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Transphobic stuff in North American publishing that isn't immediately obvious to cis people, a thread:
1. Books that conflate menstruation/pregnancy with femininity, especially fantasy books where they're seen as 'women's magic'
2. Books where a male character is given feminine attributes to signal he's a villain
2. Books where a male character is given feminine attributes to signal he's a villain
3. Books where characters cross-dress, but are still cisgender and no trans people appear
4. Books where historical trans people are portrayed as cis
4. Books where historical trans people are portrayed as cis
5. Books where the plot is 'a sympathetic cis person reacts poorly to a loved one's transition'
6. Books marketed as queer that contain only cis queer people
6. Books marketed as queer that contain only cis queer people
7. Lists of queer books that include no trans books
8. Book bloggers lashing out when trans people are upset about said lists
8. Book bloggers lashing out when trans people are upset about said lists
9. Closeted trans authors being forced to out themselves when the book community harasses them to 'prove' their queerness
10. Out trans authors being consistently misgendered at public events
10. Out trans authors being consistently misgendered at public events
11. The fact not a single trans woman works in editorial at a Big Five
12. The fact that not a single trans woman works editorial at any publisher I know of
12. The fact that not a single trans woman works editorial at any publisher I know of
13. Event staff not having the training to see misgendering as a microagression and being able to stop it
14. Event moderators asking trans panelists about their sex lives and misgendering them
14. Event moderators asking trans panelists about their sex lives and misgendering them
15. Cis white employers assuming trans POC in publishing will only work on 'issue books'
16. Cis white publishing teams expecting trans POC employees to speak for every marginalized experience
16. Cis white publishing teams expecting trans POC employees to speak for every marginalized experience
17. Not paying trans authors because their book is a 'niche issue book'
18. Not paying trans authors because their book isn't 'ownvoices enough'
19. NOT PAYING TRANS AUTHORS. There is a THEME HERE.
18. Not paying trans authors because their book isn't 'ownvoices enough'
19. NOT PAYING TRANS AUTHORS. There is a THEME HERE.
20. Trans people face SERIOUS ECONOMIC ISSUES getting into and staying in this industry. PAY TRANS AUTHORS. PAY TRANS EDITORS. PAY TRANS PEOPLE.
Look, I saw the letter, and no, I didn't sign it. Because asserting 'trans people are valid' does absolutely nothing to fix the fucking problem.
What would HELP would be for cis people in the industry to educate themselves about trans people and what transphobia looks like in books. What would HELP would be publishing taking the experiences of trans people seriously. What would help is PAYING. TRANS. PEOPLE.
If you're a famous cis author with a massive platform and you want to help trans authors, promote our books. Seek out trans collaborators for co-writing projects. Say no to speaking engagements without trans authors on the panel.
Here is a list: https://raystoeve.com/the-ya-trans-ownvoices-masterlist/
Here is a list: https://raystoeve.com/the-ya-trans-ownvoices-masterlist/
If you're an agent or an editor, seek out trans voices AND educate yourself on trans issues so you can better collaborate. Don't assume you're doing trans people a favor by working with them. This goes triple for working with trans POC authors.
If you're a reviewer, librarian, bookseller, reader--invest in trans books. Again, here's the link to the masterlist. Promote these books for *everyone* and not just to queer people. https://raystoeve.com/the-ya-trans-ownvoices-masterlist/
And one more thing: it IS getting better, and there's a lot of supportive people. I'm very lucky to have so many of them on my team! But there are still MANY problems and simply saying 'trans people are valid' does nothing to fix that!
Also, if you want to support me/my yelling about trans issues, you can pre-order my book about a trans boy challenging his ex for Homecoming King (links here: https://bit.ly/332bedO ) or add it on Goodreads ( https://bit.ly/2QhX2aR ) or even request it at your local library!
