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Audio readings of TRANSlating Everything content and wacky discussions!
Hi! I’m Stephenie, and I wrote this.
Or spoke it, depending on how you found it.
Note: this article is also available as a podcast or video
TRANSlating the Only Sensitivity Read Checklist You’ll Ever Need
I’m trans, I’m neuro divergent, and though I’m now mostly retired from publishing, I served for over a decade as a developmental editor for award-winning and best-selling authors who push the boundaries of identity, orientation, and self-empowerment.
Note that several of these books were edited under the deadname “Stephen Morgan” given to me by the parents who tried to protect me by giving me a boy’s name and attempting to convert me into a man
Throw out your trans sensitivity read checklist
For the love of all that is gender non-conforming, throw the trans sensitivity checklist out the window.
Okay, wait. This list is actually helpful. Go get it. I’m sorry I asked you to throw it away. It’s just that on its own, that will never be enough.
Almost every author I’ve worked with has been cisgender. It’s not their fault — a lot of them may not even be cisgender. They just don’t fit under what we currently identify as “trans.”
When it comes to sensitive representation of transgender characters in fiction — whether that be main or side characters — authors who are cisgender or still figuring things out utilize what are sometimes called Sensitivity Readers.
That means they ask someone who is actually trans to please read their work and let them know what they missed. It is the author’s responsibility to receive that feedback with grace.
Sometimes, the author missed a little. Sometimes, the author missed a lot. As long as they come to the table in good faith, a Sensitivity Reader meets that author in good faith to use this as a learning and growth opportunity.
Why I’m No Longer Talking To Cis People About Gender
The scale of trans representation depends on the author and the story, but these authors are coming from a good place. They want to be allies. They want to expand the boundaries of diverse representation in all forms of storytelling.
And yet they get it so wrong.
It’s not like they mean to get it so wrong, but I want to tell you the most commonly absent component in fiction about trans characters that is written by cisgender authors.
It’s partly why I’m no longer talking to cis people about gender, let alone doing trans sensitivity reads.
Sensitive trans representation requires more than a checklist
Unless you are telling a story from an omniscient or somehow-removed character’s point of view — such as the narrator, like in a Coen Bros movie — your story is told through the point of view of one or more main characters.
According to Walter Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm, those characters don’t need to be actual people. Readers will perceive components of your story as characters, even if they’re just Table vs Chair: Civil War.
But I’ll take a “cite or ban” swing and say that most stories are told from the lived experience of one or more main characters whose existence is defined within the context of your story.
A character’s lived experience defines how they are written across the entire story. Their lived experience defines the tone and intuitive implications from reading the story in their point of view versus another character’s.
Here it is: the most common revision opportunity for cis authors writing trans characters
When it comes to the trans representation for anyone’s story, the most common revision opportunity I encounter for cisgender authors is to more deeply bring the reader into the lived experience of being trans or otherwise gender non-conforming.
Note what I said: the lived experience.
Do you have any lived experience for being trans? Gender non-conforming? Non-binary?
If the answer is no — then consider whether you need to stop trying to write those characters.
At least for now!!
Stephen King said a writer always telling the truth doesn’t mean a writer has to only tell stories from stuff they’ve literally experienced, but he means stuff like whether you can write about time traveling to save John F Kennedy despite you being nowhere near the president that day.
That’s different than asking a cisgender author to write from the lived experience of a trans or gender non-conforming person. Some cisgender people experiment with being gender non-conforming as a performative measure, but let’s be clear. Being able to present as gender non-conforming without actually being gender non-conforming is a privilege.
Until we’re at that place where everyone has equal opportunities to perform as a trans character— y’all gotta stop wearing Transface
An author can’t provide sensitive trans representation by merely making sure to say certain things, use certain words, or include/avoid certain story tropes. Sensitive trans representation requires the author to be able to insert themselves into the lived experience of being gender non-conforming in whatever world in which the author’s story takes place.
