I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter

✍ Scribed by Isabel Fall

• Publisher: Clarkesworld Magazine
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 26 KB
• Category: Fiction

✦ Synopsis

A military science fiction short story by Isabel Fall, published on 1 January 2020 in Clarkesworld Magazine. The story relates the experience of Barb, a woman whose gender has been reassigned to "attack helicopter" so as to make her a better pilot. It was a finalist for the 2021 Hugo Award, under the title "Helicopter Story".

The story's original title is taken from an Internet meme used to disparage transgender people. Some read the story as transphobic or as trolling, and at Fall's request, Clarkesworld withdrew the story after Fall — a transgender woman — was harassed because of it. This caused a discussion among writers and critics about the merits of art that some perceive as hurtful.