Well, I know Rain is neither careless nor spiteful enough of Ana to out her against her will, but I do imagine there might be some friction going forward nonetheless. I actually kind of wonder if Rain will end up being jealous of Ana... Like, Rain's decision to out herself to Ana makes sense, but I wonder if her reasoning represents what she'd see as a loss of control. A secret only one person knows and that you only talk to that person about is very different from a secret you feel obliged to tell every new member of your group so that it isn't something you're cleverly trying to beat around the bush with everyone else about. And Rain might regret or fear that her friends aren't able to see her as "just a normal girl" due to the fact that they know. It sounds cruel, but Rudy and Gavin are both still feeling double-edged attraction towards her in a way that's easy to interpret as being BECAUSE she's trans, and she suffered early on from Chanel shying away from her in her "fear of boys" way.

She might long for the way everybody, from the conscious to the unconscious level, sees Ana as "normal girl," no strings attached, etc. Trans girls ARE normal girls, of course, and I think Rain would be overplaying her friends' reactions, but I do recognize it as a very human and Rain-like response.

Idk what intersex really is but i dont think there "butt heads" Rain didnt want to come out to her friends at frist anyways so she should no (more then any otgere on in this comic)

I'm glad Ana chose to be polite, but that surgery has a long recovery time and I doubt the "accident" excuse will hold out forever. Also, it bothers me that Ana say, "I'm sure you know that feeling TO SOME Extent" when referencing feeling wrong being called a boy. The capitalized part bothers me because it seems like Ana's saying Rain's experience is wildly different or Rain is less of a girl or not a "real" girl. I may be over thinking this, but that choice of words just really doesn't say good things to me.

feels like a "freaks like you make it harder for people like me with a legit medical condition" is coming in rebuke of rain wanting to be friends :|

So glad this has finally been said, but now I'm super nervous about where it might go...

I don't see much of a problem with Ana choosing not to share this with the rest of the group. If it's what makes her comfortable, let her keep it to herself. Maybe if she gets more comfortable she can tell Gavin or even the others. But there's no reason that she should tell anyone else, especially since she doesn't want to.

We literally just went over the genetics of intersex individuals today in my class! Could also possibly be the reason she has heterochromia if she's a genetic chimera? (If anyone's interested in that kind of stuff :P)

Legitimate question for you Jocelyn, does Ana not like trans people or think being trans is bad because she said she would "rather not think of it that way"?

My ex was in a very similar position. At birth the doctor "fixed" him and said he was a girl. From what I've gathered this was actually a very common practice.

Seems to me that Ana has some built up internalized transphobia going on. I have an intersex friend who put things fairly well in that he saw being intersex and trans as being two sides of the same coin. One condition deals with how the body developed ambiguous genitalia and the other deals with how the brain didn't develop congruently to the body. Both conditions have the same result on the person where there is incongruence when things don't match up to the individuals identity.

As an intersex woman myself, I can definitely say it's not the same. I get why she doesn't want to open up more. The support structure that's there for trans? Not so much for intersex. Somehow, the idea of a genetic "aberration" is more of a "threat" to the norms.

Makes me feel a bit like the mutants from Marvel stories.

I'm really happy Jocelyn included this much about intersex. Intersex genital "surgeries" are really horrific, and it's appalling that modern health organizations still fight any attempts to end intersex genital surgeries. They're worse any other kind of genital mutilation, including up to full nullification of the sexual pleasure organs and castration, vastly worse than even the horrific variations for binary sexes. It's really nice to see a real exploration, and a proper response, to the most horrific element, a present dark history, of modern medicine.

I used to not understand Ana, but as I’ve progressed through life I’ve grown to think a lot like her. I guess I’m technically trans, but I really consider myself cis. Even with fully supportive people, I’d still rather be cis.

ah... same as me...

its interesting both the overlap and differences with someone who is trans. and to trans people i ... typically don't mention being intersex... idk how its relevant and don't want to be thought of as different.

i've also found that cis people tend to have no sympathy for the infant surgeries and are just as mad at me for transitioning as they would be to any trans person. i even had a guy break up with me for the intersex part (he figured cos i had a medical condition, that what if my treatment plan changed and i was told i had to live as male... apparently there's a movie with that as its main plot point >.<

i don't particularly worry that being around other intersex or trans people would out me... then again i'm old enough to be Ana's mother. idk how i would have thought if i could have fixed things when i was 17 (or if i could have even handled finding out about the hysterectomy at that age...)