Trans* Pony Write-up

[Deleted]

A collaboration between Quill and Dizzy.

Equestria has been proven to be more accepting of differences than our own society. This has lead me personally, and several other people, to believe that they would also be more accepting of gender identities.

Therapy: Gender therapists would be trained and available for trans* individuals to consult about transitioning or for help figuring out their identity, but would not be required. Regardless, it would still be suggested to see a therapist before beginning transition, and it's highly recommended to get a mental examination before going into surgery. A physical checkup is required pre-surgery to ensure there will be no complications with existing medical conditions the pony may have.

Legal: Due to their significant social progress compared to our society, legal stuff is less of an issue for ponies in this case. On the records, they have separate listings for sex and gender. A pony can request to have their recorded gender changed at any point in their life, and these requests are handled fairly quickly as it doesn't take much time. A certificate is sent to the pony to show that the change has been made, which they can show to their boss or anypony else who would need the information. The pony may choose from several options for gender: Male, female, none, or other. Changing your name is also a fairly easy process and can be done by filling out a form and submitting it. Changing your listed sex is done by filling out a similar form and submitting it with a certificate issued by a doctor after sex reassignment surgery, but a record is always kept that this was changed, for medical purposes.

Education: Education on this topic is relatively common. In more recent years, ponies have been taught from pretty young ages to accept all gender identities. At the elementary level, it essentially extends to "sex and gender are different," and "If somepony asks you to call them a different name and use certain pronouns, do it." There are also quite a few children's books covering the topic, some of which go into a bit more detail about identities. At older ages, trans* issues are taught in much more detail in sex education and gender studies classes. The standard-use pronouns are he, she, and they.

Discrimination: Bigotry has been observed to be significantly lower in Equestria, and this is no exception. While it still exists, it's not found very often. When it is, it usually isn't on a gender binary level, and tends to be more along the lines of "I was born right and you weren't," (in the case of cisgender ponies) or "You're not trans enough" (in the case of binary transgender ponies).

Transition: This process is much easier, cheaper, and safer in the pony universe than it is in ours, largely because of the availability of magic. While there is no magical instant sex change spell, there are smaller spells that are used to help the surgery along and ensure the pony involved stays safe. There are several options available for the surgery, including both magical and non-magical options for those uncomfortable with having too many spells cast on them. Should they choose to take the full-magical route, the pony may be able to gain full fertility and function of their new organs. In either case, the pony may need periodic appointments to re-cast the spell that allows them this, though in the case of a feminine transition it would likely need to be more often than in a masculine one. In addition, the ponies have universal healthcare, which covers the cost of transition surgery and hormone therapy.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is widely available, but requires a prescription to obtain. In our world, injections are the preferred form to administer hormones, but as ponies don't have fingers, they focused on developing safer and more effective pills. As such, pills are more common for HRT. The main effect of HRT is observed in the pony's muscle and voice, though they may also experience a squaring or rounding of their snout. The younger the pony is when they start treatment, the more the treatment with affect them. In general, bone structure would not be affected in an adult individual. There can also be some negative effects of taking hormones, such as increasing the risk for certain types of disease.

Non-binary: Non-binary individuals are still less known than binary transgender individuals, but are not more discriminated against except in the case of the second type of bigot mentioned above.

GLOSSARY:

Agender: Refers to someone who does not identify with any gender, or identifies with no gender. Some may wish to transition if they are unhappy with their assigned sex.
Alternate pronouns: Pronouns other than he, she, and they. See chart below.
Bigender: Refers to someone who identifies with two genders. Binary bigender is someone who identifies with both male and female. Some may wish to transition if they are unhappy with their assigned sex.
Binary: Refers to the gender binary of male and female.
FAAB or DFAB: Female assigned at birth or designated female at birth. Does not strictly apply to transgender individuals.
FTM: Female-to-male. Refers to someone assigned female who identifies as male.
Gender identity: The gender one considers oneself. A cisgender person identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth.
Genderfluid: Refers to someone who fluidly shifts between two or more genders. A binary genderfluid person would shift between male and female. Some may wish to transition if they are unhappy with their assigned sex.
MAAB or DMAB: Male assigned at birth or designated male at birth. Does not strictly apply to transgender individuals.
MTF: Male-to-female. Refers to someone assigned male who identifies as female.
Non-binary: Any gender that doesn't fit into the gender binary, including but not limited to genderfluid, agender, bigender, and third gender.
Preferred pronouns: The pronouns (for example, he or she) that a person prefers others to use in reference to them. See chart below.
Third gender: Refers to someone who does not identify with the gender binary, but still identifies with a gender, which places them in a third gender. Some may wish to transition.
Trans*: A term that includes both binary transgender people and non-binary people.
Transgender: Usually refers to binary transgender individuals. A transgender person is one who identifies with a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth. For example, someone who was assigned female at birth but later comes to identify as male would be transgender.
Transition: (v) To go through the process of changing one's body to resemble the opposite biological sex. For example, a person who was assigned male at birth transitioning to female.
A transition may include taking hormones (often referred to as Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT), and having surgery to (for humans) remove or add breast tissue, remove reproductive organs, etc. If a more thorough description is needed, let me know.
(n) The act of transitioning, "My transition is going well."

