I want to take this as an opportunity to say a few things.
A few years ago i was with some college gamedev friends and we were throwing around ideas for a visual novel. I suggested an idea for a transfem character, with a story delving on her experience, but it was shot down because "I dont want to write about a trans character when none of us are trans".
Now i was closeted- still am, but I didnt tell this person i was trans until a long time later. But that stuck with me. Like. In how many other people have artists - even cis artists - thought about writing a transfem character, or a trans character in general, and were shot down or didnt dare to do it because they "didnt have a trans person in the room" or "didnt want to offend anyone"
So here are my two cents:
1. If you want to write a trans character, do it. I would particularly appreciate a transfem character, because thats what i am personally. But regardless, i encourage you to have more trans characters in general in your stories, and even to play around with trans headcannons, either as au's or as interpretations of the text, including "same gender but trans" or "gender bending but trans". Even the acknowledgment of a character being trans can be strong, and if you take the time and effort to research and include experiences that are associated with being trans, it can be even stronger.
2. Of course, you can absolutely fuck it up. Even as a trans person you can fuck up. Part of researching is learning how to avoid fucking up, and even then, you will fuck up eventually as you will fuck up anything. That's why comments, reactions, even backlash (even when its awful and unwarranted), can be a way to learn. Not just "do whatever the commenter said" because then if a transphobe tells you to stop writing, that gets us nowhere. But pay attention to whats said, understand where it comes from. Even a hostile comment can come from a genuine pain that deserves recognition. Even if the person is wrong, it can still show you a perspective. And that can be a powerful thing to be aware of. Characters can have multiple perspectives, sometimes it puts them at odds. I encourage you to listen and take everything as an opportunity to learn.
2b. I also encourage you to talk to the trans people in your life! And if you don't have trans people in your life, meet more people. Some will be willing to help, some wont, and that's entirely fair. Treat them like how you'd like to be treated if someone was asking you about a personal experience. In general, if your friend is willing, discuss what being trans means for them! You can learn more about their experience! Take it as a chance to know your friend better.
3. Often times the issue is not that the rep is abhorrent, but that its the Only rep that's there. Sometimes you need to have multiple characters that experience different perspectives, if not across a single piece of art, then across your entire body of work. No label is a monolith. You need to make characters that can share labels, but are set apart by who they are at their core.
3b. As an example of that last point, there's a group of closely-associated "positive" stereotypes about transfems (anime girls, fallout new vegas, that one shark, etc). Some transfems delight in said stereotypes, others dont (i dont). Neither is wrong in a vaccum, but the problem is that if you treat all your trans women like a stereotype, it ends up reinforcing it. But if you have more than one transfem character, you can break those stereotypes while also having a character indulge in them, as plenty of transfems do. The key is variety here.
These are all points that i believe can also apply to other minorities, but mostly are written from a transfem perspective. I encourage you to be bold and write more trans characters! Have fun with it.
