadname a character can be good or bad, but in all cases, such remarks should be punished or they should correct themselves.

Don'ts

• Avoid offensive and inaccurate tropes and stereotypes like easy transition, non-binary equals non-human, and using the descriptors "gay", "hypersexual", "transvestite", "hermaphrodite" or "intersex" interchangeably with "transgender".
• Don't tell the readers about their dysphoric features, as it can play into casual transphobia. For example, avoid mentioning a transmasculine character's big hips or breasts.
• Unless your story revolves around a character's transition, don't go into too much detail about their transition. People are people, so you should develop your character beyond their trans identity.

External Links

• Useful Notes / Transgender (Tvtropes)
• How to Write Transgender Characters (The Phoenix News)
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Transgender Characters (Medium)
• How to Create Nonbinary Characters (All Write Alright)
• Writing Genderfluid Characters (Josie Kallo)