I sometimes see people say that trans people shouldn’t make their lives be about being trans, that we should transition and move on, and not only is that fucking stupid for all the obvious reasons, but it’s once again applying to trans people a standard we don’t apply to cis people.
Like, I see the sentiment that we shouldn’t make or enjoy trans media about transition, about egg cracking, about first loves, that we should hope for characters who ‘just happen to be trans’, which is confusing.
Because I can find a hundred romance books about first loves, about realisations, about the characters discovering that they’re gay or bi or that they actually really do love big gruff biker men whose hands are five times the size of theirs.
Transition was a life-changing experience for me, a life-enabling one, and seeking out (and creating) entertainment that explores those feelings is no different from seeking out romance entertainment, as far as I’m concerned.
I don’t ‘just happen to be trans’. I’m a fucking trans woman.
