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Artist Creates Insightful Comics To Foster Acceptance Of Transgender Experiences (30 Pics)
Interview With Artist
Sophie Labelle is a French-Canadian transgender cartoonist, activist, writer, and public speaker. She is best known for her webcomics "Assigned Male" and "Serious Trans Vibes" which address issues related to gender identity, transgender experiences, and LGBTQ+ themes.
Labelle has many fans worldwide, and she's often invited to different events to talk about her work. People appreciate that her comics help normalize being transgender. Scroll down to see her latest creations! If you want to see more of Labelle's work, the best way to read her comics is on Webtoon!
More info: Instagram | youtube.com | Facebook | webtoons.com | ko-fi.com
This post may include affiliate links.
Bored Panda reached out to Labelle to delve deeper into her world and creative journey. We were eager to unravel the roots of her passion for making comics. "I’ve been drawing comics since I was 7," shared the artist. "With my brother and a friend, we had a 'comic club'. Our comics were popular all over town, and since I was getting a lot of bullying because of my gender expression, it became my main motivation to get up in the morning. It was especially true when I was treated for depression at 8 because gender dysphoria was unbearable. Art became my main mode of expression."
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Labelle told us that during her teenage years, after openly expressing her identity, she discovered a supportive community of people who identified as queer, trans, and gender non-conforming. Just like she always had, Labelle began creating comics centered around the experiences and humor within her circle of friends. "I didn't have to imagine an audience, because my comics were always meant to be shared among the people around me. When I started this specific project in 2014, which became my full-time job, I was still a student, and my main goal was to entertain my queer and trans friends at school."
"I've experienced firsthand how threatening it is for transphobes to encounter art meant to empower trans people and celebrate gender and sexual diversity. I once had to leave my home after being doxxed, facing a neo-Nazi demonstration against an all-ages talk I gave at a public library, an anti-trans MP labeling me as a threat to Great Britain, and having my books placed on banned lists in Texas. And that's not even mentioning the online hate – I often receive death threats several times a day!
Of course, I wouldn't still be doing it if there weren't positive experiences to counterbalance all that. I met my husband while on a public speaking tour in Finland, and now that's where I live! I also receive numerous messages from people using my comics as a means to initiate difficult discussions with friends or family, or even to come out. Gender journeys can often be chaotic, and many people have told me that my comics help them find the words to express their experiences, which is the best compliment I could receive."
Labelle expressed that over the years, she has noticed that some people who aren't transgender tend to make transgender issues more complicated than they need to be. She believes that accepting and appreciating diversity and authenticity doesn't mean you have to be an expert in the complexities of gender or have a deep knowledge of endocrinology. "I have made a lot of comics meant to spare trans people from being constantly bombarded with questions. Trans people just want to live their lives without having to justify their existence – our existence shouldn’t require justifying. And I think people really need to make peace with the fact that human gender is chaotic, fluid, diverse, and surprising and that understanding who you are is a life-long quest for everyone, trans or not.
Trans and gender non-conforming people’s rights are currently under attack in a multitude of countries, states, and provinces. Chances are that you have a local association or group in your town or city and that they desperately need volunteers for all types of things. I encourage everyone to reach out to them and participate in any way they can. Getting involved is the best way to learn!"
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What do you think ?
JB 10 months ago (edited)
I’m not sure if it was the right way to go about it, we were never told if my colleague had asked for an announcement, but I remember my department calling a meeting one day. We were told a colleague who had been presenting male had chosen to be her true self, would be coming to work dressed appropriately, her name and we were asked (not told) to honour and respect her bravery. As Gen-X, I darn near cried to see/hear the acceptance in that room. Pretty much everyone took a moment over the next few days to quietly tell her individually how proud we were to welcome her new identity. After that, well, she was (so far as I know) treated the same way as CIS-female peers. If she wore a particularly nice shirt/skirt/scarf… whatever, we’d react as normal; “I love that… where did you get it?”. However, I must be honest; it wasn’t easy or completely smooth. There were “water cooler” conversations where we tried to figure out, “what’s the right balance here?” We didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by going over the top. We didn’t want to ignore such an important milestone but, at the same time, when was the last time you vocally supported a cis person for being themselves? I think I’m an ally, I certainly want to be one, but I’m never going to fully comprehend living in the wrong skin. It’s not fair, it’s actually a completely unreasonable request, but if you’re trans, please tell me how acceptance looks/feels to you.
