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Ok ok ok I gotta take a moment to explain what this means to me. Because I am SO filled with joy!!
I grew up in the YA community. Literally, I made this Twitter account 10 years ago, when I turned 13.
I started realizing I was trans between ages 15-16. https://twitter.com/kacencallender/status/1300476411719884801
I grew up in the YA community. Literally, I made this Twitter account 10 years ago, when I turned 13.
I started realizing I was trans between ages 15-16. https://twitter.com/kacencallender/status/1300476411719884801
//cw suicidal ideation
Those were some of the hardest years of my life. I was suicidal, for multiple reasons, but one of the main ones was because I didn’t think trans people got to be happy, or loved.
Those were some of the hardest years of my life. I was suicidal, for multiple reasons, but one of the main ones was because I didn’t think trans people got to be happy, or loved.
That belief was supported by the most commonly known YA books with trans characters out there— Luna, Jumpstart the World, Almost Perfect. All written by cis authors, with cis protagonists, centered around how HARD it was for them to know a trans person.
Those books were HEAVILY supported by cis people in the community. Trans people weren’t even really talked about back then, but when they were, like when people asked for recommendations of books w trans characters, ALL of the recs would be these three books. Lmao.
And the conversation about them would be like “these books really opened my eyes!!! these authors are so brave to write about SUCH a controversial subject!!!”
All of the rhetoric around trans people was about how sad we were and how much of a burden we were on those around us
All of the rhetoric around trans people was about how sad we were and how much of a burden we were on those around us
And then there were the other books by cis authors that actually featured trans characters. That all followed the exact. same. NARRATIVE. 
and cis people LOVED THOSE too, because they were “so inspiring!!!” and “so informative!!!”
and cis people LOVED THOSE too, because they were “so inspiring!!!” and “so informative!!!”
meanwhile the characters would be misgendered and deadnamed in reviews and blurbs as a matter of course, and truly horrific language would be used to describe them.
like y’all, it was SO. BAD. ALL THE TIME!!!
like y’all, it was SO. BAD. ALL THE TIME!!!
I don’t think I can even explain how disheartening and poisonous all of it felt. Like, there were NO traditionally published YA books by trans authors. There was no feeling that that was even *needed.*
And there was no feeling that we had stories to tell, beyond the traditional heroic coming out narrative, that were interesting or worthy.
Oh and don’t get me STARTED on the things that cis authors of trans YA said on panels & interviews. I remember when I was like... 16? a cis author of my fav trans YA book told an audience member that they/them pronouns shouldn’t be used, bc of grammar. Like. Just point blank. Lol
Anyways, point is—
All I wanted as a teen was a book with a trans protagonist who got to live their life *and* dealt with the struggles of being a trans kid.
FELIX EVER AFTER is that book.
I never thought that, so soon after fighting these battles, ppl wld have so much love for a book like this.
FELIX EVER AFTER is that book.
I never thought that, so soon after fighting these battles, ppl wld have so much love for a book like this.
It is so, so healing. To see people love this ownvoices trans YA book that doesn’t cater to the cis gaze, that isn’t about making trans characters into inspiring figureheads. That’s just about a trans kid living his life.
To see a book like that be selected to be adapted into a TV series?? I have no words. NO. Words. It makes me so happy.
I hope that the trans teens of today & future generations never have to deal with the scarcity and lack that we used to. I hope they grow up understanding that their stories are worth telling.