If anything else needs to be defined, please let me know.

Pronoun	Subject	Object	Possessive determinative	Possessive pronoun	Reflexive
He	He smiled.	I talked to him.	His bag is there.	That is his.	He likes himself.
She	She smiled.	I talked to her.	Her bag is there.	That is hers.	She likes herself.
They	They smiled.	I talked to them.	Their bag is there.	That is theirs.	They like themself.
Ey	Ey smiled.	I talked to em.	Eir bag is there.	That is eirs.	Ey likes eirself.
Xe	Xe smiled.	I talked to xem.	Xyr bag is there.	That is xyrs.	Xe likes xemself.
Ze	Ze smiled.	I talked to zir.	Zir bag is there.	That is zirs.	Ze likes zirself.
Zie	Zie smiled.	I talked to hir.	Hir bag is there.	That is hirs.	Zie likes hirself.

REMINDER: This is not a comprehensive list. This is a cheat sheet of the most common ones that I've seen. This is meant for the benefit of people like me who have trouble remembering all the forms of all of them.

[Deleted]

Ooooh...

I uh... I really have a hard time seeing this made workable.

First of all, I really do not want to make a big stink about Transgender issues. This not a political board. If you want a male character, make one. if you want a female character, make one. if you want a character with both or without gender at all... make one! The only reason to make a character in the process of going from one gender to another is for the agony and drama of it... and by this write up, there isn't even much of that. And what will you do when the process is complete? Also, making a character to wallow in the agony of transgenderism doesn't seem very respectful. That would be like making a character for the purpose of making him or her gay.

Secondly, I cant help thinking that long before gender-changing surgery would become available to ponies, Species changing surgery would be done first. And if that were the case, all unicorns would have to do is to have a pair of wings stapled on and bam! Alicorns. Which we're definitely not going to allow.

Lastly, The pony world runs very heavily on destiny. Ponies are usually given names that foreshadow their destinies at birth. They never seem to earn the wrong cutie mark (though they might mistake its meaning) A magical expert is never a pegasus or an earth pony, a weather worker is never a unicorn, and youshouldn't see anyone but earth ponies farming. With all this destiny floating around, its hard to imagine ponies being born into the wrong genders.

[Deleted]

I appreciate the feedback, but just a few problems with your argument here.

Jun 21, 2014 15:38:48 GMT -6 @coffeefox said:

The only reason to make a character in the process of going from one gender to another is for the agony and drama of it... and by this write up, there isn't even much of that. And what will you do when the process is complete? Also, making a character to wallow in the agony of transgenderism doesn't seem very respectful. That would be like making a character for the purpose of making him or her gay.

The intent of this writeup isn't for people to make characters like that. It's intended to be a reference for the history section of a transgender pony's application. Also, the state of being transgender is not inherently miserable. There are lots of transgender people who do not experience, or experience very little gender dysphoria, and plenty others who live in accepting communities in which their transition is made relatively easy. Furthermore, what people choose to do with the information presented in this writeup is separate from my purpose in making it, so it's up to the admins and mods to prevent people from making characters whose sole or main character trait is being gay, or transgender, or something equally offensive.

EDIT: Additionally, one might be inclined to create a mid-transition transgender pony if they themselves are transgender and mid- or pre-transition. I myself have considered it but haven't gotten around to creating such a character.

Secondly, I cant help thinking that long before gender-changing surgery would become available to ponies, Species changing surgery would be done first. And if that were the case, all unicorns would have to do is to have a pair of wings stapled on and bam! Alicorns. Which we're definitely not going to allow.

We've already seen a spell that can give unicorns wings. Not to mention, it's been proven that Alicorns are not just unicorns with wings. They hold special power far beyond that of a unicorn or a pegasus. Also, transgender surgery would be demanded or developed by actual transgender groups who would probably make progress much faster than some silly unicorns who want to tack some wings onto their backs and play Princess.

