Project MercuryTransfems.
While the creators of “Into the Spider-Verse” haven’t confirmed Gwen as trans, many fans are able to point out the obvious hints. In her room hangs a trans flag with the words “protect trans kids” on it, and her dad (a police officer) also has a trans flag on his jacket, which no other officer has. And of course, there’s her spider suit, featuring white, pink, and blue, the prominent colors of the trans flag.
(Unfinished post!)
Do I Pass? is a short visual novel, playable on web browsers and GameBoys. It centers around a trans woman taking the bus home, and wanting to know if she passes. Using a magic website, she casts a spell to find out. She leaves her body as a ghost and reads the minds of the people around her to see what they think of her. There are three different ways it can go, just as there would be in reality. She either passes, is misgendered, or is unreadable.
Bridget is a character from the Guilty Gear series who has a whole transition journey through her continuing storyline! She’s a bounty hunter that fights using a yo-yo and her teddy bear, Roger, who is mechanized and possessed by a ghost.
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Story:
Bridget grew up as the child of a high-class family, as the second part of a pair with her twin brother. Her town, unfortunately, was convinced that having two male twins was a sign of bad luck for the town, and would insist that the younger of two male twins be either killed or sent to an orphanage. To avoid either of these outcomes, her parents decided to hide her sex from the other townsfolk, raising her as a girl, though they felt extremely guilty about this, feeling that they were forcing her to live with such a massive secret.
Bridget was, as expected for a daughter of her social class, given extensive training and a quality education. Soon after, Bridget strove to go off on adventures outside her town, on a mission to bring wealth and happiness to her village while living as a man, to finally dispel their superstitions, for herself and for her parents. Soon after, she found exactly the call to action she was looking for, on a poster for a wanted Gear (person with supernatural powers turning them into living weapons), with a hefty prize of 500,000 World Dollars for killing her. She left to find her target as soon as possible, and found her target, named Dizzy, already defeated in the Forest of Demons. Though they had failed this first bounty, Bridget got right back on her feet to look for new targets.
This is where we find Bridget in Guilty Gear XX, which actually has multiple possible storylines and endings for each character that the player can reach, though these endings don’t affect where Bridget is at the start of the next game. On her search for new bounties, she meets I-NO, a time-traveling musician that thrives on chaos, and quickly convinces her of her skill as a fighter. I-NO gives Bridget a list of targets, which, in a sneaky little twist, are all not real bounties. While working through this list, Bridget battles multiple other playable characters, including Baiken, Anji Mito, Chipp Zanuff. In one storyline, Ky Kiske cuts through I-NO’s façade, telling Bridget that her list of targets is fake. In another storyline, she happens upon Dizzy once again while with the Jellyfish Pirates, and the two become friends. In the third storyline, Bridget meets Johnny, who tries to fight her, and the h***y b*****d tries to seduce her while the fight. Eventually during the fight, Bridget reveals that she in fact actually identifies as a boy, to Johnny’s embarrassment. Discouraged by her lack of success as a bounty hunter, she decides to pursue a new career as an entertainer. In the first ending, Bridget becomes a waiter and yo-yo performer at Jam Kuradoberi’s restaurant. In the other ending, she returns to her hometown, where her uncle tells her that her twin has left the village to look for Bridget.
We find Bridget as a famous bounty hunter when her story continues in Guilty Gear Strive, which takes place six years after XX. She’s finally become popular and successful enough to break her town’s superstitions towards her, and is now free to live as she wants to. Still working as a bounty hunter, but now aimless, Bridget begins to ponder her identity, as living as a man doesn’t quite suit her. She is soon hunted down by Goldlewis Dickinson, who strives to capture Roger, Bridget’s spirit-possessed teddy bear, for his cryptid collection. After losing the fight, he casually calls her “lil lady”. Though Bridget responds by correcting him that she’s a man, she does so with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm, which Goldlewis points out. Now in the midst of a full gender crisis, she once again finds Ky Kiske, who tells her to be herself, no matter what. There is another split in endings here, where in one ending she simply decides to ponder her identity further, and in the other she admits to herself that, though she’s scared of the truth, she is a trans girl, and finally chooses to live her life as who she truly is, regardless of what others think of her.
