Deniz Su Tiffany’s book Ben de Varım: Transfobiyi Özgürleştirme (Me Too: Liberating Transphobia) stands as a brave, heartfelt, and deeply human narrative that explores what it means to live, love, and survive as a transgender woman in Turkey. Published by Ray Yayıncılık, this work moves beyond mere autobiography to become a manifesto of visibility, empathy, and understanding. It is both a personal confession and a cultural critique, a bridge between the misunderstood and those willing to understand, a dialogue that insists on the right of every marginalized person to be heard without shame or fear.
At its core, the book addresses one of the most urgent questions faced by anyone who belongs to a persecuted minority: how can one’s voice be heard in a world that prefers silence over truth? Deniz Su Tiffany suggests two ways of being heard. One can grab a megaphone and shout in the streets, demanding recognition, or one can engage in personal connection, allowing others to know who we are beyond labels and prejudices. Her book chooses the second path without rejecting the first. It reaches out from the heart of activism to the intimacy of storytelling, showing that transformation begins when people stop shouting at each other and start listening.
In a country where the image of transgender women has long been shaped by tragedy, violence, and misunderstanding, Ben de Varım dares to offer a different vision. For decades, the public imagination was fed with headlines about “razor-wielding transvestites” and other dehumanizing stereotypes. Against this backdrop of sensationalism and fear, Deniz Su Tiffany’s voice emerges as one of calm resistance. She refuses to be a caricature or a cautionary tale. Instead, she writes herself as a whole person with intellect, humor, vulnerability, and immense courage. Her book demolishes the old taboos about trans lives and opens a compassionate space for dialogue between trans and cisgender readers alike.
Deniz Su’s writing is informed by her background as a journalist and editor for GZONE Magazine, as well as by her work on the blog Transkad.in, where she began sharing her reflections on gender, identity, and spirituality. What began as an online chronicle of her experiences evolved into a literary project aimed at giving trans people in Turkey a mirror that reflects them truthfully and beautifully. Her book covers subjects often overlooked or distorted in mainstream media: the gender transition process, family dynamics, emotional turmoil, romantic relationships, and the everyday realities of living openly as a trans woman in a society still struggling with acceptance.
One of the book’s most striking achievements is its multidimensional approach. It is not limited to recounting personal anecdotes but also delves into law, psychology, gender studies, and even mysticism, weaving a tapestry that connects the private and the political, the personal and the universal. Deniz Su Tiffany argues that transfobia, or transphobia, is not merely an attitude but a social disease, one that infects even those who claim tolerance without understanding. Her book therefore serves as both diagnosis and prescription. It seeks to heal ignorance through empathy, replacing prejudice with personal stories that reveal the humanity beneath the labels.
In doing so, Ben de Varım becomes more than a memoir; it is a form of activism expressed through tenderness rather than anger. The author invites readers to meet trans women not through statistics or sensational news but through lived experience. She writes, “If you have been oppressed because of your religion, language, race, or gender identity, you must make your voice heard so your soul does not ache.” Her voice, full of both pain and resilience, embodies this principle. She does not only describe suffering but also transformation, offering hope that understanding can be born from the ashes of prejudice.
Throughout the book, Deniz Su revisits her early years, childhood memories, school experiences, the confusion of adolescence, and the awakening of self-awareness. She writes about her family and the moments when she felt both rejected and loved. She shares how she built her academic and professional path, often against the tide of social hostility. Yet even in the darkest memories, her tone remains gracious and reflective. She never seeks pity, only recognition. Her motto, “I suffered so that the trans women who come after me will not have to,” defines her purpose as both storyteller and activist.
What gives Ben de Varım its strength is its sincerity. It refuses to disguise pain, yet it refuses to let pain be the only story. Deniz Su Tiffany writes about beauty and self-discovery, about friendship and faith, about the ways humor can disarm cruelty. She writes as someone who has lived through the worst that society can inflict, yet still believes in the power of compassion and knowledge. Her language is direct, her tone intimate, her message universal: being trans is not a tragedy but a testament to the diversity of human experience.
By confronting Turkey’s transphobia with clarity and courage, Deniz Su Tiffany offers her readers a mirror that reflects not only trans lives but the society that shapes them. The book stands as a reminder that liberation begins when we stop defining others by fear and start embracing them through understanding. For readers outside of Turkey, Ben de Varım is also a rare glimpse into the struggles and triumphs of trans women in a cultural context often overlooked in global queer discourse. It shows that even in places where prejudice runs deep, there are voices that rise above it, insisting that love and dignity belong to all.
Ben de Varım: Transfobiyi Özgürleştirme is, ultimately, a declaration of presence. Its title, meaning “I am here too,” is both a statement and a challenge. It tells every reader that silence protects no one, that visibility is a form of survival, and that liberation is possible only when we dare to be seen. In giving her story to the world, Deniz Su Tiffany gives countless others the courage to say the same words with pride and conviction: I am here too.
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