I think, as trans women, the first in-fiction representation we see of ourselves is extremely important, since we're such a miniscule minority. The first trans woman i ever experienced in fiction was when i was a *very* freshly cracked young egg who still wouldn't be able to medically or socially transition for over half a decade. I may look back and cringe ever so slightly at it, but it was SO SO important to me.
The fictional trans woman in question was a character introduced near the closing arc of a DnD podcast i was listening to at the time, ran by four white dudes; great start, i know. Looking back, it was far from perfect representation, it was awkward at times, but what was obvious to me at the time was how this trans woman was presented as HUMAN. As a fully realized woman capable of agency and who wasn't defined by the fact that she's transfem. She had a love story, a motivation, so so many talents, a goal that she chased and fully believed in. She was so so funny, she loved her friends and her friends loved her, they cared for her, they sought her ought tirelessly when she vanished.
That story showed me that sometimes, all you have the time to write is "back soon" on a napkin, and that thats okay, your friends will still search and wait for you. And when she returned, she was welcomed with so much joy. Sometimes when my young self would listen to it, she almost felt real. it felt like if i was brave enough, i could be just as talented and funny as she was, that i could be a woman and be loved just like her. She was fictional, but i still remember how real she felt.
Had it not been for her, for her existence as transfem character in some silly DnD podcast, i genuinely do not know if i would've survived the years of brutal suppression under my parents. I relistened to that podcast countless times, always eagerly awaiting the first hints of her, and her first appearance in the story. When i did my first shot of E, i remember thinking of her. It was the Best Day Ever, and i only got there because of her. She wasn't perfect, not by a longshot, but i'm still grateful. Thanks, Lup.
