Stephie

**Stephanie Bondu** (nicknamed **Stephie**, previously named **Stephane Bondu**) is a thirteen-year-old trans girl who lives in Montréal. Along with Ciel, she is one of the two central characters of *Assigned Male*.

## Appearance

Stephie has long brown hair that she occasionally ties back into a ponytail or bunches. She frequently wears tank tops. Her eyes are dark, her eyebrows are thin, and her nose is round.

## Personality

Stephie tries to always maintain a positive attitude and is very outspoken. However, she will react negatively when faced with hatred: she was very upset when her gender was publicly questioned, and she reacted aggressively when she saw Ciel being bullied and was quick to jump to their defence. She also is somewhat vulnerable to criticism; she alters her word choice when people on the internet complain. She likes bugs, a cartoon character called Ninja Dog, and all sorts of books. She's dispassionate about the masculine past-times her father tried to push her into when she was young; she dislikes fishing and is bored by wrestling.

When she was born, she was assigned male. She came out as female as soon as she could talk. Her mother Alice was quick to understand whereas her father Martin doesn't seem to understand until later in the comics. Stephie's parents separated at some point, though this has never been shown or explored. From at least the age of seven, Stephie was primarily raised by her mother.

At about the age of 11, Stephie met Ciel; they were being bullied and Stephie stepped in to defend them. She invited them over to her house where she helped them try on nail polish and explore their gender identity. The two quickly became best friends.

Later, Stephie was paired with a boy named Frank for a science project. Initially, they were hostile to each other. Frank was insensitive about Stephie's transness; Stephie was cold in return. As time passed, Frank made efforts to improve his understanding of transness and Stephie slowly warmed to him until they started dating.

At the end of The World Needs More Trans Cuties, Stephie admits that she's often privately ashamed to be trans; "I don't want people to know it, in case they see me less as a girl."

## Relationships

### Ciel

Ciel and Stephie are very close friends. Stephie initially acted as a sort of mentor to Ciel, helping them talk through their confused feelings. Since then, they've been on a more even footing. They are comfortable being vulnerable around one another. The two became friends when Stephie defended Ciel from school bullies and helped them to become more confident in themselves and in their gender.

### Frank

At first, Frank was reluctant to spend time with Stephie, claiming that she "had the genders". However, after getting to know her, Frank gained a deeper understanding of transgender issues, and gained much more respect for Stephie, even defending her from school bullies. He quickly realized that he had a crush on her, and eventually asked her out. Currently, the two are dating each other.

### Eiríkur

Stephie and Eiríkur are friends. Stephie mainly knows him via Ciel, who he's dating, but they're still comfortable being vulnerable around each other and talking about their insecurities, as seen at the end of The World Needs More Trans Cuties.

### Alice

Alice has been the more supportive of Stephie's parents from the beginning. Alice has constantly helped Stephie with her transition and with the issues it involves. Sometimes, Alice has had to question her own views and beliefs, but since she has had trans friends for a long time she was already well-versed in trans issues, and so this questioning is only occasional.

### Martin

At first, Martin was not at all supportive of Stephie, and refused to respect her name and pronouns. When Stephie was younger, the dynamic was one of a childish parent and a grown-up child. However, he eventually began to understand that Stephie is the best judge of her own identity, and defended this position to his own family. He acknowledges the violence the trans community faces and the constant danger that his daughter is in, but is slow to change his opinions, stating that it's "inconvenient" that Stephie doesn't tolerate transphobic people.

### Raquel

Raquel is very transphobic and enjoys making fun of Stephie. Stephie refuses to put up with this, and solves the problem by distancing herself from Raquel. Even when her rudeness causes her friends to complain to her, she still refuses to apologize or to change her behavior, as seen in Comic 208.

### Aidan

Stephie and Aidan argue constantly about some of Aidan's opinions. Aidan believes that being trans is a bad thing and that it is "normal" to be cisgender, and Stephie sees these claims as cissexist and transphobic, as depicted in Comic 189. The two will sometimes fight each other, although Stephie prefers discourse over conflict.

### Myrick

Stephie and Myrick have been friends for a long time, and often discuss their individual experiences as trans kids with each other. Myrick has less of a positive attitude than Stephie does and is more prone to feeling dysphoria, and so Stephie makes sure to provide moral support for him when he needs it.

Alice at one point suggested that Stephie might be romantically interested in Myrick, but Stephie denied this. However, Stephie was quite upset when Myrick invited Ciel to the 6th-grade dance instead of her. But she quickly got over it and decides that she will "never fall for a 6th-grader again".

### Milena

Stephie and Milena have been friends for a long time. As a cis person, Milena attempts to be supportive of trans issues, but is often unintentionally disrespectful, which frustrates Stephie.

### Stella

Stella is an indigenous cis girl Stephie met at a summer camp during the arc from Comics 112-119. Once Stephie found the courage to tell her and the other kids that she was trans, Stella was confused but well-intentioned. They bonded over their shared fear about the murder rates for trans and indigenous people: "will I be the next one?"

When Stephie left the camp, Stella gave her a kiss on the hand. Stephie appeared flustered all the way home.

## Trivia

* What Stephie likes the most about being trans is that the loss of male privilege has led her to reconsider everything she knows about justice and equality, thereby increasing her awareness of the privileges she still has.
* Stephie is taking self-defense classes, in response to the news stories she has heard of trans women being assaulted and murdered. This was revealed in Comic 183.
* Stephie claims in Comic 177 to have found her gender in a cereal box.
* In *The Class Picture*, it is shown that Stephie's deadname was Stephen.

## References

1. ↑ Comic 137
2. ↑ File:Stephane.png
3. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/5dhvz2efddc83iv6ndqz7fcxsummf0
4. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/noel5
5. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/1355l3ejsmipqp1vqvo5yqvrux52w6
6. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/szxrtlrwdsx3t06x5c384z5a76qy7v
7. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/noel3
8. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/noel4
9. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/5gv0ggbt2t4tcma3b7mwj545eajwp4
10. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/uv6j1wnolwjvi83jjudvfqsu87gxvd
11. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/46xifcebaj2akt0mu071j2edca3oab
12. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/njuvkycixsgjsz4xb0yewdb9enwvj4
13. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/27o1poyr95ih1fgpmy2egqi3a0ypg0
14. ↑ http://www.assignedmale.com/comic/2015/9/8/ce3m3lwluurh6bogcfy80ehh59vm1m