Wendy Carlos is a transfem composer that did soundtracks for multiple big movies, such as Tron, The Shining, and Clockwork Orange, and pioneered the use of synthesizers as musical instruments. Wendy’s album “Switched-On Bach” has won three Grammys, and was the album that proved that synthesizers could be a powerful instrument beyond being used simply for futuristic-sounding special effects.
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Life Story:
Wendy was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on November 14th, 1939, and had felt gender dysphoria since a very young age. At around age five or six, she told her parents that she strongly felt like a girl, and always loved having long hair and wearing feminine clothes, and was confused when her parents didn’t understand. While studying at Brown University, she went on a date with a girl, and felt extreme jealousy towards her date.
Wendy didn’t begin to understand these confusing feelings until she first encountered the concept of being transgender during her later studies at Columbia University, when she studied transgender issues. She underwent therapy with Harry Benjamin, a prominent sexologist who specialized in transgender people, in 1967, and began hormone treatments in early 1968. This was the same year her career really took off when her album, Switched-On Bach, reached platinum sales, cemented the synthesizer as a legitimate instrument in the musical world, and would eventually win three Grammy awards. While this sudden success was nothing short of amazing, it created a new source of stress for Wendy as well, as she was terrified of revealing herself to the world as a trans woman (the hormone treatments had slowly been changing her appearance to one more feminine). When she was invited to perform some of her synth Bach covers live with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, she disguised herself as a man while on stage, slapping on fake sideburns, a wig, and drawn-on facial hair in a panic right before her performance. She would later hide the same way when meeting Stanley Kubrick and when she appeared as a guest star on The Dick Cavett Show.
After Switched-On Bach, she released The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, building on her previous methods, and made music for Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, which included synthesized singing, an unheard-of technique at the time. In 1972, Wendy had saved up enough from the success of Switched-On Bach that she was able to afford bottom surgery.
Even after the surgery, Wendy wouldn’t reveal herself as trans until late 1978, during a series of interviews. She later said, in a magazine publication of these interviews, that she had always wanted to come out as trans, but had been extremely anxious to do so. As she said a couple years later, there wasn’t nearly as much an extreme public reaction as she was worried of. After these interviews were released to the public, she began releasing albums under her preferred name.
Wendy continued on to compose other movie soundtracks after her work in A Clockwork Orange, such as those of The Shining and Tron. She made several new albums (listed above), and at one point worked with Weird Al Yankovic.
She was officially recognized for her groundbreaking musical work in 2005, when she was given the SEAMUS 2005 Life Achievement Award.
Sidenote:
*Most of Wendy’s work can’t be found anywhere online, due to her dislike of music streaming services.
Ms. Rivera was a Puerto Rican transfem transgender rights activist that dedicated her life to the movement, fighting for trans inclusion in queer spaces, which was not always something that could be taken for granted. She was a prominent figure during and after the Stonewall Riot, and formed the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Marsha P. Johnson.
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Life Story:
Sylvia was born in New York into a very harsh life, with a father that was immediately absent and a mother who took her own life when Sylvia was three. She was then sent to live with her grandmother, who beat her when she began to try on feminine clothing and makeup. She was attacked by another student at school when she was in the sixth grade, was blamed for it, and suspended from school for a week as punishment. At age 11, she ran away from home, and resorted to prostitution as a means for survival.
A couple months later, Sylvia was found by a local group of drag queen, who took her in as one of their own. Among them was Marsha P. Johnson, who soon became her best and closest friend. It was one of these genderqueer role models that gave her the name that millions would know her by: Sylvia.
Rivera claims to have been involved in the Black Liberation movement in the following years, and participated in the Stonewall Riots during the summer of ’69 along with Marsha. She claims to have been the second protester to throw a Molotov cocktail at the police, and to have been at the riots for six straight days.
in 1970, Sylvia and Marsha founded STAR and their headquarters, STAR House, which doubled as a home for trans people in need. Though the STAR House didn’t last long, they gave the clothing and shelter to kids like them that they wished they’d had as kids.
