Thread by @wordofgreen

Straight cis folks often tell me some version of: "I don't mind LGBTQ people, but it's dumb when they make a book/movie/game character queer for no reason."

We're not symbols or story tropes. We're people & don't need a reason to exist in media other than we exist in real life.

And I feel like this mentality has a lot of crossover with folks who need to "understand" my transition before they can see and treat me as a human. They have a lot of inappropriate questions that start to feel like a checklist for meeting their approval to unlock humanity mode.

People tell me I'm brave for coming out, but I wish more folks appreciated the literal ocean of strength it takes to be closeted & spend your days being dehumanized by people who don't know they mean you. Often those barbs come from family, friends and others we love and respect.

I have crystal clear, excruciating memories of things people I loved with all my heart said about people like me before I fully understood who I was. They placed minefields of shame in my very being. But they probably don't remember. To them it was offhand, a standard comment.

And now those same people go "Why didn't you tell me?!" and feign hurt for not being included in the details of a life they made clear they disdained. They have no issue putting emotional responsibility on me because they never considered those jokes or gripes noteworthy.

And I guess my point is that it costs folks nothing, literally nothing, to see a character unlike them in media and go "cool." or at least "K." Because when you use LGBTQ folks in media as a punching bag, you're hitting more targets than you realize and some are close to home.

If anyone, or any media of any kind at any point in my childhood would have told me "Trans people are people too. It's OK, you're OK." it would have saved me years of self hatred, self harm, drug addiction and suicide attempts. I didn't hear the word transgender until I was 17.

Angel from "Rent" was the first time I remember seeing a gender nonconforming person cast in a sympathetic light. Imagine looking at that story at age 17 and having the arc of that tragedy be your only concept of what being your authentic self might look like.

So many times. Over & over & over the "reason" for trans characters to exist in media is tragedy. We're most often portrayed as punchlines, predators or perverts. Almost never just as people. And if people were allowed to just see us as people, we'd be infinitely happier & safer.

Anyway, since this is resonating with folks I want to say thanks to @ChuckWendig, @claudiagray, @GailSimone, @lilah_sturges, @MagsVisaggs, @persenche, & everyone else putting queer and gender non-conforming folks into the universes I grew up loving & the media I read/watch/play