Lisa Salazar - Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life

2011, Canada, English, Lisa Salazar,

Full title: "Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life" by Lisa Salazar.

"It wasn’t always clear to Santiago Salazar that somewhere inside him was a Lisa that would someday—a long time into the future - show herself to the world. Born in Colombia, Santiago grew up in California and moved to Vancouver in the early 1970s to start a successful career as a graphic designer and photographer.

After living the first forty-eight years of life as Santiago, a married, heterosexual man and father of three children and devout Christian, Santiago was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a term that describes the challenges, and opportunities, that some have with sexual identity. It would take almost ten more years to reconcile the diagnosis to his Christian faith before Santiago could decide to transition to womanhood.

For someone who had been a husband and a father, it was the beginning an amazing new life. Having recently completed her medical and surgical transformation, Lisa is ready to share the story of her journey as a transwoman and Christian; written with tenderness, humility, sensitivity and complete transparency. A must-read for anyone who struggles to understand their own gender identity, or a friend's or loved one's—especially when faith is pivotal in their life."

In 2013, I interviewed Lisa and asked her about her transition experiences: "I was fifty-eight years old when I transitioned. That was almost five years ago; it was in the Summer of 2008. By that time, I had already lost about 15 kilos and undergone 200 hours of electrolysis to remove my beard. I wanted to attract as little attention to myself as possible and it was important to me to present as authentically as possible for my age group. Being a very visual person, I studied women my age whom I found attractively dressed and took mental notes of what they wore to work, to go shopping, etc.

In this regard, I did not go through delayed adolescence, I never purchased or wore a mini-skirt nor tried to look like a teenager. In my opinion, there is nothing more pathetic than a sixty-year-old woman trying to look half her age ... so imagine how sad it is to see a trans person trying to pull it off. Even though I lined up my ducks the best I could, I was terrified about the prospect of going out in public as a female. Unlike some trans persons I have met, I never went out in public cross-dressed."

Available via Amazon

and The Heroines of My Life

Photo via The Heroines of My Life