I grew up in a small, conservative town in the Midwest. So, for a majority of my life, I assumed my life would go like this: meet a boy, fall in love, get married, buy a house, have kids. I didn’t feel any certain way about that, I just thought that’s how it would unfold.
Once I moved away for college, lived in cities and met people with backgrounds different from my own, I started to question — quite literally — everything. Do I believe in God? Do I want to get married? Do I want to have kids? Do I like men or women or both or neither? Do I even identify as a woman? It didn’t occur to me until well into my 20s that I could question and choose these things. I didn’t even start thinking about that last question until this year.
I’m still figuring out who I am, but this is who I am today: I’m a queer agnostic woman who is exploring whether I am pansexual. I don’t plan to have kids. I want an unconventional job at some point. I value friendships over romantic relationships and am exploring how I feel about having more fluid, non-monogamous relationships in my life. l also love to use comics to tell stories, and luckily, in my current role at The Washington Post, I can do just that. All of this (and more) is something I get to decide. It’s exciting. And sometimes scary. But well worth it.
This all relates to work we do on the gender and identity team, where we publish a perspective comic from a different artist every Sunday. Check them out on our website or on Instagram. We strive to give artists a platform to share their specific experiences, from what it’s like to live in Ukraine during the war to what lockdown drills feel like as a teacher and what it’s like coming out as nonbinary.
Below, you will find seven comics from artists about their gender and sexuality. These comics are beautiful and honest and delve into the rawest parts of what it means to be human.
Coming out in the year of staying in
From Lara Antal: I never felt like I could claim the label “queer.” Quarantine gave me the opportunity.
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How I learned to embrace androgyny
From Julia Bernhard: I used to hope I passed as straight. Now, I’m experimenting with my gender expression.
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I don’t have to be skinny to explore my gender identity in clothing
From Maggie Spear: Society tends to only accept fat women who are feminine and dressed in “flattering” clothes.
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I’m nonbinary. Here’s what that means.
From Kendra Wells: Figuring out my nonbinary gender identity was hard. Trying to explain it to other people is even harder.
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The pandemic empowered me to realize I’m nonbinary
From Christine Suggs: I feel like I’m meeting myself for the first time.
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How I found a new name that felt right for me in my gender transition
From Bea Hayward: My doubts about names felt endless. Could I find one that fit me?
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Here’s how I made peace with my gender identity as a disabled person
From A. Andrews: As a disabled person, I’ve had to accept my body for what it is. But my gender dysphoria taught me a lesson in acceptance I didn’t expect.
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