Lastly, The pony world runs very heavily on destiny. Ponies are usually given names that foreshadow their destinies at birth. They never seem to earn the wrong cutie mark (though they might mistake its meaning) A magical expert is never a pegasus or an earth pony, a weather worker is never a unicorn, and youshouldn't see anyone but earth ponies farming. With all this destiny floating around, its hard to imagine ponies being born into the wrong genders.

Destiny may be a big part of the show, you're right. But it's never said that it's not possible to be an expert on spells without being able to cast them, and it's been made quite clear that a unicorn is able to control the weather if they so choose. We see this in Magical Mystery Cure, when Rarity has Rainbow Dash's cutie mark, and she uses her magic to move clouds. And I'm not sure why anypony can't be a farmer. Besides, there are more than just two genders, and by saying that everypony's gender equates to their sex, you're alienating an entire audience of the show, including me. I find this topic personally interesting and I saw it as a chance for more representation that we don't and might never see in the show. I believe it's possible for ponies to be genderfluid, or agender, or binary transgender, or whatever gender they feel right identifying as. By saying that their destiny prevents them from identifying as anything but their sex, you seem to be playing the whole "God made you that way for a reason" card, which doesn't sit quite right with me. I understand your viewpoint, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with it entirely.

Thank you again for the feedback, and for reading through this!

[Deleted]

I just wanna add one thing here: I don't think there's anything necessarily political about this, save potentially for the bit about discrimination. As Quill said, being transgender, as a character trait, doesn't need to matter any more than whether a character is gay or does side-work as a gardener or hates poppyseed muffins. Sure, someone might try and make a stereotype character who is ONLY transgender, but that's more a fault of the player.

"The show isn't going to get political" (or something along those lines) was also the argument Lauren Faust made about why she didn't want to include any gay or lesbian characters. But we have a fair amount of diversity in that regard on the site. Don't think this should be any different.

[Deleted]

By saying that their destiny prevents them from identifying as anything but their sex, you seem to be playing the whole "God made you that way for a reason" card, which doesn't sit quite right with me. I understand your viewpoint, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with it entirely.

That isn't my veiw-point, please don't put words in my mouth. I never even mentioned god. What I was trying to say, was that just like you cant get the wrong cutie mark, the wrong name, or the wrong species, you probably cant get the wrong genitalia, either. Destiny seems like it would make sure that if your mind identified as a gender, your body would match.

Yes, I know it doesn't work like that in real life. But humans don't get cutie marks, either.

Also, transgender surgery would be demanded or developed by actual transgender groups who would probably make progress much faster than some silly unicorns who want to tack some wings onto their backs and play Princess.

... That seems a little ironic.

I feel that it's necessary to put a disclaimer here.

I don't have a single thing against the transgendered, although I admit that I am pretty ignorant on the topic. I was raised to believe that it was not a choice but a medical condition, like being born with extra fingers, or without legs, just a biological mischance caused by hormones during the gestation period. Nothing you would hold against a person.

I didn't realize that for some, it's a lifestyle.

I'm not up-to-date on the politically correct vocabulary, and I don't feel comfortable being put in the position where I have to judge if this or that transgendered character is "acceptable" or not. This writeup, for me, simplifies nothing and complicates much. And when I imagine prospective new players coming across it, I imagine them feeling overwhelmed and leaving for simpler pastures.

Not because it's transgenderism, but because it makes the site learning curve too steep.

If there are going to be transgendered ponies, then I'd prefer that they be the ones to work out how gender reassignment works. It doesn't really matter, in the grand scheme of things, if pony A drinks a course of potions that changes their gender and Pony B has surgery to do the same thing.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't call it a "lifestyle," not really, but I can tell you that if transgender ponies exist (and I firmly believe they do), there would be a significant number who would want a way to transition. And since transgender people tend to gravitate towards each other, whether it be for comfort and understanding, or simply finding a place to fit in, there would also be groups.

This write-up is by no means required material for all to read, simply a basis or reference for those who would like to make non-cisgender characters. And I do feel like it's important to have a baseline for the entire site, lest we have vastly varying stories about transitions, especially if someone were to try to claim that a single magic spell poofed them into stallion-town when we already decided that would be too much of a stretch. Personally, I find it easier to have something like this laid out so that there is less guesswork about what would be allowed for my transitioning or transitioned pony and what would not.

