abybweisse:

I’ve got some older posts about this, since others have asked before. It’s such a hotly debated topic that the discourse has become really bad, so I appreciate that you aren’t attacking me for not automatically riding the trans train. 🚂

She’s never emphatically stated Grelle’s gender. In fact, she still typically uses male pronouns for the character and calls Grelle an “okama”, which is an umbrella term for a few different things in Western thought. An okama can be a:

• gay, effeminate man who sometimes cross-dresses (like a Drag Queen),
• gender- fluid male, or
• trans-woman

In the Character Guide, Grelle gives an “interview” and provides very over-the-top replies… much like a celebrity might do in some teen magazine. In that, Grelle mentions thinking about gender reassignment surgery, having kids (not sure how, but ok, it’s just wishful thinking, anyway), getting a house with a picket fence, and getting a husband (Will, I should think is the target for that)… oh, and getting a dog. The original Japanese version just says “okama” in the description by one of the character sketches. The French translation is a licensed translation and says (translated into English) “effeminate homosexual transvestite”… which is basically like saying “Drag Queen”. The only English translation available is a fan translation, so when it says “trans woman”, I have to consider the bias of whichever fan did the translating.

In the “Ciel in Wonderland” OVA, Grelle seems particularly confused about the gender issue and doesn’t seem to be able to decide between the two. “Cheshire Cat” Grelle basically decides not to decide, since each gender has its own advantages.

In the manga, Grelle admits that being male/a man rules out the ability to bear children… but never mentions this again… not in the main series, anyway. Grelle self-refers as a “lady”, “actress”, etc. for most of the manga but seems to have the ability to slip out of that role whenever it’s more convenient to be a “man”. The extra chapter, the “Akuma 6”, shows what Grelle imagines a higher-ranking rosette 🏵 would do, and the image is of either a female version of Grelle… or at least a hormone therapy-using (and possibly post-op) Grelle. Grelle’s got quite a rack in that image. “The Butler, Requested” also shows Grelle as a “mermaid” with shells to cover the tits (even though they are not “developed” in that image).

I used to use male pronouns for the character, and people wouldn’t leave me in peace over it. Now, I generally avoid using any pronouns for Grelle… or stating a specific gender.

Honestly, though? I think Grelle probably is trans; the various bits of info regarding gender sure do lean that way. I just don’t state a canon gender for Grelle, since Yana-san hasn’t specified it in a way that translates clearly. She might not realize just how much it’s debated in the Western fandom, since “okama” is enough for Japanese readers. Therefore, she might never explain it using terms that Western fans will completely understand.

That’s why it’s typically Western fans that get into arguments over Grelle’s gender. The Japanese just say “Grelle’s an okama” and usually leave it at that… and shrug 🤷🏻‍♀️ at us when we are still so confused.

So, yeeeaaahhh… many say Grelle is a trans woman, many others say a gay man. I’m one of the ones somewhere in the middle going “probably trans, I’m just not gonna call it. ‘Okama’ might be the only term we get out of the author who created the character. Y’all can think whatever you like.”