Are there trans people in this universe?
The short answer is yes, of course. There were in history too.
The long answer is still ultimately yes, but also acknowledges that definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity have evolved over time. Still, trans people have been around as long as people have. While someone might not identify themselves as trans in the sense people do today, that doesn’t mean they aren’t having the experiences and feelings that invoke the feelings and experiences of self that people have today.
For example, in We Are Not Strangers, Josiah quite clearly only expresses attraction to men (though he’s so repressed thanks to his upbringing that he doesn’t really acknowledge this). While in this day and age we would call him gay, Josiah probably wouldn’t use a label for himself, or even think about himself in terms of whom he’s attracted to besides his spouse.
There will likewise be further characters who aren’t fully comfortable with their genders (be it male/female, or alpha/beta/omega). Due to limitations of the time and limitations in language available at that time, they may not fully fit modern understandings of gender identity or trans identities, but we will be exploring this discomfort to varying degrees.
In terms of gender, there are gender-nonconforming historical people. Deborah Sampson dressed as a man to serve in the army, though she seems to have identified as a cis-woman pulling a Mulan. Casimir Pulaski identified as a man, but genetically it seems quite likely he was intersex. And then there’s Chevalière d’Éon, who was born a man and began living as a woman, whom we’ve already written about. The others will likely be discussed at some point as well.
Next week, we’ll post the synopsis for Stubborn Things!
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