Board Thread:Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asgard/@comment-32364251-20171218232652/@comment-31030540-20180608035807

Everything about Alex's character was to do with her gender, even her choice of books and that's not at all realistic. On the one hand, as a genderfluid person I'm inclined to agree. On the other hand, as a genderfluid person I kinda get it? My gender identity is a really important part of my life. I, as well as many other trans people, are very proud to be visible. I like to see Alex being visibly trans. It makes me really happy, that this person--this hero-- is someone just like me. And having the main character of a well-known series be in an LGBTQ+ relationship of some form is such a huge step for us as a community! Like, it almost never happens unless it's something made for us specifically. This is a popular series for kids and young adults, many of whom would never have heard about these topics before or would have them hidden from them by their parents. I find Alex's character to be a huge step forward, even if she's a bit rough around the edges as a person. Out of all of the series written by cis people I've read in my life that have trans characters, he's definitely the best. In other stories it's used as some kind of sick plot device, or just never brought up except for offhandedly in a bonus blurb. Not only that, but she's the only major trans character in a non-LGBT focused work I've seen who has been romantically involved with the protagonist.

Sometimes, gender identity can be all-consuming. Especially for genderfluid folks like me and Alex. We have to be able to fully understand where our gender identity is at any given moment in order to feel comfortable. Typically my gender stays stable for days or weeks at a time, but it's not like I wake up and I automatically know what gender the day is going to be. I have to go through and essentially gauge how bad I feel about any given thing at the moment and try to make sure my clothing matches that. And if I have to rush, I often get it wrong and spend the rest of the day feeling awful. And maybe some trans people don't have it invade every aspect of their lives, but people like me exist too.