Andrea Thompson - Author

When I wrote Geraldine I set out to create a main character whose gender is one of the least interesting things about her. I wanted readers to see that gender diverse people are ordinary, and to be able to see themselves in that ordinariness.

I think I failed in this ambition.

In the time since I started writing Geraldine, the world has become more divided along gender lines. Gender diverse people are increasingly subject to restriction and erasure of rights and freedoms. And the silent majority, those I naively hoped might embrace Geraldine, could care less.

I didn’t realise that those who pushed Honeybee and other grossly stereotypical takes on trans lives on me weren’t looking for anything more than the superiority of knowing, no matter how shaky the foundations of that knowledge.

I still believe Geraldine’s is a beautiful story. But I don’t know if the world will ever be ready to receive a love like hers 💔