Canadian cartoonist, author, and Sophie Labelle is also a public speaker. Her webcomic Designated Male is well recognized based on her life as a trans girl and then woman. She speaks on the topics of trans history and transfeminism and is a participant in the transgender rights movement. Near Châteauguay, in rural Quebec, Labelle was raised. She coordinated camps for Gender Creative Kids Canada and worked as an elementary school teacher.
Assigned Male, a webcomic & collection of zines that explores topics of privilege and gender conventions, is written and illustrated by Labelle. In it, an 11-year-old trans girl named Stephie learns about and accepts her gender.
Early Life
Labelle stated that she wanted to develop a character who could answer to all of the terrible things trans kids constantly hear because of her work with transgender children. To advocate for safer settings for trans youth, she has created educational manuals to accompany the comics. The Washington Blade praised the webcomic as “hilarious” and proof that transgender humor may be amusing without being rude.
The Generic Coloring Book, Ciel at Camp Fabulous, A Girl Like Any Other, and Gender Euphoria are just a few of the books & zines about gender expression and identity that Labelle has authored.
The second book in the Ciel series’ English translation, Ciel in All Directions (2020, Second Story Press), was selected as one of the 2022 Bank Street Kids book Committee’s Best Books of the Year. In Ask me regarding Polyamory: The Best of Kimchi Cuddles by Tikva Wolf, she authored the foreword. Trans Students Educational Resources has trans-centered sex education products.
Labelle published the comic book Dating Tips for Trans & Queer Weirdos in May 2017. Threats against her and the store caused the Halifax bookseller Venus Envy to postpone a scheduled debut. Her home address was published on internet forums, she got death threats, and her website & social media accounts were hacked.
With her webcomic Assigned Male, cartoonist Sophie Labelle has gained some notoriety. It tells the ongoing tale of a transgender girl named Stephie as she navigates gender difficulties in contemporary Montreal. Labelle, like many others, has had to cope with cyberbullying, one of the negative aspects of online stardom.
The Controversy Period
She estimates she receives “a couple of dozen scares per day,” but she received thousands of death and rape threats in a short time last week. It got to the point that Labelle had to cancel the launch of her book, Dating Tips for Trans and Queer Weirdos, scheduled for last Wednesday at Halifax bookshop Venus Envy.
On Friday, Labelle, 29, told a reporter over the phone that “this kind of behavior happens to any trans person who’s visible & trying to raise awareness of trans problems.” The organizers, in this case, received warnings that people would show up and disturb the event, so we chose to be cautious.
Doxxing is a tactic that has been used particularly viciously against Labelle. One of the cyberspeak terms that is quickly becoming common usage refers to “having personal information exposed to weaken somebody,” in Labelle’s words. I’ve previously uncovered a few organizations that have posted threats on my Facebook page, and Facebook has removed most of them. I believe this caused the situation to get out of hand to the point wherein they doxxed me & revealed my home address. They obtained the information by hacking into my website.
As Labelle & countless other survivors have discovered, it is difficult to find the assailants. Since most of them are foreign nationals, it is incredibly challenging to win over the authorities. They use fictitious names and images because they do it as a hobby and know how to safeguard their identities. Since Assigned Male gained popularity in 2014, Labelle has experienced online harassment; however, in recent months, she has seen a general increase.
What Actually Happens?
Just after the American election, which empowered radical alt-right groups, she claimed, “it became worse.” There is a lot of neo-Nazi imagery closely related to the eugenics component — the notion that the human race should be made purer, including eliminating trans people. The entirety of the Nazi ideology of racism & anti-Semitism goes hand in hand with transphobia.
Labelle has recently been “too overwhelmed” to devote time to pursuing legal action, but she doesn’t particularly like this choice. In the past, police departments have frequently displayed more transphobia than a genuine willingness to assist, and I can attest to this. Supporting trans communities in these situations is rarely easy.
Labelle has received assistance from other sources. Her Facebook profile, taken down during the attacks, is back online, and people worldwide are standing with her. She predicted that episodes would soon return to their usual level of a few dozen daily. She intends to reschedule the Halifax launch to resume uploading new Assigned Male chapters.
However, she stated that she would continue to maintain a low profile for the time being. She remarked about the bullies, “I’m sure they’re already plotting their next attack.” But I suppose I’m jaded. I can go past that because it has been a constant in my life for a while. Death threats should not be taken lightly, even if they are only jokes.
