Transphobia in Fandom

Transphobia in fandom is an example of bigotry present in fandom communities. What exactly counts as transphobia within fandom is subject to debate, both within the fannish trans community and in more cis-centric circles. The following article discusses not only examples of transphobia, but also accusations of being transphobic between fans and critical analysis ofand engagement with transphobia in both canon and fandom, such as attempts at highlighting tropes perceived as transphobic, discussions about depicting transphobia in fanworks or dissecting transphobia present in the source canon.
==Transphobia in Fan Communities==
Even in fandoms whose canon don't feature trans characters or feature them in a non-transphobic way, fans may still be transphobic. This can take the form of:
*Discounting trans headcanons as unrealistic, disturbing, disruptive or unnecessary
*Telling fanwork creators they should have just made a character cis
*Fetishisation of trans bodies. This is a contentious subject. Some fans, trans and cis, feel that the high amount of pwp and other sex-related forms of fic among trans fanfic is evidence of fandom fetishising trans people. Others disagree partly or fully, including some trans people who write smut about characters who share their body type.
*Harassment of trans fans
*Misgendering of canonical trans characters
===TERFs in Fandom===
==Responses to Transphobia in Source Canon and by Source Creators==
Some canons are transphobic by themselves. Cyberpunk 2077, for example, has repeatedly come under fire for transphobia due to perceived fetishisation of trans women's bodies as well as tying the player character's gender to the voice selected in the character creator.cbr.com. How Cyberpunk 2077 Perpetuates Transphobia & Why Gamers Are Calling It an Act of Violence. 2020. This did not stop fans from reinterpreting canon to be more trans-friendly, however, as evidenced by the player character V having a high number of fics tagged with them being trans. archiveofourown.org.Trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse characters on AO3 (Oct 2021), Chapter 2. 2021.
An extensive amount of opinions on J.K. Rowling and her transphobia can be found on that page.
==Fanfiction Tropes==
There is a growing number of transfic stories, with many of these works created by trans and genderqueer authors. There have been accusations of transphobia related to some transfic works, with readers highlighting that stereotypical characters are often chosen to be trans in fanworks; often due to their physical characteristics. There has also been controversy related to cisgender authors writing transfic and the storylines these authors chose to include within transfics; namely outing. More detailed discussion of this genre of fanworks can be found on the main Transfic page. 
There are other tropes that some fans consider transphobic. These include genderbending, especially in cases where canon trans characters are genderbent, and girlpenis and boypussy.
==Activism==
*queerlygen, a dreamwidth community for gen fanworks about queer characters "because some of us are queer all day long"
*LGBT Fest, a LiveJournal community, hosting a fest once a year encouraging fanworks that depict characters being on the QUILTBAGQ - Queer, or Questioning, U - Unidentified, Uncertain, or Unisex, I - Intersex, L - Lesbian, T - Transgender, Transsexual, B - Bisexual, A - Asexual/Aromantic, G - Gay, or Genderqueer spectrum (whether they be canonically so, or not).
*Shinigami Eyes, a browser extension marking anti-trans and trans-friendly websites and social media accounts.
==References==
Category:Discussion
Category:Activism
Category:Queer