Okay, I kinda just came up with this on the fly. I complain about the lack of MTF representation… well, everywhere. I’m doing this to (hopefully) make it a little easier for us to cosplay. I’m speaking from experience mostly.

I’ve made it very clear that I hate the whole “trap” thing. Did I used to do that? Unfortunately yes. Do I regret it? Hell yes. As a stupid kid, I didn’t realize the implications of what I was doing. People are ignorant of trans* issues, and I’m sorry, but a bunch of guys cosplaying girl characters just to “fool people” aren’t helping. Why? Well, stupid people can’t tell who’s supposed to be trans* and who isn’t, especially those who don’t pass well. Don’t be a jackass and go up to someone who may or may not be crossplaying and say something like “oh you’re a guy?”. That’s fucking rude, especially when you’re wrong.

 Don’t suggest your transgirl friend to cosplay a crossdressing male/trap character. That’s uncool and it’s typecasting. Let’s combine this situation with the previous one, shall we? Your friend decided to be nice and she agreed to be, fuck if I know, Bridget for your Guilty Gear group. Someone goes up to your group and sees your friend and they say, “Oh, I love how your Bridget is actually a guy!”

Put yourself in her shoes. Can you imagine how that feels? I can tell you how. It’s like being punched in the face. It fucking hurts. Seriously, I have less troubles out in the “normal world” than I do at cons when it comes to passing.

Oh, and if your good-looking male cosplayer friend comes out to you as trans? Don’t tell them you don’t want them to be trans because you don’t want to lose a good-looking male cosplayer. I HAD THIS HAPPEN TO ME. TWICE. IT IS THE MOST UNCOOL. DO NOT DO IT. IT IS FUCKING RUDE. You should be more concerned with the shit they’ll have to put up with in an outside of the cosplay scene, not that you’re “losing a cosplayer”. 

And if someone misgenders your friend at the con and they’re too scared to correct the person? Find some way to correct the asshole. It can be subtle, just using a she or something. It works best when you’re like, “What are you talking about? She’s not a trap.” Make the person feel like they fucked up. Because they did.

I’m trying not to make this sound like an instruction manual or whatever. It shouldn’t have to be said, but well, it does. I’m doing this so other MTF cosplayers don’t feel so alienated. Remember, being a good ally can go a long way!