Mocha the Lion 10 months ago
trans masc here, for me its just people calling me as a guy instead of a "trans guy" the ability to tell people im a guy and them not looking at me weird. being able to just not bring it up because its not relevent
Load More Replies...
Rita Benkő 10 months ago (edited)
I'm going to be downvoted, still, I'll ask: how does anyone know their gender identity before puberty? Most of my family members and friends had no built-in gender as a child, but developed later, during puberty. (Also, they are cis.) I still don't know whether I have a gender identity or not. I mean, I am a female human being and I have never wanted to change that; however, I do not follow any behavioral pattern based on gender. (I am a middle-aged aroace working in a field where one is not expected to perform 'femininity' or 'masculinity'.)
Parmeisan 8 months ago
So a significant amount of people are like you and me, and have no strong internal sense of gender. We just go along with whatever we're labelled because we don't care. But a significant amount of people do have a strong internal sense. Women who get upset at being called "sir" or men who feel threatened at the idea of boys with painted fingernails are probably in this group, they strongly identify as their born gender and it's painful to be misgendered. Trans people are exactly the same except that they identify as the gender opposite to the one they were assigned at birth. Sometimes that is dysmorphia (being extremely uncomfortable in your body) but sometimes it's just a strong feeling of "wrongness", again, pain at being misgendered. I can't explain it better because I don't feel that strong sense, but after doing a lot of reading on the topic that is what I've understood.
Load More Replies...
Daria 10 months ago
There was a lot of confusing terminology for me here. As a straight person, I've never thought about how some other people may see the world and how the world might see them. It's all new for me.
SadieCat17 (she/her) 10 months ago
Allies like you are precious and thank you for taking the effort to care and understand. You can reply with questions if you want.
Load More Replies...
ShenaniGens 8 months ago
Hello, this is a question not a comment on the comics (although they are AMAZING!), I'm straight but I support the LGBTQIA+ community, and I wanted to ask a question to all the Bored Panda's, would it be okay if I were to hang a Rainbow flag/Ally flag outside my house or in my room? I've wanted to know but my town doesn't have a large LGBT+ community, so I just asked Bored Panda. Thank you, and have a wonderful week!
Parmeisan 8 months ago
Why were you downvoted? Yeesh. I'd say, YES. Visibility is important you never know when some queer or trans kid might walk past and think "at least someone in this town is accepting" and just feel better. Also you might find out that you have a friend who's been afraid to tell you their truth, and seeing you be open about being an ally might give them someone safe in their life! I was afraid for many years to go to pride parades because I was "just an ally" but when I finally realized that actually I'm bi and I went to one, literally nobody was policing anything, nobody cared if you were queer or if you were an ally, it was just happiness at being alive and being able to be open and handing out free beaded necklaces and little flags and candy. A celebration of life. I can't speak for everybody but I'm sure that more people will appreciate the gesture than might be upset at it.
Load More Replies...
MaximumKarmaSaint 10 months ago
As an ally of LGBTQA+ (Both things the A stand for), I don't understand the perspective, but I can understand the hate, as I have been there to witness it. Don't let anybody tell you what to do, everyone.
ObsidianAce_ 10 months ago
I absolutely love Sophie Labelle. She has a webcomic on WEBTOON with some of her older work, more PSA/four-panel stories like these, and storylines with characters that develop over time :)
Guess Undheit 10 months ago
You'll often hear that "anyone obsessed is likely to be one," but that's not true. It's just as likely that the obsessed (e.g. Frauddy) are the danger to society. Just look at Florida, that rabid anti-Trans republiclown and cisgender heterosexual male who got caught raping a woman.
