Talking Shop: Thou Shalt Not Write That

If you've been following my Twitter or Facebook the last few days, you'll know I've been working on a short story involving a transgender character.  Stories like this, involving characters of an underrepresented or historically excluded group, inherently involve a degree of controversy, if you as the author are not a member of that group. 

 

Laverne Cox as Sophia, transgender inmate in Orange is the New Black

 

Some critics claim authors should never write about ethnic, sexual, and gender experiences with which they can't personally identify. It's an understandable opinion: it's easy to misrepresent circumstances and experiences you haven't gone through, and in the case of groups which have been traditionally oppressed, stereotypes and misrepresentations are not only already pervasive in society, but potentially very damaging.

 

But should authors never write about identities or experiences they don't share?