Having said that…there is one aspect of being trans that needs to be highlighted. Put a big neon sign around it. Accept what it’s like for that big damn thing to never, ever leave.
Include this one thing and you can play around with the rest.
That’s right, my queer family, it’s that ever-present monkey on our backs, the one and only most common aspect of being trans: gender dysphoria.
See also BBC GAMING: How Donkey Kong Became A Trans Icon and their podcast episode
Donkey Kong (Nintendo) from Donkey Kong, Trans Rights And The Power Of Spite
What’s gender dysphoria?
A fancy way (aka my way lol) of defining gender dysphoria is: “the sense that your personhood is misaligned with the physical embodiment of your gender.”
That means that all sorts of people experience gender dysphoria, including those of us who are intersex, non-binary, trans, or some other form of gender non-conforming. Heck, even cis people experience gender dysphoria.
What do you think they discover about themselves if that gender dysphoria persist for years? If it only gets worse the more they lean into one gender or any gender? They might be — yep — trans.
More Than Our Genitals, More Than Our Brains
Gender dysphoria usually — but not always — plays an essential and constant part in a trans person’s lived experience. It is overwhelming. It is persistent. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, as well as the images and words that most effectively express what we experience.
Everyone has experiences of dysphoria, but trans people are triggered into Gender Dysphoria. Your mission as an author is to reflect on the page what it’s like to be surrounded by those triggers throughout the story.
As the storyteller, your job is to flesh out how the character experiences your story beyond making sure to hit the stereotypical touch points of being trans.
Trans people are more than tragedy. That is why a story from a trans author can resonate so deeply with trans readers while seeming just okay to cisgender readers. That is why Black Panther or Wonder Woman resonated as powerfully with their target audiences as most movies tend to resonate with the dominant CISHET culture of white male cisgender horndog grievances.
I’m not saying you can clock an authentic trans voice just from reading it, but there’s a reason noted trans phenom Abigail Thorn/Philosophy Tube included a joke in her recent play The Prince that got a bigger applause depending on how many trans people were in the audience.
Meanwhile, self-identified comedians like Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock can’t seem to tell a joke about trans people that isn’t outrageously offensive.
They should try listening to actual trans and non-binary comedians like Eddie Izzard, Jay McBride, and Mae Martin. Whatever you do, don’t support transphobic comedians like America’s Got Talent winner Terry Fator.
You either get it or you don’t.
The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling | ContraPoints
That is why sensitive trans representation comes from an expression of self that may not be possible for a cisgender author. You can’t write about the lived experience of being trans if you’re literally not trans.
This is the reason why well-intentioned cisgender authors so often struggle to write trans characters with respect and sensitivity. It is not because they have malicious intentions, but because they have no genuine insight into what it’s like to have no choice but to be gender non-conforming.
Further questions for cisgender people to explore your gender non-conforming experiences
Looney Tunes (Warner Bros)
On the other hand, what if you limited what you wrote to your own lived experiences? What if I promised you’ve already had plenty of gender non-conforming experiences to draw from?
What if your support helped us next deliver an inspiring set of questions to get you started?
Whatever you discover in yourself, those truths are what you can authentically flesh out into your characters and story. Speak from the heart and be clear you are speaking your truth.
10 Examples of excellent trans and other gender non-conforming representation
5 Essential Books For Exploring Transgender Identity & Sexuality
13 More Free Streaming Trans Movies
8 Foreign Films About Trans Women
17 Incredibly Short Transgender Short Films
5 Free Trans Movies Better Than Anything On Netflix
Intersex Media Representation From Around The World
The Newcomer’s Guide to TransTube
Brothers and Sisters! Two Cool Trans Mini-Series On YouTube Better Than Anything On Netflix
Recreating Opening Night For Abigail Thorn’s Acclaimed Play “The Prince”
You’ll Never Watch The Matrix The Same Way Again
Find all of our episodes and expansive bonus content at the TRANSlating Everything Substack.
You can support TRANSlating Everything by becoming a free or paid subscriber — or by just leaving a review on Apple Podcasts.
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