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.
"Toransujendā tte nani?" - トランスジェンダーってなに? (What is Transgender?) is the Japanese language edition of "Being Transgender: Living Proud! Growing Up LGBTQ" by Robert Rodi.
"What is gender? What are gender stereotypes? What's the difference between being a tomboy or an effeminate man and being transgender? What are your options when you feel like your physical sex is out of sync with who you are?
Explore the answers to these questions and more with an in-depth look at what it means to be transgender.
Learn from the personal experiences of people who have taken steps to transition from the sex they were assigned at birth and transgender young people who have made the difficult choice to live openly as their authentic gender while still in high school. Understand better the realities of this often-misunderstood group and how it fits into the gay community. Each title in this series contains a foreword from the founder of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), color photos throughout, and back matter including an index and further reading lists for books and internet resources."
2017,
Japanese,
Robert Rodi,
Original title: "Det sterke kjønn: Min kamp for å bli kvinne" (The stronger sex: My struggle to become a woman) by Marianne Nordli.
Summer 1981. Karl Ole wins the Northern Norwegian championship in the javelin. Well-trained, masculine boy, but only on the outside. In her heart she has no doubts, she is a woman and wants to live as a woman. That's enough now.
Today, Marianne is a successful businesswoman, speaker, and candidate for the Storting. In this book, she talks about her struggle to have her gender corrected and be able to live as the woman she has always been. Marianne also shares unique experiences about being a woman in a male-dominated professional life.
2017,
Marianne Nordli,
Norwegian,
Original title: "Je suis une poupée gigogne" (I am a nesting doll) by Armonia Lemaître (Armonia Zyra).
"As a child, Armonia already knew she was different. Born into a body that is not her own, she is confronted with uncontrollable phobias, and nightmares, terrified by what she feels inside her: an identity she does not understand. But the straitjacket of society, as well as her education, prevent her from putting words on her malaise and she takes refuge in normal life, trying, by all means, to deny who she really is.
It is only at the age of fifty that her life turns upside down. Armonia begins her transition. She then tells us about the vicissitudes of her journey: the difficulties she faces, sometimes hilarious, often tragic anecdotes, the people who helped her or thwarted her evolution, and finally, the final accomplishment when she becomes a woman in her own right."
2017,
Armonia Lemaître,
Armonia Zyra,
French,
Full title: "Living with Crossdressing: Defining a New Normal".
"Are you living with a partner who is a crossdresser? Are you living with the knowledge that you are a male crossdresser? Are you a cis-woman partner of a man who crossdresses? Are you struggling with what it means to be in a relationship with a man who you have discovered – by accident or his own admission – enjoys wearing feminine clothing?
Join me as I set out to uncover some of the reasons why so many men (including myself) dress as women. Read the stories of real couples who are looking for a new balance in their relationships, including the point of views of the women who decided to stand by their... ahem... men as they learn to better understand their crossdresser and learn how to cope and thrive.
2017,
English,
Savannah Hauk,
Original title: "Wij zijn ik" (We are me) by Leah Maas.
The book is the contituation of the story presented by Leah Maas in 2015 in "Wordt mijn zoon mijn dochter?" (Will my son be my daughter?), where the mother describes the life and transition of her child, who was born as a boy.
The book is written in diary form, which allows the reader to get acquainted with the life of trans daughter Loena Maas and the journey she makes together with her parents in the most intimate detail.
Original title: "Terug naar Avebury: Dagboek van een transgender" (Back to Avebury: Diary of a transgender person). This is the revised edition of "In transitie" (2012) by Hanneke Dragtsma.
'Martin de Jong travels to England, where he symbolically buries his man's life. Upon his return, a new life begins as the woman he has always felt. In order to follow her own path, Marieke will no longer have to make herself dependent on the judgment of her environment.
She ends up on an emotional rollercoaster, looking for herself. In seven chapters her thoughts, doubts, fears, and desires pass by. Eventually, Marieke travels back to the place where everything started.'
2017,
Dutch,
Hanneke Dragtsma,
In 2016 Later Jo Clifford took the title role in Eve, a piece she co-wrote with Chris Goode, based on her own experiences as a trans woman. The play was performed as part of the double bill Eve/Adam produced by the National Theatre of Scotland. In 2017, the play was published as a book.
"Eve tells the story of a child raised as a boy when she knew all along that was wrong.
That child grew up to be one of the 10 Outstanding Women in Scotland in 2017.