Idk someone (they/she) 10 months ago
There was once a boy named James. James liked the colour pink and always wore pink sparkly dresses and shoes. When he was old enough to go to school his parents told the teacher that James wanted to use the girls washroom. The teacher said that James had to use the boys bathroom or the disabled bathroom. James and his parents did NOT like this so they kept protesting but the teacher kept saying the same thing “use the boys bathroom or the disabled one” but finally one day the teacher gave in. James was allowed to use the girls bathroom! They celebrated by eating pink cake and James wore a pink dress and pink shoes. I don’t know if this is true. It was a story my parents told me when I was little
SheamusFanFrom1987 10 months ago
Let me just share my own story about trans people: I watch Japanese women's wrestling (Joshi wrestling) and there's one particular wrestler who goes by the ring name VENY (previously known as ASUKA). She's quite the cutie and looker but I had no idea she was trans until pretty recently. Doesn't change the fact that I still want to date her given the opportunity (I'd be lucky if my chances were even slim) but she has admitted she's gay so there's that. Doesn't change the fact that she still a cutie and deserving of multiple titles to me.
Rayne OfSalt 10 months ago
A term made up by hatemongers to propagate their hatred is a lie? No kidding.
Load More Replies... Evan not Hansen 10 months ago
Trans people out there kill themselves because they don't see anyone like them, and so they suffer and feel alone and broken until it's too much. So maybe you can grow the f**k up and leave people alone. Trans people aren't going to hurt you, and they aren't going to ruin society. They're already trans, they just might not have the words for it, and education can save lives.
Load More Replies...
Zedrapazia 10 months ago
The toilet argument again, the most dead beaten strawman of all. Can you imagine that people who want to commit a CRIME don't care about breaking the rule of a bathroom sign either?? There isn't and has never been anything that stops evil people from hiding in toilets, and you know it. I am a bio woman, given you are using those as your base point, and I don't give a damn about a trans woman in my toilet. Or a gender neutral toilet with bio men on them for that matter, if I want to s**t, I want to s**t, that's all. Also, if someone identifies as a woman ... they identify as a woman. It's very easy what exactly they identify as.
Load More Replies...
JB 10 months ago (edited)
I’m not sure if it was the right way to go about it, we were never told if my colleague had asked for an announcement, but I remember my department calling a meeting one day. We were told a colleague who had been presenting male had chosen to be her true self, would be coming to work dressed appropriately, her name and we were asked (not told) to honour and respect her bravery. As Gen-X, I darn near cried to see/hear the acceptance in that room. Pretty much everyone took a moment over the next few days to quietly tell her individually how proud we were to welcome her new identity. After that, well, she was (so far as I know) treated the same way as CIS-female peers. If she wore a particularly nice shirt/skirt/scarf… whatever, we’d react as normal; “I love that… where did you get it?”. However, I must be honest; it wasn’t easy or completely smooth. There were “water cooler” conversations where we tried to figure out, “what’s the right balance here?” We didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by going over the top. We didn’t want to ignore such an important milestone but, at the same time, when was the last time you vocally supported a cis person for being themselves? I think I’m an ally, I certainly want to be one, but I’m never going to fully comprehend living in the wrong skin. It’s not fair, it’s actually a completely unreasonable request, but if you’re trans, please tell me how acceptance looks/feels to you.
Mocha the Lion 10 months ago
trans masc here, for me its just people calling me as a guy instead of a "trans guy" the ability to tell people im a guy and them not looking at me weird. being able to just not bring it up because its not relevent
Load More Replies... Rita Benkő 10 months ago (edited)
I'm going to be downvoted, still, I'll ask: how does anyone know their gender identity before puberty? Most of my family members and friends had no built-in gender as a child, but developed later, during puberty. (Also, they are cis.) I still don't know whether I have a gender identity or not. I mean, I am a female human being and I have never wanted to change that; however, I do not follow any behavioral pattern based on gender. (I am a middle-aged aroace working in a field where one is not expected to perform 'femininity' or 'masculinity'.)
Parmeisan 8 months ago
So a significant amount of people are like you and me, and have no strong internal sense of gender. We just go along with whatever we're labelled because we don't care. But a significant amount of people do have a strong internal sense. Women who get upset at being called "sir" or men who feel threatened at the idea of boys with painted fingernails are probably in this group, they strongly identify as their born gender and it's painful to be misgendered. Trans people are exactly the same except that they identify as the gender opposite to the one they were assigned at birth. Sometimes that is dysmorphia (being extremely uncomfortable in your body) but sometimes it's just a strong feeling of "wrongness", again, pain at being misgendered. I can't explain it better because I don't feel that strong sense, but after doing a lot of reading on the topic that is what I've understood.
