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: "Batido de Trolo" (Trolo Milkshake) by Naty Menstrual.
"Naty is not dizzy in the lukewarm lights of the biggest publishing houses, or the book fairs where it is measured who has the longest time, or the meetings in which four or five poets or writers look at each other's faces in a bookstore in Palermo Soho to read their "unpublished" books and applaud each other while they call each other beings of light (even if they want to devour each other) and believe that if one improves the typography and reads while Nina Simone plays, the texts seem better written. Naty is not one of those.
Her writing is compared to that of Quevedo, Lemebel, Aristophanes, Puig, Copi. And that's encouraging. But Naty has her own style, it's not comparable. It is unique and unrepeatable. And if sons or daughters come to him, we can talk about a way of making literature that is as vital as life and could be called natymenstrual literature. Or Natilesco. Or menstrual or something that serves to stop comparing her with others. Naty is her own comparison (creation)."
2005,
Argentina,
Naty Menstrual,
Spanish,
Original title: "Jiūzhèng shàngdì de cuòwù" 纠正上帝的错误 (Correcting God's Mistakes) by Wu Xingren 吴兴人.
Essayist Wu Xingren set foot in the world of transgender people, which lasted 15 years, and wrote "Correcting God's Mistakes", published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House.
Sina.com serialized "Corrected God's Mistakes" on the Reading Channel, which attracted the attention of netizens.
15 years ago, the author befriended He Qinglian, the director of plastic surgery at Changzheng Hospital. When Professor He Qinglian completed the first male-to-female transsexual surgery of Qin Huiying in China in 1981, the author was the first to publicly announce the news that the first sex reassignment surgery was completed in Banzai in China. The following year, Professor He Qinglian completed the first female-to-male operation, and Professor He authorized the author to publish the news in the Shanghai Liberation Daily.
2005,
Chinese,
Wu Xingren,
Original title: "Fenomena dan tingkahlaku pondan di daerah Kuala Terengganu" (Transgender phenomenon and behavior in Kuala Terengganu district) by Kamaruzaman Yusuf.
The book covers transgender phenomenon and social aspects of transgenderism in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
2005,
Kamaruzaman Yusuf,
Malay,
Full title: "With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India" by Gayatri Reddy.
"With Respect to Sex is an intimate ethnography that offers a provocative account of sexual and social differences in India. The subjects of this study are hijras or the “third sex” of India - individuals who occupy a unique, liminal space between male and female, sacred and profane.
Hijras are men who sacrifice their genitalia to a goddess in return for the power to confer fertility on newlyweds and newborn children, a ritual role they are respected for, at the same time as they are stigmatized for their ambiguous sexuality. By focusing on the hijra community, Gayatri Reddy sheds new light on Indian society and the intricate negotiations of identity across various domains of everyday life."
2005,
English,
Gayatri Reddy,
India,
Original title: "Jangan Lihat Kelaminku!: Suara hati seorang waria" (Don't Look at My Genitals!: The voice of a transhender) by Merlyn Sopjan.
"Merlyn herself underwent an inner struggle for quite a long time before her family’s acceptance. She began to feel “different” as a child, but she could never define herself because public discourses about gender dysphoria and transwomen were not yet widely held at the time. With the lapse of time, she realized her female mind, but she had been physically born as a male. Merlyn kept this awareness to herself.
When Merlyn was 21, her father asked Merlyn about her gender identity. She braced herself for an honest confession and was prepared to bear its possible consequence, such as being disowned by the family. Unexpectedly, her father accepted Merlyn’s identity, even offering her a sex-change surgery if so desired. Merlyn declined it for the reason that she already felt happy with whatever condition she was in. Merlyn’s mother had died at the time."
2005,
Indonesian,
Merlyn Sopjan,
Full title: "Sex Change, Social Change: Reflections on Identity, Institutions, and Imperialism" (2005) by Viviane Namaste. The second edition of the book was published in 2011.
"The book provides readers with an introduction to contemporary transsexual politics in Canadian and Quebecois contexts. Through different case studies relating to the law, human rights, health care, and prostitution, Dr. Namaste exposes readers to the complexity of the issues involved in thinking about transsexual politics in relation to feminism.
Written in accessible language, and using a variety of forms, including interviews, essays, political speeches, the book will appeal to academics, activists in the community, and the general reader."
2005,
Canada,
English,
Viviane Namaste,
Original title: "Yōkoso, kabā.-Chan kitchin e" ようこそ、KABA.ちゃんキッチンへ (Welcome to KABA-chan's Kitchen) by Kaba-chan KABA.ちゃん. The book is a cookbook presented by Kaba-chan, born in 1969, in Yanagawa, Fukuoka, a Japanese transgender woman, and choreographer.
According to Wikipedia, after studying dance in the USA, she became known in Japan as a member of the musical group Dos with Taeco Nishikawa and Asami Yoshino. Being a celebrity in Japan, Kaba-chan was open with her sexuality. While she was already known for her flamboyant character in Dos, she came out as a gay man publicly on television on a 2002 episode of the Japanese variety show Dancing Sanma Palace.
