Hijacking the Dead? Terry Pratchett & the Trans 'Debate'

Not much of a debate, really.

Illustrations from 'Terry Pratchett's Discworld Imaginarium' by Paul Kidby.

The Times article:

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[iamsemjaza]

The dead being brought back as zombies for endless political debate does sound like a Terry Pratchett story.

[NotSoMax]

I think people often mistake “people weren’t aware of the subject” with “I wasn’t aware of the subject” it’s like a toddler lacking object permanence.

[yazef]

I love that that the one twitter user claimed transgenderism "wasn't a thing on anyone's radar" to Neil Gaiman, an author who very openly and clearly wrote a trans character into Sandman in the 80s, a character that is treated in an incredibly complex and sympathetic light throughout her journey, exploring her relationship with the family that rejected her, her friends who are sometimes confused but still support her, and even exploring her anxiety when it comes to sex-reassignment surgery. To me it read as a very well crafted, nuanced, and thoughtful take on a character that didn't have to be there, but he chose to write her in, because he had something to say. "Not on anyone's radar" indeed. God, people are dumb. I'm surprised Neil didn't bring that up, but I suppose he didn't want to make it about him, because he's just that f**king classy.

[kiddwong]

People who think Sir Terry was anything other than a progressive thinker are the same people that were surprised when they discovered Rage Against the Machine aren't particularly keen on Trump...

[abbym]

Neil Gaiman himself has endorsed and recommended this video on his Tumblr.

[indigohalf]

"You, Neil Gaiman, are old enough to remember that trans people weren't on anyone's radar..." Yeh he's old enough to have written an explicit sympathetic trans woman character into Sandman in like the early 90s. To say nothing of Desire, of course.

[WinningSidekick]

Pratchett really wrote a trans man who followed his boyfriend into the army back in 2003. As a queer trans guy, that blows my mind. To this day I still haven't found a better published work with a gay/bi trans man in an important role. And Pratchett let Jackrum be complicated, deceptive and tricky rather than either a stereotype or a safe, boring example to follow as good representation. Jackrum's a person, not a paragon.

God I love Pratchett.

[Lucas-rzvl]

I wrote my thesis on the Monstrous Regiment, titled ''Soldiers, Socks, and Sex: Crossdressing, Performative Gender,
and Gender Roles in the Monstrous Regiment''. Using Judith Butler's performative gender to analyse the gender roles and norms (and the breaking thereof) portrayed in the book.

A direct quote from the novel: ‘’She had gone from boy to girl just by thinking it, and it had been so…easy’’ (Pratchett, 2003, p. 89).

Somehow reading this book and going ''Pratchett had no opinion on transgenderism or gender norms'' would require a level of tone deafness that's actually impressive.

[TheTopOfEverything]

Ah yes, I remember in the 2000s and early 2010s when the "T" in LGBT meant just the letter "T". Then suddenly after Sir Terry's passing *BOOM* people decided it stood for "Trans"

[evelynstarshine]

I am lucky enough to have talked to Pratchett when he was still touring, giving talks and signing books. He recognised the transphobia and drag jokes in his earlier books and worked hard to change once he learnt more. He wasn't just incidentally pro-trans, he talked to trans people to understand how he could support them in his books, and then he did.

[thoperSought]

11:20 _"... how proud he was that trans people saw themselves in his dwarfs."_
after the shock of Rowling going TERF, this is so, so gratifying. I need to reread Good Omens again, now.

[RaistlinMajereFistandantilus]

Painting trans issues as a new thing that didn't exist 6 years ago is an extremely important part of both their world view and their rhetoric. They didn't know about trans issues, therefore, they assume, no one did. And more importantly, if they paint trans issues as a completely new invention, they come across as the rational normal people just trying to return to reality, vs these crazy people just making new things up.

[coolgirl]

Terry Pratchett strikes me as the type of old man who might get the terminology wrong sometimes but is actually 100% more progressive and well-meaning than most activists

[obviousghost]

"with what is becoming Britain's principle cultural export: miserable complaining about trans people." My DUDE you didn't have to destroy the whole island like that

[Vesperitis]

Terry Pratchett once wrote that sin is when you treat people like things, including yourself.

I do not think a man with such simple and profound wisdom would be a bigot.

[Tester-shmn]

Terry Pratchett: Makes a book called Equal Rites all about defying gender norms
Sarah Ditum: "Imma pretend I didn't see that..."

[somedipshtinthecomments]

"Transgenderism wasn't invented until 2015" is certainly **A** take.

[breadpilled]

As someone who's been trans for 10 years, I think it's hilarious that I didnt exist 6 years ago.

[wiiseeyou]

This whole "Trans people didn't exist before 2015" argument reminds me of Gimli talking about dwarf women.
"Gimli:
It's true you don't see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for dwarf men.

Aragorn:
It's the beards.

Gimli:
And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women, and that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!

Gimli:
Which is, of course, ridiculous."

There where of-course trans people before 2015, and didn't just "spring out of holes in the ground."

[ComfyMarius]

I just wanted to say, I found this video, and my dad is a really big Pratchett fan, not all that enthusiastic about me being a trans guy. I never read Pratchett because "that's dad stuff" and this video allowed him & I to have a good conversation about trans stuff. Thank you.