With trans rights again under threat, legendary playwright, performer, father, and grandmother Jo Clifford tells a story both gentle and passionate, intimate and political, to remind us that the journey towards our real selves is one we all need to make."
Jo Clifford was born on March 22, 1950 in Derby, England. She is a writer, actress, and playwright, known for her performances in Great Expectations (2013), These Are My Hands (2018), and Front Row Late (2017). She was married to Susan Katriona Innes, a feminist historian and columnist for Scotland on Sunday, that died in 2005. After the death of her wife, Jo transitioned into a woman. She is one of the most successful contemporary Scottish playwrights.
2017,
Chris Goode,
English,
Jo Clifford,
Scotland,
"Mein großes Geheimnis: Gefangen im falschen Körper" (My big secret: Trapped in the wrong body) is the German language edition of The Secrets of My Life by Caitlyn Jenner.
Caitlyn Marie Jenner is an American media personality, politician, and transgender activist. She came out as transgender in 2015, as she was previously famous as a male athlete, and a decathlon specialist in the 1970s under the identity of William Bruce Jenner, winning the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and improving the world record in the discipline three times consecutively from 1975 to 1976.
Jenner underwent gender reassignment surgeries performed by surgeons Gary Alter and Harrison Lee in May 2015. On June 1, 2015, she publicized her transition by appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, photographed by Annie Leibovitz, indicating on this occasion that she now wishes to be called Caitlyn. Interviewed by Diane Sawyer, she announced that she had resorted to "the final surgical operation" (vaginoplasty) in January 2017.
2017,
Caitlyn Jenner,
German,
"Dánske dievča" is the Slovak language edition of The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
Having gender reassignment surgery in the 1930s was an unusual and sensational affair, and the man who took the step to do so was the Danish painter Einar Mogens Andreas Wegener, who after the operation took the name of Lili Elbe.
The operation took place at the Institute for Sexology in Berlin, where the male organs were removed. The surgery was performed by Felix Abraham at the recommendation of Magnus Hirschfeld.
Einar Wegener was married to the beautiful, celebrated artist Gerda Wegener. They lived in a highly unusual marriage. Their life fate is told in this book, which is a fiction novel based on authentic events and diary entries from Einar Wegener.
2017,
David Ebershoff,
Lili Elbe,
Slovak,
"Theirs was the storybook marriage that inspired others. For over twenty years, and after three faced marriages, Marcy had everything she had ever dreamed of in her husband, he was passionate, romantic, spiritual, generous, funny, loving, and… he cooked. She finally had someone who would love her as much as she could love. There was just one problem… a secret that could to shatter this storybook marriage.
One fateful morning, her husband came out to her - Her Scott was transgender. A woman trapped in a man’s body, her man’s body. Marcy felt her love, her world, her place in it, and her ideal marriage were instantly threatened. Marcy would have to scrutinize all that she held dear, examine her own identity and ultimately face her deepest fears."
In her brutally honest account, Marcy leads the reader into a dark night of the soul that would last five years, while she simultaneously battled ovarian cancer, with compassion, intelligence and wit.
2017,
English,
Marcy Madden,
Scottie Jeanette Madden,
Original title: "Un corazón herido cabalgando hacia el cambio" (A wounded heart riding towards change) by Sandra Pascual
The book is a true autobiography of Sandra Pascual. Sandra begins to tell us the path that made her take her life, starting from her childhood, and as a child, she moves away from what had to be a traditional childhood and already begins to flirt with the business world, in order to reach the great wound in her heart. It is at this moment, already with a wounded heart, when she enters what would be a traditional life facing society.
After a few years, Sandra is reunited with her inner self that makes her return to the before... but with a small change, the one who was initially a boy was soon going to become a girl, likewise Sandra would return to her beginnings in the business world but this time to become a successful entrepreneur.
Along the way, Sandra will encounter many experiences that will take her from one point to another, even going so far as to say hello to death.
2017,
Sandra Pascual,
Spanish,
Full title: "The Kendra Brill Story" by Tess de Carlo.
"Follow the obstacles and legal bias of a transgender woman as she makes her way through the penitentiary systems and court systems to become the woman she knows she should be."
In 2017, I talked to Kendra Brill and this is what told me about the book: "I wanted to help the LGBT community. I wanted to show them that they aren't alone, that others have been through the same things, they've been through. That it's never too late to change your life and walk a different path than I did. I wanted to let the LGBT community know, that if you keep fighting and working towards your goal, that one day you will have what you need.
