A random collection of over 1910 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Original title: "Juopa" (Gap) by Kim Kansas.
Kim Kansas, also known as Ansa Kansas, is a pivotal figure in the history of transgender visibility, and her 1971 memoir "Juopa" offers an insightful look into her life. Known for her courageous personal journey and her involvement in both film and literature, Kansas became an icon in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly for her gender transition and her public efforts to share her story.
In 1967, Kansas's life was the subject of "I Was a Man", a documentary directed by Barry Mahon. The film, while sensational in some aspects, remains one of the earliest to document the story of a transgender woman undergoing gender-affirming surgery. Kansas's transformative journey is at the heart of the film, capturing her struggles with identity, love, and acceptance. The documentary explores Kansas's childhood in Finland, where she felt an intense desire to live as a girl. As an adult in New York City, she led a double life—working as a cook on a freighter while secretly expressing her true gender identity through makeup and women’s clothing. It was during this period of internal conflict that Kansas decided to seek medical help, ultimately traveling to Finland for a sex-change operation.
The documentary is notable not only for the emotional and physical transformation it follows but also for its groundbreaking portrayal of transgender issues. Kansas plays herself in the film, offering an intimate and honest depiction of her own journey. At the time, transgender topics were rarely discussed publicly, and the film provided a rare glimpse into the emotional, psychological, and societal challenges faced by trans individuals.
1971,
Ansa Kansas,
Finnish,
Kim Kansas,
Full title: "How to be a woman, though male" by Virginia Prince.
The best review of this book was presented in "Pioneers of Transgendering: The Life and Work of Virginia Prince" by Dave King, Department of Sociology, University of Liverpool, and Richard Ekins, Transgender Archive, University of Ulster at Coleraine Gendys Conference, so let me quote it.
"How to be a Woman though Male" immediately draws attention to the distinction between sex and gender which Prince underlines at various points in the book as well as in a dedicated chapter. The book is primarily a guide to changing gender for the femmiphile, and includes a wealth of information about women's clothing, make-up and so on, of thirty years ago. Some of this information is extremely detailed; there are, for example, five pages devoted to shoe styles, three to hosiery and one to gloves."
1971,
English,
Virginia Prince,
Full title: "Female Impersonation" by Avery Willard.
The book presents the stories of female impersonators, including Sonne Teal, Mario Montez, Lynne Carter, Minette, Leslie Marlowe, Chris Moore, Julian Eltinge, Adrian, D.D. Griffo, G.G. Allen, Robin Rogers, Storme De Larverie, Angie Saxon, Barbette, Ray Bourbon, Karyl Norman, Bert Savoy, Francis Renault.
This is what we read in the foreword: "An Agnewism would imply that: "When you've seen one female impersonator, you've seen them all." That is not true. I learned this a few years ago when I was introduced to a popular entertainer, Minette, who was perhaps one of the most interesting personalities I had met in my life. His knowledge of people and life was particularly extensive. He was certainly not the "shallow" person that, frankly, I had expected him to be.
1971,
Avery Willard,
English,
Minette,
Original title: "L'etiquette" (The label) by Barbara Buick.
The label is what you are given when you are born: male or female, male or female. What if, one day, it becomes so unsuitable for you that you have to change it? So you have to fight, give up your family for many years, and sometimes give up friendships you thought were true. Let's get along.
It's one thing to want to change sex, like some famous transvestites, by dint of hormone injections and operations. It's another thing to have to find the sex that is really yours, and that was stolen from you by incompetent medicine, an intractable civil status, and a conformist family.
Barbara Buick, the author of this book, was one of these characters, and it is her tormented life that she tells us about. The pages where she talks about her career at the Music Hall, and the relationships she may have had with famous post-war figures, are of real anecdotal interest.
1971,
Barbara Buick,
French,
I found this book on my favourite website called Transascity.org and here are some excerpts from the book review: "The book is written in the first person in the format of a “Dear Diary” by Lyn Raskin, a transsexual woman who was born Edward. Her diary entries cover approximately 18 years of her life, telling of her journey through her 20s until her early 40’s when she transitioned from male to female."
"The book is an interesting view into the mind of a person who faced significant emotional challenges and survived gender dysphoria throughout a time period when our people were seen as little more than circus freaks. I’ve tried to find out more about Ms. Raskin after the book leaves off in the early 1970s, and I confess to have been stymied, other than a few rumors and third-hand reports. Wherever she may be, God bless her."
1971,
English,
Lyn Raskin,
