Respecting the Decision
April 11th, 2025 Barry Posted in LGBT cartoons | No Comments »
This one is by me and Grace Alden.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels, all showing two people standing on a mini stage in a public park. A small crowd is watching them. The first speaker is a grinning woman in a business suit. The second speaker, “John,” is bald with short hair on the sides, wearing a t-shirt and slacks. John looks nervous and unhappy.
PANEL 1
WOMAN: This is John. John used to be “trans” and called himself “Joan,” but he knows better now.
JOHN: It’s just been really difficult for me…
PANEL 2
WOMAN: The trans cult puts so much pressure on people to transition these days! But John knows his own mind!
JOHN: I got so much blowback when I transitioned… It’s hard not to let that pressure get to me.
PANEL 3
The woman keeps talking with a pious expression. “John” – now Joan – is suddenly very happy, spreading her arms wide in a gesture of acceptance.
WOMAN: What matters is that all of us respect John’s choice.
JOAN: I can’t do this anymore… I am Joan! I am!
PANEL 4
The woman, looking angry, kicks a surprised Joan off the platform.
WOMAN: No, you’re not.
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is what an earlier generation of cartoonists called extras we’d now call “Easter eggs.”
PANEL 1 – Woodstock from “Peanuts” is perched on a tree.
People watching in the audience include Little Orphan Annie, Mr. Spock, and Spider-Man. A bald person has the planet sticking its tongue out from “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” tattooed on their head. Someone else is wearing a cap for the Portland Pickles (a real minor league baseball team with a pickle for a mascot). A woman has “this space for rent” tattooed on her shoulder.
PANEL 3 – An evil bunny, smoking a cig, is in the background. Way in the background, a gigantic squirrel is climbing the side of a skyscraper.
PANEL 4 – Someone in the audience is missing the top of their head, and we can see their brain (a call-out to an earlier cartoon by Grace and I).
A flyer taped to the stage says “LOST!” in big letters. Below that, in lettering that’s almost too small to be read, it says “innocence, generation, hope, the battle, my way, paradise, boys, steam, cause, virginity, my religion, and found, time, it, touch, in translation, tv show, no big, at sea, in space, for words, loved and, sleep, and my dog.”
T SHIRT IN ALL FOUR PANELS: In panel one, Joan’s t-shirt shows a snowman. In panel 2, the snowman has turned to look at the sun. In panel 3, the snowman is melting. In panel 4, the shirt just shows the sun and some puddles.