Load More Replies... Daria 10 months ago
There was a lot of confusing terminology for me here. As a straight person, I've never thought about how some other people may see the world and how the world might see them. It's all new for me.
SadieCat17 (she/her) 10 months ago
Allies like you are precious and thank you for taking the effort to care and understand. You can reply with questions if you want.
Load More Replies... ShenaniGens 8 months ago
Hello, this is a question not a comment on the comics (although they are AMAZING!), I'm straight but I support the LGBTQIA+ community, and I wanted to ask a question to all the Bored Panda's, would it be okay if I were to hang a Rainbow flag/Ally flag outside my house or in my room? I've wanted to know but my town doesn't have a large LGBT+ community, so I just asked Bored Panda. Thank you, and have a wonderful week!
Parmeisan 8 months ago
Why were you downvoted? Yeesh. I'd say, YES. Visibility is important you never know when some queer or trans kid might walk past and think "at least someone in this town is accepting" and just feel better. Also you might find out that you have a friend who's been afraid to tell you their truth, and seeing you be open about being an ally might give them someone safe in their life! I was afraid for many years to go to pride parades because I was "just an ally" but when I finally realized that actually I'm bi and I went to one, literally nobody was policing anything, nobody cared if you were queer or if you were an ally, it was just happiness at being alive and being able to be open and handing out free beaded necklaces and little flags and candy. A celebration of life. I can't speak for everybody but I'm sure that more people will appreciate the gesture than might be upset at it.
Load More Replies... MaximumKarmaSaint 10 months ago
As an ally of LGBTQA+ (Both things the A stand for), I don't understand the perspective, but I can understand the hate, as I have been there to witness it. Don't let anybody tell you what to do, everyone.
ObsidianAce_ 10 months ago
I absolutely love Sophie Labelle. She has a webcomic on WEBTOON with some of her older work, more PSA/four-panel stories like these, and storylines with characters that develop over time :)
Guess Undheit 10 months ago
You'll often hear that "anyone obsessed is likely to be one," but that's not true. It's just as likely that the obsessed (e.g. Frauddy) are the danger to society. Just look at Florida, that rabid anti-Trans republiclown and cisgender heterosexual male who got caught raping a woman.
Idk someone (they/she) 10 months ago
There was once a boy named James. James liked the colour pink and always wore pink sparkly dresses and shoes. When he was old enough to go to school his parents told the teacher that James wanted to use the girls washroom. The teacher said that James had to use the boys bathroom or the disabled bathroom. James and his parents did NOT like this so they kept protesting but the teacher kept saying the same thing “use the boys bathroom or the disabled one” but finally one day the teacher gave in. James was allowed to use the girls bathroom! They celebrated by eating pink cake and James wore a pink dress and pink shoes. I don’t know if this is true. It was a story my parents told me when I was little
SheamusFanFrom1987 10 months ago
Let me just share my own story about trans people: I watch Japanese women's wrestling (Joshi wrestling) and there's one particular wrestler who goes by the ring name VENY (previously known as ASUKA). She's quite the cutie and looker but I had no idea she was trans until pretty recently. Doesn't change the fact that I still want to date her given the opportunity (I'd be lucky if my chances were even slim) but she has admitted she's gay so there's that. Doesn't change the fact that she still a cutie and deserving of multiple titles to me.
Rayne OfSalt 10 months ago
A term made up by hatemongers to propagate their hatred is a lie? No kidding.
Load More Replies... Evan not Hansen 10 months ago
Trans people out there kill themselves because they don't see anyone like them, and so they suffer and feel alone and broken until it's too much. So maybe you can grow the f**k up and leave people alone. Trans people aren't going to hurt you, and they aren't going to ruin society. They're already trans, they just might not have the words for it, and education can save lives.
Load More Replies... Zedrapazia 10 months ago
The toilet argument again, the most dead beaten strawman of all. Can you imagine that people who want to commit a CRIME don't care about breaking the rule of a bathroom sign either?? There isn't and has never been anything that stops evil people from hiding in toilets, and you know it. I am a bio woman, given you are using those as your base point, and I don't give a damn about a trans woman in my toilet. Or a gender neutral toilet with bio men on them for that matter, if I want to s**t, I want to s**t, that's all. Also, if someone identifies as a woman ... they identify as a woman. It's very easy what exactly they identify as.
Load More Replies... 
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