There’s No Such Thing As ‘Trans Enough’ – And Here’s Why

June 1, 2015 / Ronnie Ritchie

If someone comes out to you as trans, your job is to affirm and validate – not argue. Otherwise, you look like this.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

(A trans woman and two cis people, one a politician in a suit and another a doctor dressed nicely and with a white coat, stand opposite each other.)

Panel 1

Trans Woman: I’m finally saying it! I’m a woman!

Politician: (skeptical) Excuse me?

Doctor: (also skeptical) Says who?

Panel 2

Trans Woman: (confused) Says me? I’ve felt this way for years, I’ve just been too nervous! I don’t want to get hurt…

Politician: (scoffs) So you just decided a few years ago!

Panel 3

Trans Woman: (bargaining) Okay, I’ve felt this way since I was a kid! I never liked boy things.

Doctor: Then why do you still look like a boy?

Trans Woman: But…

Panel 4

Trans Woman: (displays the skirt of her new dress, looking a bit desperate) Uh, look! I bought this new dress! (quietly) Pants are still more comfy, though…

Politician: We’re supposed to trust a man in a dress?

Panel 5

Trans Woman: (upset) But you said—

Doctor: (interrupting the trans woman) Are you questioning our authority?

Panel 6

Trans Woman: (growing frustrated, is visibly older, as it’s been a few years) Ok, I’ve spent most of my money seeing a doctor and paying for hormones. Am I a woman to you now?

Doctor: (putting on airs) But the most important aspect of sex is…

Panel 7

Trans Woman: (outwardly upset, again it has been a few years since the last panel, the trans woman is no longer a young adult) LOOK, I got genital reconstruction surgery!* And I didn’t even really WANT it! Will you recognize me as a woman NOW?

(Footnote: *The better term would be gender affirmation/affirming surgery)

Panel 8

Doctor: Hmm… I suppose, yes.

Trans Woman: (looks relieved/exhausted) Phew!

Panel 9

Politician: (crosses arms) I’m still not convinced!

Trans Woman: …

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Ronnie Rene Ritchie is a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism, an illustrator, and storyteller working out of Peterborough, Ontario. Since graduating from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon with a BFA in Illustration, Ronnie has had work featured in galleries and sex shops across North America, and their autobiographical webcomic, GQutie, has seen its popularity soar online. Learn more about GQutie, Ronnie’s illustration, or follow them on Twitter @ronithebear.