{"id":779,"date":"2022-10-31T17:12:01","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/translash.org\/2022\/10\/31\/trans-horror-a-translash-guide\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T18:11:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T18:11:23","slug":"trans-horror-a-translash-guide","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/translash.org\/resources\/trans-horror-a-translash-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Trans Horror: A TransLash Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Trans people are an undeniable part of the horror genre: the universe of films, television shows, books, graphic novels<\/a>, and more that feature a thrilling, spooky, and\/or gory tale. The horror genre onscreen has historically featured cisgender actors playing trans characters as dehumanizing tropes that normalize anti-trans violence in the real world; the trans panic defense<\/a> is fueled in part by these harmful depictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately for TGNC and ally horror lovers, trans representation has slightly improved over the last decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An homage to horror film posters featuring Elliot Page, Angelica Ross, Theo Germaine, and Nicole Maines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Is Trans Horror?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to aninjusticemag.com<\/a>, for a film to be considered part of trans horror canon, it must meet three criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The film has to feature a transgender character, or a character that is heavily trans-coded, as the antagonist of the film.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The film has to be considered within the horror genre, or at the very least a thriller (as there is considerable overlap between the two).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The film has to be available to watch, either through purchase, streaming, or other methods. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Gender representation onscreen has always been controversial, even for cisgender people. As logan ashley kisner<\/a> explains, gender in a Hollywood film has historically been portrayed in three ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. \u201cGender as something to be overcome\u201d: the films that try and tackle societal and cultural sexism (of which are not all inherently bad). These #girlpower-style movies can be very affirming for cisgender girls and women but typically do not include trans representation. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. \u201cGender as the punchline\u201d: the Tootsie<\/em>s, Mrs. Doubtfire<\/em>s. It\u2019s not that gender itself is a punchline, but that a (typically cisgender male) character must live briefly as the \u201cother gender\u201d, which audiences find funny in a way that is problematic and rooted in transphobia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. \u201cGender as tragedy\u201d: this typically includes films like Boys Don\u2019t Cry <\/em>and Dallas Buyers Club<\/em>, where gender “transgressions” are punished through violence and acts of dehumanization, also rooted in transphobia.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Trans Representation In Horror<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Cisgender people get to be villains in horror films and those portrayals aren’t weaponized by society as proof that cisgender people are evil or unworthy of equal rights. Unfortunately, trans representation in media has historically reinforced problematic tropes about trans people that lawmakers have attempted to use to criminalize our existence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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