#Gwen Stacy is trans

[autumnonapoea]

Explains the haircut anyway

[broken-glass-puppet]

So we have jumping spider reader, how about peacock spider reader. Who is all colorful, dances really well and is a master at distracting the enemy with their movements while fighting them at the same time. Even when not dancing nor fighting they move really fluidly and elegantly.

His suit would be super colorful but be able to fold or be interchangeable to change to more stealth muted colors. And maybe they are a bit sñ

They could have a bunch of ribbons and a pair of bladed fans to help in their fights (eye-catching as well for the distraction factor). They could bond with Gwen over doing ballet.

And of course dances in random places and sometimes a routine would take them through the whole HQ making everyone turn heads and their spider brains to watch the dance.

YES YES YES YES YES

Look, you move like a professional dancer, it's hard not to stare at you

When miles asked you why dancing while fighting you simply said "If you look closely, dancing and fighting are not very different from each other, in both you have to move quickly and with precision"

Your figure is like a ribbon, you move with fluently and you look so beautiful while fighting

Gwen sees you as a big sibling, she even talked to you about everything that happened in her universe, she trusts you a lot

Hobie thinks your abilities are sick, he likes seeing you dance, maybe you can even teach him

Pavitr it's super nice with you, he likes everything about you, you guys are like besties, and yes, YOU TWO DANCE TOGETHER RAAAAAAHHH

Miguel thinks you are interesting, specially your powers and abilities

Your fans are beautiful and lethal at the same time, that only makes you even more beautiful

Your routine makes the whole HQ turn around and look at you

You and Gwen train together, no, shut up, I just know it

Your emotions can also change the color of your suit

You are super colorful and pretty

[fayelockwood]

[le-regrems]

Across the spider verse spoilers-ish

So Gwen Stacy is Trans, it's canon now

It's a huge slay

[royal-they]

when discussing gwens transcoding i feel like people dont talk about how her being spider women is literally viewed as politics from the start.

people talk about her and the validity of her actions and choices in front of her even before peters death. her dad specifically questions how she dresses. why she need to hide behind a mask. the spider suit was made to hide the identity of the wearer yes but for gwen stacys spider woman thats always been different, even in the comics.

presenting the way she does keeps her safe when she’s gwen stacy but it also represents the choices she makes. her work as spider woman. its her badge. this line is something that always stuck with me in the comics and i love that they didn’t change it in the movie. her suit and mask are not hiding who she is, theyre an extension of it.

being trans makes how you present yourself very complicated at least in my experience. youre constantly worried around new people and strangers, do they think i look like a boy or a girl? am i passing? if im not passing am i safe? its really complicated, passing doesnt make you more or less valid but a lot of society views it that way and how people see you can change how safe you are. these things are nuanced is what im saying and i like how gwen is allowed to do what feels right for her regardless of what others think.

another point is how shes met with violence when she first essentially “comes out” as spider woman. even though its a loved one, her dad doesnt take it well. because of his duty to society he feels he cant accept her as spider woman.

so she has to run away from home. live with the people who do make her feel at home, her own band as she puts it. and only then, when she’s is able to stand on her own does she face her dad.

they both needed time. to work on themselves. and something important is that he stops being a cop. stops this duty he feels he owes to society to get rid of spider woman to protect their children.

only when he takes time to truly understand her perspective and actions is he able to accept her.

as trans people our identities are constantly considered something cis people and the government get to determine. but with spiderverse we see gwens story as being portrayed as a villian by society. we see it from her perspective. not her dads perspective. not miles, an outsiders perspective who has to come and fix everything. her own perspective. and in the end she doesnt want society to accept her. she just needs her dad. her loved ones. because shes never given a damn about outsiders, there’s never a focus on how some random j jonah jameson feels about her. they instead focus on her dad. because he is who hurts her. and for me at least that’s very relatable.

spider man in general is a very trans subject because society hates him and he has to disguise himself to stay safe. but gwen stacy as ghost spider or spider woman really stands out to me. because it feels so much more personal to get to spectate her life. she’s so real, so human. and that is essence of what makes a spidey.

[gender-thief2]

me in the theater trying not to throw up from literal excitement when i saw gwens trans flags

[thewistlingbadger]

Something that I didn't point out before but I want to now is how Gwen's dynamic with her dad feels trans. Like obviously it has nothing to do with being trans but it feels like it does. The way their relationship is strained, the way Gwen tries to convince her dad to side with her, to see her as human multiple times throughout the story. The way they have deep and raw confrontations. "How long have you been lying to me?" Like bro really? It feels like he just found out she's trans and not like he found out she's spider woman

[psi0nics]

Spider-Gwen is Very Likely Trans in Across the Spider-Verse, says One More Person

But this shit matters.

I've rewatched Across the Spider-Verse for probably the eighth time recently, and it continues to be blaringly obvious to me that Gwen is most likely a trans girl. I'm most certainly not the only one to have pointed this out, and I don't really think I'm adding anything new. But we need as many voices to speak up, I feel, and I might as well share what I think of it. Now, this little essay is going to focus mainly from the movie's material alone since I'm not much of a comic reader, and it'll be limited to my own experience as a Filipino trans girl who really wants to express some thoughts.