What this write-up should simplify for you is how much it makes sense for your characters to treat transgender or non-binary characters a certain way. The education and discrimination sections are really the only ones important to cisgender characters and, by extension, people who only play and only plan on playing cisgender characters. The rest is meant for people who intend to create transgender characters or non-binary characters who wish to transition. I'm sorry I made it confusing in any way, but I will fight you to the grave to get this passed because it matters a lot to me.

If any of this came off as angry or disrespectful, I'm sorry. That's not my intention. I am doing my best to remain calm and still get my point across, but that can be difficult for me.

EDIT: I remember the other thing I was going to say now. I wasn't trying to say that was what you were saying, and I apologize for making it sound like I was putting words in your mouth. I was trying to make a comparison between your destiny argument and the God arguments I've heard, but not imply that they were exactly alike. I apologize.

[Deleted]

In regards to the destiny thing: I don't agree, I think learned talent, entropy, and some level of happenstance can play a part in assigning someone's cutie mark and it isn't something so totally preordained. Otherwise, why would ponies not just have it right at birth?

If I'm wrong about this, let me know. But even if I am... I kind of think it's more important that it be okay for people to play transgender characters than it is for us to be totally faithful to an already super-nebulous concept of destiny.

[Whammy]

To pop in with my own view, I'd have to say that the "destiny" aspect of MLP I think is overplayed. I've always considered cutie marks the end result of a exploration of your self, your skills and desires, etc. You can't get a wrong one because it's something you discovered for yourself,not because destiny preordained you with one when born. Hence all my articles on Cutie Marks and self-actualization.

And I also agree with Bon-Bon that making it okay for people to play transgender characters > following nebulous show canon. Part of that is to avoid something you stated Coffee: that there is no reason to play a transgender character except to do the agony and drama of transition.

In most media transgender characters pretty much only seem to get used in two ways:

A) As a joke, particularly transwomen and the whole "trap" thing...which also puts transwomen in danger as it encourages a viewpoint in which they are seen as "tricking" men.

B) As tragic, drama-ridden people who are suffering so much because of the dysphoria. This is particularly problematic since body dysphoria isn't a requirement to identify as a transgender person; all that is required is that you identify as a gender different from the one you were assigned at birth.

Transgender people exist and they have just as much right to be portrayed with the same level of variety of stories as anyone else. Since I don't have the power in real life to make the media do that, any place that I do have some level of power I want to try my best to make a safe, inviting place for everyone of all orientations and identities to be able to come in and have fun. If that requires bending some MLP canon with the nebulous destiny stuff, so be it. We've bent so much other parts of MLP anyway, and adherence to continuity is overrated anyway.

[Deleted]

I still think its a bad idea, and will cause lots of unnecessary OOC drama, but hey- I could be wrong! X3 Maybe people will be able to play transgendered characters respectfully and with maturity. And in fact, it occurs to me that by removing much of the trauma and drama, you've actually lessened the appeal of making such a character for players who might have been looking to recreate a stereotype.

Still, I think I've accidentally derailed this topic, which was not about whether transgendered characters are allowed to exist (Since Whammy has pretty much decreed that they are) but whether this is canonically how they transition from one gender to the other.

SO! Focusing on this writeup alone, I still see a couple flaws.

-You should probably add in a glossary of the most politically correct transgender terms. You should AT LEAST define Binary if you're going to use it to define Non-Binary

-If ponies cant be trusted with a syringe, then they probably cant be trusted with the scalpel.

-Since sticking to show canon is over-rated anyway, there's no reason that there cant be gender changing spells and potions. Since players think very little of using poison joke for a quick gender change as it is, Surgery seems to be an unnecessarily painful option.

[Deleted]

Jun 22, 2014 1:25:08 GMT -6 @coffeefox said:

-You should probably add in a glossary of the most politically correct transgender terms. You should AT LEAST define Binary if you're going to use it to define Non-Binary

You're quite right and I'll get on adding that today!

-If ponies cant be trusted with a syringe, then they probably cant be trusted with the scalpel.

As a compromise, I'll add in something about most surgeons who perform the operation are unicorns, deal?

-Since sticking to show canon is over-rated anyway, there's no reason that there cant be gender changing spells and potions. Since players think very little of using poison joke for a quick gender change as it is, Surgery seems to be an unnecessarily painful option.

We spoke to Whammy about having a sex change spell and he agreed that it would be overpowered, or else something that could only be accomplished by an Alicorn. Also, poison joke is incredibly unpredictable, so it probably wouldn't be very widely used for this sort of thing. However, we could say that a series of potions is being developed to make the transition even easier, safer, and faster. Is that alright?