 My most recent comic. I have a series called gender studies This is the third of what I hope will be five or six different ones and this one They're autobiographical stories of my adventures in gender and this is called child's play For very little kids people pretty much fall into two categories children and adults. It's the only difference that really matters Adults are tall and strong and they pretty much know everything They can take you out for ice cream and other cool stuff kids are a lot more fun to play with and they're really good at games Like make believe and hide and seek you see the kid coming up saying is that double chocolate fudge and rocky road? Can I have a bite you can't have any it's mine? But they do things like but they can't do things like take you out for ice cream and they don't really like to share Then around four years old kids start to notice some of the other kinds of differences that seem to be important I hadn't really given much thought to the way the child that kids learned to understand gender until my oldest niece Pickle was in preschool Pickle auntie picking Pickle up from daycare That's when seemingly overnight Pickle and her classmates became aware that for a lot of people in a lot of different ways The difference between boys and girls really matters a lot How was preschool today? We had apples and milk for snack and we went on the swings and I made a picture of grandma and Knowing which person is what is the most important thing of all and Jacob wanted to play trucks But Chloe said Jacob's a girl so he should play dolls, but Jacob said he's a boy like our new classroom helper Mary Ann When adults ask about gender they never ask directly and it usually feels like an insult And so here in line at the grocery store is the cashier a man or a woman or what? He she or it and then I'm thinking I'm wearing a tie if I speak up will they turn on me? Am I a jerk for worrying about myself? But when my niece and her friends ask it felt less like judgment and more like a fact-finding mission Auntie are you sure you're a girl? Yep I'm pretty sure then why do you have short hair and why do you dress like a boy and why do you act like a boy? Can I change my answer to your first question? Like all good investigators Pickle and her classmates sometimes drew on previously gathered intelligence So there's me shopper who looks a lot like her dad and then three-year-old who met my dad at preschool visiting day They sometimes reach some interesting conclusions. Are you Pickle's grandpa? This actually happened and Sometimes they called in expert witnesses like my fabulous partner Sandy is auntie really a girl Well, Pickle. What do you think auntie has short hair like a boy? Well Pickle. I have short hair, too Do you think I'm a boy? Whoa mind blown Pickles a lot older now But talking to all those preschoolers about boys and girls and who's whom made clear to me that when it comes to talking about gender Adults could learn a lot from little kids Waiting for Pickle swim class. You look a lot like my cousin. She's a boy, too Dropping Pickle at ballet are ladies supposed to wear sweaters like that Or taking Pickle to the park. You're the shortest man I have ever seen in my whole life For one thing kids seem to instinctively understand that sexes and genders don't always align We'll have a small chicken burrito two carnitas tacos and a chocolate milk. Will that be for here or to go? Auntie the lady at the counter is a boy, but I don't think she knows it And I'm thinking I'm pretty sure she knows it Also It's nice to know that for at least a brief time little kids really do understand that genders and bodies can combine in an infinite number of ways I'm feeling philosophical now And they do The only thing that really makes sense in the face of such breath of possibility If kids really can't tell if you're a boy or a girl or another gender entirely Hi pickles auntie can pickle come out and play. She's just finishing her lunch. That's pickles best friends bud I changed the names They're usually not afraid to ask You know what I have an auntie too. My auntie's a girl. Are you a girl? Yes, I am sprout sort of Oh Right sometimes I forget That's okay sprout. Sometimes I forget too Thanks Oh, yeah Bye um, this is more zine than comic and it's um Uh tribute to african-american gay men with beards The little book of big black bears Arrow wears a frohawk Roddy has a poet soul Derek gets his eyebrows done. Lamar is on the dole Philip looks like santa claus Tyrell is philips elf Malcolm likes to keep his cool Khalil keeps to himself Bill is at the white party Big mic is at the gym Bubba's into vintage plaids And basil's into him Nathan wears a hoodie Daryl likes to wear suspenders I'll tell you something about this one. I'm Tim likes wearing nothing Draze a Folsom street bartender. It's very hard to rhyme suspenders That's my third try by the way Three different versions out there and then the rest of the zine is um, if you're familiar with the poem the teddy bears picnic I rewrote it to be the black teddy bears picnic Oh At the edge of the wood you can hear them so merry so raucous so gleeful so joyous so harry It's the day when black teddy bears gather together to picnic and frolic from dawn till whenever Some teddies are chubby and pudgy and cuddly Other teddies are muscular strapping and studly There are teddies of chocolate and caramel hue Bears of mocha and tan and mahogany too There are laughing and frolicing teddies at play dancing dances of love singing music so gay So if you were enchanted by bears large and small and the beauty and grace of black bears above all Then come down to the wood for their annual rite join the bears as they frolic late into the night The little book of big black bears See you at zine fest Thank you