Look, despite my complicated relationship with TOH, I really, really loved the Knights of Guinevere pilot! It was gorgeous-looking, the characters were interesting, the gore was cool and gross, and it managed to criticize Disney while not dismissing the work and love people have for the characters and stories. Plus, I also went crazy with all the Utena references.
However, we shouldn't dismiss the way Dana responded to the tweet asking if Frankie was a trans woman:
For starters, it doesn't seem like she's just clarifying canon. It feels like she's shutting down the idea outright. There's no "oh, we didn't mean it but you're free to headcanon what you want". It's just "I'm a cis woman and I also have masculine-sounding nicknames. Sometimes the curtains are just blue". Which ignores the context, of Frankie being called "Franklin" - which is her male boss (who happens to be voiced by a trans woman btw) trying to intimidate her and Andi when he and his other male employees catch them smuggling Gwen away from him. Right before he threatens to pull off one of Frankie's teeth again. It doesn't come off as a friendly nickname, but as deadnaming, especially considering that he calls Andi by her full first name, Andrea.
"But when Frankie and Andi are kids Gwen calls Frankie "Francesca"!"
Right before that moment we are shown that Frankie is capable of hacking a claw machine for her and Andi to play. It's not a stretch to assume that she managed to hack the system that pulls the names from the guests to have in it her chosen name.
"But Dana had trans characters! She can't be transphobic!"
That's true. She had Raine, Eda's transmaculine non-binary love interest, the Collector, a antagonistic non-binary god-like entity with he/they pronouns that gets redeemed in the finale, the Titan, who declares himself as both "king and queen, the best of both worlds!", and Masha, a fem-presenting non-binary person from Earth. However, Dana never included an undeniable transfeminine character in TOH.
But ok, maybe she tried but couldn't get past the censors (after all, look what happened to the Moon Girl episode The Gatekeeper, centering the struggles of a recuring transfeminine character against a TERF rival coach, which was shelved due execs fearing transphobic backlash). Or, she didn't think of putting a transfem character in her projects, but she's still an ally, cause she called out Disney for shelving the episode after it leaked on the internet (still shows some blindspots in her writing, but it's still better than her being another JK Rowling).
However, when confronted with the idea of someone interpreting one of her main characters as transfeminine, she shuts it down. Completely. Something she never did to other trans headcanons in The Owl House. Why?
Because, conciously or not, she has transmisogynistic biases. Which is to be expected, considering that we live in a transmisogynistic society, which affects queer spaces, even in trans circles. That's why there's this whole TMA/TME binary, which is to discuss the ways tranfems are targeted by the intersection of systemic transphobia and misogyny at the same time, even from people who say trans women are women, but think they can't be targeted by misogyny cause they were assigned male at birth, or that all trans people are fucked over equally by transphobia.
"But how else could have Dana dealed with this?"
Well, she could maybe have taken a page out of Rob Renzetti's book:
Or maybe just said something like when she tweeted about Frankie and Andi being romantically involved:
That's why transfems and allies are so disapointed. Cause there was another way to handle the situation.
"But why do people care so much about Frankie being trans?"
Because there was the possibility of having a transfeminine main character! One who was strong, but also kind and smart. Who was stuck doing menial jobs and being abused by her boss but persevering and dreaming of being able to inspire others the way Gwen inspired her all those years ago! Who, while mentally ill and not looking very femine, wasn't demonized or made into a punchline!
Plus, it would give more layers to her character! Like, systemic transmisogyny being one of the (if not the main) reasons she can't work for Planet Park as an engineer despite being as capable as Andi, with the latter knowing this and not wanting to crush her dreams! Her getting super attached to Gwen due to her not only gendering her correctly, but also touching her kindly! The whole confrontation with Sparky, who tells her he can't giver her "special treatment" in front of the boys and asking her to fight "right" when she bites him!
Like, I get not wanting to take credit for rep you didn't intend, especially when the casting doesn't match, but the way Dana went with it, going all but "The curtains just happen to be blue", feels like a stab in the back from someone who seemed to be on your side, even if you lowkey expected it.
When trans women and their allies call out Dana's transmisogyny, they're not trying to "cancel" her or treat her as another JK Rowling. They're just disapointed on someone whom they wished wouldn't treat transfemininity as anathema.
It's not like Dana is fated to be a transmisogynist due to people calling her out. Like, I used to think transfeminism was on equal par with terfism, to the point of grilling a friend over it two years ago. Luckily for me, she entertained my questions and still considers me as a friend despite the risk she could be in if I decided to cancel her over my own ignorance. I later started following other transfeminists and managed to get the had out of my ass.
Point being. If you want be an ally to trans women, listen to them in good faith instead of dismissing their concerns so you can protect the image of a creator whose work you enjoy.