The Stonewall Riots caused a massive change and boost of confidence within the queer rights movement, and the first pride parades began the following year, though drag queens and trans women were excluded. During one of these events in 1973, Rivera jumped onstage with a fellow drag queen, Lee Brewster, cutting off a feminist activist who was talking s**t about qenderqueer people. While being booed by the crowd, Sylvia gave her famous “y’all better quiet down speech”, speaking out about transgender exclusion in the larger trans community. A recording of her speech is linked here.
During all this, Sylvia had been struggling mentally and with substance abuse, with Marsha at one point claiming that she had problems with heroin, and frequently found herself homeless. After attempting suicide, she left New York and her work as an activist behind, but returned to the city when Marsha died in 1992.
After her return, she got back into the trans rights movement, and founded the Transy House in 1997, a building with the same goal as the old STAR House. Over time, she became known by some as the “mother of all gay people”, and eventually reformed STAR as the Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries. The new STAR pushed the New York City Transgender Rights Bill and for trans inclusion in the New York State Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, which were both in some way passed in later years.
During a pride parade celebrating the 25th anniversary of Stonewall in 1994, Sylvia was given a place of honor! She was finally thanked for her work by people on the streets celebrating at the parade.
Sadly, she died in 2002 from lung cancer, but her contributions to the cause still live on today.
Sidenote:
Though Sylvia claimed to have played a role in the Stonewall Riots, and some remember her being there, several sources, such as her friend Marsha Johnson, claim that she was never there. It’s possible that, if she in fact wasn’t there, she lied to give young Puerto Rican kids a role model.
Sophie (last name unknown), who prefers to go by Soph, is a transfem member of Super Trans with shapeshifting abilities.
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Story (SPOILERS!!)
Soph was originally a member of the trans support group Super Trans. When the Sinister Syndicate broke into the Matt Baker house during one of their early meetings, she helped fend them off, using her powers to take the appearance of D-Man, who she saved along with Spider-Man by working with the other teens. Soph was a member of Super Trans until it’s eventual disbandment, and fought alongside her teammates once again when Sentin-Ally crashed their first group reunion.
After this battle, Pity Girl called their team the X-Men in a viral video, getting attention the actual X-Men and Mojo, a powerful creature from another dimension known for abducting Mutants and casting them involuntarily in insane and dangerous reality TV shows, exactly what he did to the members of Super Trans. While the pilot episode was being filmed, Soph was suddenly killed by Mojo for shock value. However, Mojo Jr. was able to get her back to the writer’s room, where he was able to make her shapeshift into Wolverine, taking advantage of Wolverine’s advanced healing powers to bring her back from the brink of death.
The members of Super Trans were eventually rescued by the X-Men, after being trapped in slowed time for decades, during which thousands of episodes were recorded.
Nora is a transfem mutant in Marvel comics with the power to incapacitate her opponents by telling them her sad stories. She may have an uncomfortable relationship with her grandfather, based on some dialogue from her during a battle (“I cried, knowing I would never see my grandpa again because I didn’t like visiting him that much”).
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Story (SPOILERS!!)
Nora was a member of Super Trans during it’s entire duration, from it’s first meeting to it’s last. She was there when they fought the Sinister Syndicate alongside Spider-Man and D-Man, and was there when the group defeated Sentin-Ally. After that second fight, Nora called the team the X-Men, which captured the attention of both the real X-Men and a creature named Mojo ((more detail included here: https://trans-media.org/super-trans/).
Super Trans was a support group from Marvel comics for transgender mutant youth. The group would eventually become a hero team known as the Next Mutants, and included characters such as Shela Sexton, Morgan Red, and Good Arson. The choice to make this group all Mutants is perfect within the consistent themes of Marvel’s Mutant-related content, as Mutants were and are a stand-in for any oppressed group, ostracized and oppressed for who they are.
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Team History (SPOILERS!!)
Super Trans began as a support group for young, trans Mutants, run by D-Man at the Matt Baker House in Queens, New York. In an early meeting, they rescued Spider-Man when he was driven there by the Sinister Syndicate, an all-female iteration of the classic supervillain team, the Sinister Six.
