Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: trans, USAID

The USAID Peru "$32,000 Transgender Comic" That Isn't What They Say

The USAID-funded "$32,000 transgender comic book in Peru" that obviously isn't what people say it is.. and who created it.

As part of the American government's plans to throw the baby out with the bathwater and to harden American hearts about what is coming next. The White House Press Secretary, listing alleged wasteful spending by the US government agency USAID, repeated claims about "$32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru. I don't know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going towards this crap…" which have been reported widely in this form. As is this was some kind of trans propaganda piece for Peru paid for, unwittingly, by Americas. Retailer Phil Boyle of the Coliseum Of Comics chain had a different take, "I know a few hundred comic book creators are begging for $10k or less on Kickstarter for their passion project comic. Someone owes either $32,000 or an apology to America's comic creators."

You know what's coming next of course. Firstly the listing is not for a "trans" comic per se but an LGBTQ comic, but it seems that being anti-trans is more palatable than being anti-gay for some people. Secondly, the writer of the comic is American, while the artist, a Peruvian, is present on the American comic book scene, having drawn the likes of Cyberforce for Top Cow Studios published through Image Comics. And thirdly… it's an educational comic book.

Bleeding Cool tracked down the comic book in question. The Glass House Graphics team created it, a comics agency founded by David Campiti in 1993 that has specialised in finding work for South American and Filipino artists from American comic book publishers like Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom and more, including the likes of Mike Deodato, Joe Bennett, Ed Benes and hundreds more.

The comic, called The Power Of Education, or El Poder De la Educacion, has three issues published. The first two were written by David Lawrence, who is Head Of Acquisitions for Glass House Distribution in Los Angeles. Issue 3 published was written by Bobby Nash and drawn by Cliff Richards. And issue 2, which does feature queer characters, was drawn by Cyber Force's Bruno Abdias, and won the Palanca Award for best illustration of the year from the Ministry of Culture of Peru. And it seems that it is this particular issue which has caused ire to be raised and is apparently a good enough reason for USAID to also stop funding HIV treatment as well.

The comic in question does indeed promote tolerance of gay people but is more focused on sexual health. Comic books are a tried-and-tested form of education, and this comic book series is literally doing that—prevention before cure. Other issues in the series look at literacy and street violence, though apparently, they have evaded the condemnation of the White House. I wonder why. Comic books have a good reputation when it comes to education, especially in communities where literary levels are lower than others. Whether or not this is the job for a state-run charitable organisation regarding a foreign country is certainly a discussion that can be had, and certainly such decisions should be open to scrutiny and criticism. But it might be an idea to criticise for what it actually is, rather than a caricatured version designed to outrage and harden hearts over all the other decisions being made.

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