2005,
Japanese,
Kaba-chan,
Full title: "Crossing Sexual Boundaries: Transgender Journeys, Uncharted Paths" by J. Ari Kane-Demaios and Vern Bullough.
"'Transgender' has become a convenient umbrella term to cover a collectivity of individuals (including cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals, and intersexuals) who do not conform to traditional norms of gender identity or behavior. Until recent centuries, transgender behavior has rarely been the subject of scholarly or public attention.
During the 20th century, medical advances in hormone therapy and reconstructive surgery, the worldwide publicity generated by the Christine Jorgensen story in the 1950s, and the popularity of such plays and movies as La Cage Aux Folles and The Birdcage make the subject much more visible for society.
This book is a compilation of autobiographies of women and men who openly describe their different and often very difficult journeys, frankly. Using a decade-by-decade format, the contributors provide the reader with critical insights into the process of realization that led to their various gender expressions. "
2005,
English,
J. Ari Kane-Demaios,
Vern Bullough,
Full title: "Casa Susanna" by Michel Hurst and Robert Swope.
"Some time ago, while at a New York flea market, inveterate collectors Michael Hurst and Robert Swope discovered a large body of snapshots: album after aged album of well-preserved images, taken roughly between the mid-50s and mid-60s, depicting a group of cross-dressers united around a place called Casa Susanna, a rather large and charmingly banal Victorian-style house in small-town New Jersey.
The inhabitants, visitors, guests, and hosts used it as a weekend headquarters for a regular “girl’s life.” Someone - probably “Susanna” or the matriarch - nailed a wonder board on a tree proclaiming it “Casa Susanna,” and thus a Queendom was born. Through these wonderfully intimate shots - perhaps never intended to see the light of day outside the sanctum of the “house” - Susanna and her gorgeous friends styled era-specific fashion shows and dress-up Christmas and tea parties."
2005,
Casa Susanna,
English,
Michel Hurst,
Robert Swope,
Full title: "Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love" by Edward Ball.
"Peninsula of Lies is a nonfiction mystery, set in a haunting gothic locale and peopled by fascinating and eccentric characters. Its hero and heroine is Dawn Langley Simmons, a British writer who lived in Charleston, South Carolina, during the 1960s and became the center of one of the most unusual sexual scandals.
Born in England, Dawn began life as a boy named Gordon Langley Hall, the son of servants at Sissinghurst Castle, the estate of Vita Sackville-West. In his twenties he made his way to New York, where he wrote about and befriended great society ladies.
2005,
Dawn Langley Simmons,
Edward Ball,
English,
Original title: "C'était du spectacle: L'histoire des artistes transsexuelles à Montréal, 1955-1985" (It was a show: The history of transsexual artists in Montreal, 1955-1985). The book was published both in English and French.
The sixties and seventies were decades of social change in Quebec. It was a show! tells the story of the first generation of transsexuals who underwent sex reversal surgery. Namaste examines working conditions in cabarets, prostitution, police abuses of power towards transsexuals, the role of organized crime in the city's nightlife, and access to health care. It was a show! offers a rare overview of Montreal's urban culture, presented in its own words by one of its most important artistic communities.
2005,
Canada,
French,
Viviane Namaste,
Original title: "Aku Perempuan: Jalan Berliku Seorang Dorce" (I'm a Woman: The Winding Path of Dorce) by Dorce Gamalama and FX Rudy Gunawan.
The book is a biography of Dorce Gamalama, a legend of the Indonesian transgender community, prominent transgender entertainer, singer, talk show host, comedienne, and celebrity, that passed away on 16 February 2022.
According to the University of Melbourne's website: "Dorce was born in Solok, West Sumatra, in 1963. She began her career as a member of an all-trans-women dance group known as The Fantastic Dolls, eventually leading to her first national television appearance in 1989, for the 27th-anniversary celebrations of state television station TVRI.
She came to wider public prominence with further television appearances and the release of the films Dorce Sok Akrab (Dorce Up Close) in 1989 and Dorce Ketemu Jodoh (Dorce Meets Her Match) in 1990. She was a prolific recording artist, too, at one point recording nine albums over a period of just five months.
2005,
Dorce Gamalama,
FX Rudy Gunawan,
Indonesian,
Full title: "She's No Lady: The Story of Jamie Lee Hamilton".
"Barb Daniel's biography She's No Lady: The Story of Jamie Lee Hamilton portrays Hamilton as an imperfect heroine against a Dickensian backdrop of social decay, elevating Hamilton's presence beyond the occasional sound bite or provocative quote."
Zagria presented the most extensive article about Jamie Lee Hamilton (1955-2019), a Canadian sex worker, activist, and politician. According to Zagria, she became Jamie Lee in 1975. "Her father, who had been reading up on transsexuality, gave his blessing though on his deathbed in 1979. Jamie Lee completed her transition with surgery in 1983."
Jamie Lee Hamilton will be always remembered as an activist for sex workers, aboriginals, and the LGBT community.
She held various positions in Downtown Eastside Residents' Association (DERA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and Change the Code. She first ran for a seat on the Vancouver City council in 1996, the first trans person in Canada to run for public office.