Super Trans was later disbanded, due to the bigoty-driven controversy surrounding Mutants. However, the group’s members stayed in touch, and would later reunite. Their first meet-up was crashed by Sentin-Ally, a straight, cisgender ally obsessed with joining their team, who they quickly defeated. After the battle, Pity Girl made the mistake of calling their team the X-Men, which both caught the attention of the actual X-Men, and got them kidnapped by Mojo, a powerful creature from another dimension known for abducting Mutants and casting them involuntarily in insane and dangerous reality TV shows, exactly what he did to the members of Super Trans. They were trapped in slowed time for decades, during which thousands of episodes documenting their harsh struggles were recorded. They were eventually rescued with help from the X-Men and Mojo’s grandson, Mojo Jr., and adopted their current name, the Next Mutants.
Notes:
In the Marvel Comics universe, Morgan Red is Shela Sexton‘s best friend, and, like Shela, is transgender! Morgan is a transmasc mutant with exceptional computer skills, and works freelance as a game designer. Morgan has the fun ability to turn anything organic into chocolate!
Other info:
Story (SPOILERS!!)
Born in Medford, Massachusetts, Morgan became best friends with Shela Sexton when they were in fifth grade. After the two moved into an apartment together, they both joined Super Trans, a support group for young transgender mutants.
Morgan was kidnapped by the U-Men, a group of humans obsessed with becoming mutants through any means necessary, along with Shela, Leo Eng, Wolfsbane, and Cerebella, during a rally in New York’s Washington Square Park. While fleeing the U-Men’s headquarters, Morgan used his powers to turn their stash of Kick, a drug that gives mutants a temporary high and power boost, into chocolate mousse.
He later moved to Astoria in Queens, New York, where Raine Sinclair, Wolfsbane, offered him a home in Krakoa, the sentient island that thousands of mutants at that time called home, an offer he declined. Instead, Morgan and Raine went shopping, but actually ended up finding a dragon in a lab located in the sewer system.
Description:
I/Me/Myself is a song about Will Wood’s experiences with his gender identity, and is a fairly well-known song within the trans community. The song blew up on TikTok because of a live performance he did, in which he switched out some lyrics and sang this instead: “My pronouns aren’t your business shitlord, I wish I could be a girl, and that way you’d wish you could kick my fucking teeth in”.
Song links:
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music
Full song lyrics:
I’ve been feeling lightheaded
since I lost enough weight to fit back in my skin
Flower petals and feathers tether me to the ground
(pound for pound)
Take my tea for formaldehyde
for my feminine side since the day that I died
While I whittle my bones until I’m brittle, am I pretty now?
For some reason I find myself lost in what you think of me,
and too confused to choose who I should be
and now you’ve got me thinking
I wish I could be a girl,
and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend
Am I pretty enough to lie to?
I wish I could be a girl,
and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend
Just little old me in a big, big world
Little old me in a big world
I wish I were a girl
I’ve been feeling lighthearted
since I gained enough weight back to cover, cover, cover my bones
I get dressed up in shadows one leg at a time – we’re so alike
But if the shoe fits, then I won’t try it on
You’ll be walking out early, but the show must go on
No, I know that I’m wrong
but I love how you’re on my side when I cross that line
It’s been a point of contention between myself
and this body that they stuck me in
The privilege of being born to be a man
and now you got me thinking
I wish I could be a girl,
and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend
Am I pretty enough to lie to?
I wish I could be a girl,
and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend
Just little old me in a big, big world
Little old me in a big world
I wish
Eating your prosthetic,
meet your anesthetic criteria
Pathetic seeing you become acetic
Say my name like a slur, but I’ve been called worse
And I’ve heard it all before, no this isn’t a first
Let me be the void you fill with taxidermy fingerprints,
taxonomize our differences
I am quantum physics,
my witness brings me into existence
I wish I could be a girl,
and that way you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend
Am I pretty enough to love back?
No, not yet
I wish I could be a girl,
and really I’d prefer it if you would use I/Me/Myself
Am I pretty enough?
Am I pretty enough to f*cking die?
Little old me in a big world
Well, I would give you my whole world
Little old me in a big world
I wish
(All identities are equally invalid)
(Don’t you think that there’s a chance that you could live without it?)
(All identities are equally invalid)
(Don’t you think that there’s a chance that you could live without it?)
(All identities are equally invalid)
(Don’t you think that there’s a chance that you could live without it?)
(All identities are equally invalid)
(Don’t you think that there’s a chance that you-)