Spoilers ahead!

Across the Spider-Verse explores the journey of Miles Morales after the first film, Into the Spider-Verse, where he rises up to the mantle of Spider-Man. Now, we follow him as he fights to be recognized as Spider-Man by the rest of Spider-Society, who reject him for factors out of his control—and yet he made the best of them, took pride in them, and rose up to become Spider-Man in all the ways that matter. Unfortunately, the exact circumstances, Spider-Society doesn't like—represented by Miguel O'Hara. From all that I've heard and read, a lot of Miles's story strongly being a very Black story, drawing from Miles being Afro-Latino, and though the story itself never shows racism nor do the different universes explicitly show systemic discrimination and whatnot, his story still clearly draws from that. Miguel O'Hara isn't some racist white dude excluding Miles because he's Afro-Latino, Miguel is an Irish-Mexican man and the entire theme of the Spider-Society is that it is extremely diverse and open. But that doesn't mean that the institution that it represents in the context of literally everything Rio Morales, Miles's Mother, tells him. To remember where he's from, to not let those big institutions tell Miles that he doesn't belong there, and all these things that are brimming with subtext.

The subtext is there, and it's all intentional.

Then there's Gwen Stacy. Who, for her entire arc of the film, hinges on a relationship setup from the beginning—her father, George Stacy. Now, for a lot of trans people, including me, we found it striking that that arc felt pretty queer-coded. Now, by itself, there's nothing much to be gleaned, just Gwen struggling with the fact that she's forced to reveal her superhero identity to her dad in a tense moment, ripping them apart, and later reconciling. Now, I'm quite young for a queer person, but I'm aware of the history of all these subtle things or narratives about identity being all that queer people had in the mainstream for a very, very long time.

But these days, we celebrate every win, for every explicitly queer character, for every confirmation from creators where they couldn't explicitly show anything in the material (except for Rowling bullshit, fuck that fake shit), and every hold that we're constantly fighting for. I know I'm speaking for a lot of people when I say we are so happy to see so many gay and bi characters see the mainstream's spotlights, be left unquestioned, that I, someone on the other side of the world, am left in positive awe whenever I see some middle-aged white dudes casually say, "My daughter's girlfriend." But of course, it's always a fight. We can't be complacent, because for every win, people will always try to tear it down, and I know I just happen to be in pretty inclusive online communities to see what I see in the west. There, people queer sexualities still fight. Here, people still fight. Queer identities will never stop fighting.

All this to say, what of Gwen? Well, one of the moments that made me think about her this way was when I was putting the little hints together. Because her arc does not stand in isolation. Her arc is literally colored by transness. From the big trans flag above her door, the trans colors that literally paint her and her world, the reflections that show her other identity, her reconciliation with her father hitting us with "They can only know half of who I am," the acceptance, and even the tiniest bit of Mary Jane's voice over talking about raising a child that's different than everyone else and learning to learn as a parent, and all these details. Hell, she even hangs out with Hobie Brown, whose entire thing is anarchism, the rejection of what society has considered the norm for bullshit reasons, to hang out with a radical leftist—and as one of those, there's not any other group (or at least from my experience) quite as intersectional with solidarity with marginalized groups as radlefts. To those who say, "Maybe she's just an ally," I challenge you: why would the film stop there?

Why does the film that goes out of its way to casually show more people of color as normal, to show people with disabilities playing basketball, to show an entire arc about Miles striving to fight the institutions that want to keep him down, to drive with progress, to drive the narrative that anyone can be behind the mask, why would it stop at making Gwen Stacy a trans girl?

And very similar to Miles, of course there's no one explicitly transphobic nor are any groups shown to be that. It's a more personal story, and is more subtle about it. And it's crazy how much this reminds of when I grew up watching The Legend of Korra, when Korra and Asami's relationship was only some endgame thing and hinted at with a "vacation." Gay people didn't have that much there. Not much in other places in the mainstream either. They started making their own, of course. Through fan-fiction, through art, making their own stories. But fortunately (I say with as much dripping sarcasm as I can) capitalism now sees it as a big enough market for billionaires to profit off of. (Which is, in a very dystopian way, a win.) And now, it's eerily familiar to see trans people get the same treatment now, stuck in a limbo of infrequent and rare representation in the mainstream if we aren't clawing for every inch.

So, while Miguel O'Hara isn't a racist authoritarian, George Stacy isn't a transphobe—not when he goes out of his way to wear trans flags (and no, it's not a trick of the light; nothing is a trick of the light, it's all intentional in animation). But the conflicts they represent aren't any less meaningful in the subtext. And that means a lot for people who are fighting tooth and nail to be recognized.

And all of this, too, is representative of one of the first and second film's main themes. It's not that it doesn't matter who's behind the mask, it's that it can be anyone behind the mask, carrying with them all the richness of their experiences, bringing forth a Spider-Person unlike any other. And in the second film, to defy the patterns and labels set by the institutions that govern our lives, doing things like using fear and preserving an order for some grand picture.