2005,
Barbara Daniel,
Canada,
English,
Full title: "Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs".
"In Sexual Metamorphosis, Ames presents the personal narratives of seventeen gender pioneers. Here is Christine Jorgensen, the first celebrity transsexual, greeting thousands of well-wishers from the stage of Madison Square Garden. Here is Caroline Cossey, former model and Bond (as in James) girl, being outed in the tabloid press.
Here is novelist and English professor Jennifer Finney Boylan discussing her impending transformation with her heartbroken spouse and supportive yet confused colleagues. The result is a fascinating and compulsively readable book, filled with anguish, introspection and courage."
2005,
Caroline Cossey,
Christine Jorgensen,
English,
Jennifer Finney Boylan,
Jonathan Ames,
Renée Richards,
"Rien n'arrive par hasard" (Nothing happens by chance) is the French language edition of "Tiǎozhàn shàngdì de cuò: Jīnxīng de wǔmèng rénshēng" - 挑戰上帝的錯：金星的舞夢人生 (Challenging God's Mistakes: Venus' Dancing Life), published by Jin Xing in 2004.
Jin Xing (Chinese: 金星; pinyin: Jīn Xīng) was born in 1967 in Shenyang, China, to an ethnic Korean family. She is a Chinese ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, actress, founder, and artistic director of the contemporary dance company Shanghai.
In addition, she is a transgender celebrity and icon of the Chinese transgender community. This unusual memoir describes how China's foremost male ballet dancer (and colonel in the People's Army) underwent one of China's first sex-change operations and became the Shanghai Ballet's prima ballerina.
2005,
China,
French,
Jin Xing,
Full title: "Alice in Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes of Age".
"Alice in Genderland is the first ever memoir by a crossdresser who is not content to live behind closed doors—and who takes it much further than his straighter, more circumspect peers might ever care to go. Most of the time, Harvard-educated psychiatrist Richard Novic is Rick, a man at the office or a husband and father at home. But one night a week, he is Alice, a woman about town, shopping, dining, dancing, and dating a man for nearly a decade.
In contrast to the life he leads today, Rick Novic suffered since his sporty, nerdy boyhood with a secret, a desire he was in no way equipped to handle, but one that eventually burst through his denial, a few months before his wedding day. Just once, he felt, while he still could, he had to know how it felt to be a woman."
2005,
English,
Richard Novic,
Original title: "Eindelijk vrouw: Dagboek van Gerda Gabrielle Gros" (Finally a woman: Diary of Gerda Gabrielle Gros).
'In this diary, Gerda, now a woman, describes the long road she had to go until she became what she had long been in her heart. The examinations, the hormone treatments, the operations, the struggle for the children, the adjustment problems of her environment, and the joy that she could get when she could actually be herself.'
2005,
Dutch,
Gerda Gabrielle Gros,
Original title: "On'na wa tsuitachi ni shite narazu" - 女は一日にしてならず (A woman was not made in a day) by Maki Carrousel (カルーセル 麻紀, Karūseru Maki).
This is the second biography of Maki Carrousel, a Japanese actress, singer, and legend of the Japanese transgender community. She was born Maki Hirahara in 1942, in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan. She is said to have been the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery in Japan and a pioneer in changing the family register from male to female.
After dropping out of school, she ran away from home at the age of 15 and started working at gay bars first in Sapporo, and later in Tokyo and Osaka. Ever since she was a teenager, she wanted to be a woman, but gender reassignment surgery was still prohibited in Japan at the time. So when she was 19 years old, she underwent surgical castration i.e. bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles) at a hospital in Osaka.
2005,
Georges Burou,
Japanese,
Maki Carrousel,
Full title: "No Man's Land: The Story of a Man who Became a Woman". The first 2005 edition of the book was published under the name of Paula Goergen.
"The true story of a girl born into a boy's body and her struggle to find her real identity in a conservative family. Born a boy in post-war Germany, Paula Goergen uprooted to live in Ireland and was constantly on a voyage of self-discovery, struggling to find her true gender identity while trying to maintain a normal life, which finally culminated in gender transition and re-alignment surgery.
Now under self-imposed exile in the UK, Paula tells the dramatic story of what it means to struggle with gender identity and the high price to be paid for facing up to the truth."
2005,
2007,
English,
Paula Goergen,
Paula Grieg,
Full title: "The Zenith Experience: Encounters and Memories in a Transgender Setting".
T"The Zenith Foundation was founded to provide a cohesive platform from which socially responsible members could develop programs and projects that could benefit fellow members and the transgender community at large. Zenith was an unusual organization in several ways. It preferred substance to noise. It avoided the overly colourful, strident and boastful often associated with street demonstrations.
Under Castle’s leadership, it established direct communications with government and professional practitioners and went to the top in its often very direct dealings with a great variety of people. It took an activist position in human rights activities, health, education and prison reform. Zenith acted as an advocate on behalf of members. During its lifetime, Zenith Foundation became a respected organization on transgender issues.
2005,
Canada,
English,
Stephanie Castle,
