Lola Lorenzo & Barbara Lybeck - Lola

2023, Barbara Lybeck, Finnish, Lola Lorenzo, Somalia,

Original title: "Lola" by Lola Lorenzo and Barbara Lybeck.

The biography Lola, written by Lola Lorenzo together with journalist Barbara Lybeck, stands as an unfiltered portrait of the first Somali woman to publicly come out as transgender. It is a book that moves with the force of lived truth and the determination of someone who has survived nearly every form of exclusion that society can inflict. Through its pages, the reader is invited into the life of a woman who has faced racism, bullying, violence, and exploitation, yet has never stopped fighting for her right to exist exactly as she is.

 

Lola’s story begins in Mogadishu, where she was born in 1990. Soon after her birth, civil war made daily life unbearable and her family fled to Finland in search of safety. But safety is a complicated word for Somalis who arrived in Finland in the early 1990s. Lola describes a childhood marked by constant reminders that she did not belong. The slur beginning with the letter N was hurled casually in the streets. At daycare, at school, and eventually in the workplace, structural racism quietly and loudly shaped every interaction. Children in the Somali community grew up with an acute awareness of their outsider status. They learned to be alert, to move through the world apologetically, to brace themselves before walking into a store. Lola recalls someone refusing to touch a carton of milk because her mother had moved it. These moments were not rare outliers but the daily pulse of life for many Somali families. Trust in Finnish institutions eroded early, pushing people to rely more heavily on their own community for survival.

 

When Lola was seven years old, her parents made a decision common among Somali families living abroad. She was sent to Somalia for four years to learn her mother tongue, to deepen her understanding of her religion, and to study Arabic. The intention behind these journeys is often loving. Parents want their children to remain connected to their culture even if circumstances force the family to live far from home. Yet the reality of Somali boarding schools is far from gentle. Lola describes harsh living conditions, inadequate food, and a climate of physical punishment that seems to exist almost as a rule. Even more devastating is the fact that many children experience sexual abuse in these institutions. The environment is built on fear. In Lola’s telling, religious education is central and powerful, but the atmosphere resembles something like an extremely hard version of a confirmation camp where children are sent at younger ages and kept for far longer than anyone would expect.

 

Returning to Finland at eleven, Lola found herself trapped between two worlds. She had lost critical childhood years with her parents and siblings. She was also carrying trauma that no child should ever have to carry. Yet as she grew older, she discovered a talent that opened doors. She became the trusted makeup artist of the Somali community, a young professional whose skills were in such demand that she was flown around the world for weddings. Her career soared. Outwardly she was living a dream built through hard work. Inside she was carrying a truth that could no longer remain unspoken.

 

In 2013 she came out as a woman. The cost was immediate and devastating. The mother who had been her anchor and protector rejected her. The pain of that abandonment echoes through the book with raw intensity. In Somali culture, family is the structure that holds everything upright. It is safety, identity, and dignity. When you fall outside the boundaries of what the family believes is acceptable, you are no longer seen. Lola describes hearing a voice inside her own mind repeating that her mother no longer loved her. That voice made everyday life feel like a kind of personal hell. The grief is not simply sadness but a tearing away of the foundation on which her entire emotional world had been built.

 

Yet even in this darkest moment the book shifts toward hope. In Helsinki, Lola discovered a small transgender community and in that community she found a lifeline. The ballroom scene, with its houses and chosen families, offered her a place where she could breathe. Ballroom culture has always existed as a haven for people pushed to the margins. In Lola’s experience it became a new home. The acceptance was immediate and warm. She describes the moment of being welcomed in as a revelation, as if she had finally located the people who understood her without needing explanations. In this space she could explore gender presentation, performance, style, and identity without fear. The balls themselves offered stage lights and celebration, while the everyday support network provided something much more crucial, a sense of belonging. 

 

Even within larger LGBTQ communities, Lola encountered forms of racism that shocked her. Prejudice does not dissolve simply because people share marginalization. For Lola, being both Black and transgender meant existing inside multiple layers of bias. Relationships were also difficult. Men approached her with kindness and respect until they learned she was transgender. After that point many reduced her to a fantasy or a fetish. She writes about the sudden shift from romantic interest to objectification, a change that left her feeling dehumanized. The book arrives in stores as a physical declaration of survival and truth. The audiobook, read by Amira Khalifa, is scheduled for release on the second of October. Lola’s visibility has grown far beyond Finland. She appears regularly on television programs and podcasts, and she has a strong social media presence, particularly within Somali communities around the world.

 

Her coauthor Barbara Lybeck brings decades of experience from Finnish radio and television to the project. With a career that includes work on Uutisvuoto, Nelonen’s news programs, Puoli seitsemän, Viiden jälkeen, and multiple documentary productions, Lybeck guides Lola’s story with journalistic clarity and emotional honesty. Together they have created a biography that is both painful and inspiring. Lola is more than a personal story. It is a reminder of how culture, identity, trauma, and resilience intersect in the life of one woman who refused to disappear. It is a testament to survival in the face of rejection, a tribute to the communities that catch us when family and society fail, and a celebration of the courage it takes to live one’s truth when everything around you insists that your existence is unacceptable.

Available via adlibris.com

and intokustannus.fi

Photos via Instagram