So, I'm pretty sure Gwen Stacy is trans. What does it add to the story? Nothing. Being cis never added much to the story.

But for someone like me, it's doing a lot. It gives me hope.

[spider-phoenix]

GUYS

I love how inclusive the spiderverse fandom is with the writing, it's beautiful and I have never seen so many fics in one place that write with POC in mind.

I might be white but my hair is not long, straight, or blond.

The positivity is amazing !! It's very punk to write silly little fanfics about characters for people who look different in all sorts of ways.

So don't be a dick about it and complain if you don't see enough basic white girl fics, if you need them that badly write it yourself. Equal rights doesn't mean less rights for you, it's not pie.

THAT BEING SAID.

I've seen a couple trans guy fics so far, but I haven't come across many NB or trans girl ones.

Gwen had multiple trans pride flags on her in the movie, implying that she is trans herself. Even if not, it's amazing to just see the flags in a large feature film considering we're one of the most underrepresented groups in the media at all.

SO. I'm going to write a fuck ton of trans!reader and/or trans!character fics for you guys !!

Feel free to send me requests for these, I'll write sfw content for practically any spiderverse character.

We need more trans representation in fan communities, but I can't expect everyone else to do it all. If I wanna see more of it I've gotta make more of it.

I have a few drafts saved right now , mostly headcanons, that I'll be posting sometime tomorrow !!

[killukoo]

trans gwen is sooo real 2 me and ur blind if u think she’s cis

[ch4tk4t]

Goofing around with Mags

Hey Magneto, do you think the Disney MCU reboot of x-men will even be a thousandth as good as X-men 97 is ?

Hey Magneto, what do you think about the Xorn retcon ?

Hey Magneto, how old was Anna Marie when you two boned for the first time ?

Hey Max, do you prefer Sir Ian McKelllen of Michael Fassbender ?

Hey Mags, what do we say to the haters that hate the idea of Spider-Gwen being trans ?

You heard it here first folks, Mags says #transrights

Hey Magnus, do you mind if I call you "Daddy" ?

I'm very sad there was a video game episode without anyone saying "X-men ! Welcome...to DIE"

Hey Magsy honey, I'm magnetically attracted to YOU :3💙 Would you make me miss Lehnsherr ?

Seriously though, the only character that ever did the whole "welcome to die" X-men arcade joke was...*sigh* DEADPOOL.

My man, I hate the fact the only x-universe movie I'm even remotely looking forward to is...*sigh* DEADPOOL 3.... Not a great feeling.

Like I know the joke I'm doing right now is TOTALLY something he would do, but...um..I sorta..you know...hate my humor. So, like...well you know.

Thanks for hearing me out man. You're a real pal Magsy baby. I mean it. May I hug you ?

How are YOU ? Any plans to liberate the mutant race in the near future ? How is the daughter ? DaughterS ? I forget with all these retcons.

Oh and Pietro too I guess.

Hey Erik, do you think I'll ever get tired of this bit ?

Yo, Mags baby, how do you say "Shut up" in Korean ?

[tanosolos]

Gwen Stacy the love of my life

[bli-o]

I love people who are like “no!!! gwen stacy isnt trans!!! they didnt cut to black in the middle of the movie and have the director of the movie say ‘you see, she has the trans flag in her room because she is transgender’ so you CANT be right!!! you CANT!!!!!!!” like yall r so fucking stupid i bet if i explained the definition of the word “allegory” to you, sparks would fly from your head and smoke would slowly rise from your ears you conformist robot

like. Im gonna start headcanoning miles as transmasc too just to fuck with you. pav is a demiboy. hobie doesnt believe in labels. go argue with a wall lmao

[rejectedfables]

is Gwen Stacy from Spiderverse2 a trans woman? To me? Obviously. But also there's quite a lot of in-movie nods to the possibility, from the "Protect Trans Kids" trans flag over her bedroom door, to her hair changing between blue (at her lowest) and pink (at her truest to herself), to her narrative arc being extremely trans coded (replace "being spiderwoman" with "being a woman" and the emotional through line remains completely intact), to the culminating scene having exclusively watercolor trans flag coloration throughout.

Regardless, though, the fact that she has that flag in her room has had a fascinating effect on the transphobes of Twitter fandom: namely that they can deny her transness (it's not explicitly stated or shown, after all), but they can't deny her SUPPORT of trans people. In order to defend their fav from the clutches of us Evil Transes, they're clutching their pearls while screaming "She's just a trans ALLY!"

They are incapable of denying that "being supportive of trans rights and trans youth" is being held aloft as a heroic quality. They're TRYING, but they're FLAILING (and failing), and it's fascinating to watch them squirm on the hook. Rot there, or be reeled in. Your choice

[moghidien]

Gwen Stacy Spider verce polymerclay pin

[xxpuppy-teethxx]

hiii tumbler!! what if i told you i was obsessed with her <3