Click here to see the comic on the depression comix website.

There is a heck of a lot of news to digest as always but one that caused a stir was J.K. Rowling’s support for an anti-transgender researcher. This is not a new thing, she has expressed indirectly her views in the past and in her writing (2014’s “Silkworm” more directly). And while many grew up with Harry Potter, it is another instance where a world is built that doesn’t include LGBTQ people. And if the author shows homophobic or trans-phobic tendencies, it’s possible to believe that the world that was built wasn’t intended to ever have everyone included. And although many have added their own fan-made LGBTQ stories, what the author says and believes is canon.

What does this have to do with depression? Well, one major predictor of depression in transgender people is the availability of support.  This is something I wanted to get into with the comic for a long time, but I couldn’t figure a way in. This comic doesn’t says “transgender” the same way the Robin and Wren comics never say “lesbian” — we know this but I want to show the characters as people first. I hate it when LGBTQ characters appear in stories and their only role is to be that kind of character. It’s easier for me to build a character without having only one thing define them and overshadow everything else.