]] Star Wars Faces Backlash Over Trans Clone Trooper

“Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers” is a new book from Insight Editions that came out on October 8th, 2024. Written by Mark Sumerak, it’s an in-universe lore book for all ages that dives into the history of the clones of the late bounty hunter Jango Fett, which served through the Clone Wars and beyond. The book covers everyone from Jango himself and the more well-known clones like Captain Rex and the Bad Batch all the way to lesser-known clones like Jessie, Wolff, and Gregor. In fact, one clone in particular is currently causing controversy among close-minded bigots, and it’s naturally for all the wrong reasons.

The book itself is written from the perspective of Captain Rex, who speaks of her fondly in the past tense with respect and fondness for her courage, both as a soldier and as someone who felt the courage to be who they truly were. The book is said to be published, in-universe, sometime after the events of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” and it’s framed as Rex’s memoir of his brothers and sisters who were clones of Jango Fett, and that includes the first trans Clone Trooper among them.

Sister is the first trans clone introduced in the “Star Wars” mythos. First introduced in 2022 in the novel “Star Wars: Queen’s Hope” (which we wrote about positively here at the time), Sister was a clone of Jango Fett who did not feel comfortable in the male clone body and felt more comfortable as a woman. Her brothers embraced her wholeheartedly as she presented as a woman and that earned her the nickname Sister. She served in the 7th Sky Corps and led missions. 

On an early mission, Sister encountered Anakin Skywalker as a Padawan and had a discussion with him where she explained her early fears about not being accepted by the Jedi, but Anakin assured her the Jedi were all about transcending things, so who were they to complain if she transcended gender? It became an interesting philosophical point for all of the characters involved, and she was praised at the time as an excellent place to include representation of this kind in “Star Wars.”

Sister also appeared in author Mike Chen’s novel “Star Wars: Brotherhood” and “The Secrets of the Clone Troopers” actually marks her third appearance in a canon “Star Wars” novel. However, it’s the first where she appears in official art. The original art that accompanied her first appearance was a fan piece personally commissioned by her creator, E.K. Johnston herself.

Sister wasn’t the only female clone either. There were definitely others. Naturally, the Bad Batch’s Omega was a female clone as well. So was Emerie Karr, a scientist working on Operation Necromancer. There could have been more, as well, whether they were cis or trans. There were millions of clones, and we’ve only had stories about a handful.

Two years have gone by since Sister’s introduction, and the usual gang of bigots have hardly noticed the inclusion of a trans clone trooper in the canon, largely because they probably aren’t actually “Star Wars” fans and don’t keep up with the lore. But now that this new book has come out, they are furious. But why?

Well, the first has to do with the fact that this book is being marketed for kids of all ages. They are under the false impression that the inclusion of trans folks, especially the positive acceptance of trans folks, is inappropriate for kids of any age, because being trans is somehow inherently tied to sex acts, even though gender identity and expression have nothing to do with sex.

That flies in the face of any reasonable reading of the situation, where kids of all ages should be shown acceptance of people of all walks of life and gender identities, simply because that’s a good human thing to do. The rejection and disgust displayed at the mere mention of a trans clone in “Star Wars” is also bad behavior to model for kids. What happens when one of these bigots’ kids turns out to be trans, and the kid remembers this silly stance about a trans clone? They won’t feel safe, and they’ll fear that their family won’t protect them or love them because of this. That’s why the suicide rate among trans folks is so high. Being welcoming helps to reverse that reality.

Meanwhile, others still think this is some form of “grooming” children. There has been a bizarre tactic among some of these bigots to accuse anyone who supports trans rights of being child groomers. Furthermore, some believe anyone having the temerity of having children who are trans is also child abuse. It doesn’t make any sense, but then again, neither does bigotry. It’s such a weird stance to take, though sadly, it’s not unexpected. It also doesn’t adhere to reality, but it’s important to know it’s out there so we can avoid those folks at best, and laugh at them at worst.

Another silly point being posited is that this is somehow forced diversity. Since Jango Fett was a man, he couldn’t possibly have had a clone that was trans. But that also flies in the face of the canon built around the clones.

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” did a very fascinating thing with the clones of Jango Fett. It gave them all individuality and personality. It made us hurt when they had their inhibitor chips turned on in “Revenge of the Sith” and turned on their Jedi friends. But that didn’t take away from their individuality coming through. Every clone abandoned the number they were born with in favor of a nickname. Every clone had a different way of doing their hair. Some had tattoos. They all had different quirks, accents, catchphrases, things they liked and didn’t like. They all had different consciouses and souls. They were all very different. 

Much of this came from the encouragement of the Jedi. Master Yoda brought this to the front of the series in the very first episode that aired, “Ambush”. He sat the clones in his command down and explained that they should embrace that individuality. Through other clones, we saw that they were all different, and the Kaminoans were constantly trying to tamper with the genes, and on top of that anything could happen in the cloning canisters. With as many clones as there were, it’s actually quite surprising there weren’t more trans clones, so the inclusion of Sister actually corrects what I see as an error.

But perhaps the most fascinating part of the clones, in contrast to stormtroopers, is that stormtroopers start as individuals. They can be men or women, it doesn’t matter. The Empire actually stamps out that individuality. Instead of their own names that they were born with, they get a number. They are faceless numbers in a machine that chews them up and spits them out. This removal of identity comes from their exposure to the dark side, and its opposite of the beliefs of the Jedi.

Maybe it’s no wonder that so many of the social media accounts upset about this are a word and a random string of numbers (or pathetic blue check marks), and so many of the people defending Sister are unique individuals. Just some food for thought.

“Star Wars: The Secrets of the Clone Troopers” is out now.