Hi, I'm writing two books with a transgender male and a non-binary (respectively. The first one is part of a series) and I would love to hear some tips for writing both without being offensive if you don't mind.
Hi, yeah, I’m happy to talk about this any time. First note: In my experience (as an nb person), generally “a non-binary” isn’t how most of us refer to ourselves. A nonbinary person is my go-to, or an enby. Don’t ask me why “a non-binary” sounds weird to me, but it does lol.
I don’t really know what kind of tips you’re looking for, but I’m happy to chat with you about specific questions that you have concerning the characterization of your trans man and nb person.
Off the top of my head some things to avoid in general are:
-Fetishizing/focusing too much on anatomy/genitalia
-Forcibly outing your characters, esp. in an nonconsensual/traumatic way
-Treating trans men as if they’re somehow not real men/Man Lite™. Oftentimes this is something we as writers have to fix internally. Make sure you always think of him as a man and not Something Else. He doesn’t “want to be a man,” he is one. If you train yourself to leave behind the transphobia society teaches us mentally, then that will likely translate to your writing
-Gosh, idk about the nonbinary one. I’ve seen so little representation of people like me that I… don’t know what’s out there to avoid. Maybe I’m just blanking right now. The not-fetishizing us thing still applies here. If you have any concerns about specific things you’re not sure of, hmu and we can talk more :)