Nobody is too broken to be fixed!!!
I had been incarcerated for long portions of my life, and I'll never get that time back, I was addicted to alcohol, and was a prostitute to feed my addiction if I can change after all of that, so can you, so can anyone. It might be hard, I'm not gonna lie and say it won't be, but it's worth it, it'll heal those wounds, your scars, and your heart."
2017,
English,
Kendra Brill,
Tess de Carlo,
Full title: "True Colours: My Life as the First Openly Trans. Officer in the British Armed Forces"
"In the global theatre of contemporary warfare, courage and endurance are crucial for overcoming adversity. However, for Caroline Paige, a jet and helicopter navigator in the Royal Air Force, adversity was a common companion both on and off the field of battle.
In 1999, Paige became the first ever openly serving transgender officer in the British military. Already a highly respected aviator, she rose against the extraordinary challenges placed before her to remain on the front line in the war on terror, serving a further sixteen years and flying battlefield helicopters in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Detailing the emotional complexities of her transition, Paige reveals the external threats she faced in war zones around the world and the internal conflict she suffered while fighting prejudice at home. The result is a story of secrecy and vulnerability, of fear and courage, of challenge and hope."
2017,
Caroline Paige,
English,
UK,
In 2017, I talked to Melissa about her transition and challenges related to being a transgender woman, and this is what she told me: "I have known since I was 5 years old that I was a girl, but felt as if I was a freak or weird, it wasn’t until I was 9 that I first heard the word Transsexual, I knew then.
I have been a loner most of my life, mainly because of an assault when I was 16 which gave me trust issues."
"Depending on where people live, here in Australia, it is acceptable to be Transgender, but I have found in many other countries, it is still against the law to be “Different”, we should be helping educate those.
I still feel that education is key even here in Australia.
Here is an example, in 2015, I became friends with a then 15-year-old trans girl, who lived in New South Wales Australia. I asked her personal questions, but she got offended and unfriended me. I was unable to explain that I have never known any teen trans girls in Australia and therefore had no idea how the hormone replacement therapy worked."
2017,
Australia,
English,
Interview,
Melissa Jensen,
Scottie Melissa Jensen,
Full title: "From Both Sides Now: One Woman's Journey to Love and Living Life to Its Fullest"
"What do you do when you realize at middle age that your entire life has been a lie? What do you do when you have everything you thought you ever wanted - a beautiful wife, two wonderful children, a fairy-tale house, a successful business, even a luxury automobile - and yet, there is a deep internal void. Where do you go from there?
Allen struggled deeply with these questions, but what he did not realize was that the answers were already inside him. The answers dwelled in his feminine self that had been repressed since childhood, waiting to be expressed through the woman he would become. She was not to be denied. She was destined to be released. She was the answer to all his questions and the answer to all his dreams. She was his truth. She was Alexus Sheppard. And this is her story."
2017,
Alexus Sheppard,
English,
The book is an autobiography of Amanda Lepore, an American model, singer, and performance artist, known for her appearances in many advertising campaigns and being a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle's work, serving as his muse.
According to Wikipedia, when she was 15 years old, Lepore befriended a transgender dancer named Bambi. Lepore then started making costumes for Bambi in exchange for female hormones. Her parents took her to a psychologist, who helped her obtain a prescription to begin hormone therapy.
At the age of 17, and through a legal loophole, she married a male bookstore owner and was granted permission for gender affirmation surgery, which she underwent in New York. After the confirmation surgery, she later left her husband.
2017,
Amanda Lepore,
English,
Full title: "Living my life as one person and finding myself as another" by NickoleRenee Mensch.
"An autobiography of my life with Cerebral Palsy and the accomplishments that I have made throughout my life from being a kid to moving out of my parents and discovering my new freedom, marriage, being a parent myself and finally coming out to be my true self."
2017,
English,
NickoleRenee Mensch,
Paula Coffer is a retired US Army Finance Officer with many years of military service in Vietnam, Germany, Korea, and the United States. She later served with the Department of Defense and Department of State in Afghanistan.
In 2017, I talked to Paula about the book and this is what she shared with me: "‘A Walk in Confidence’ is a re-edition of ‘Sandbox to Sandbox’. I added a table of contents, larger pictures, and a new section at the end called ‘Letters to Joyce’. These letters are my candid answers to my dear friend Joyce concerning the current environment, as I see it, of the transgender community.
Many within the community may find these letters offensive but they are how I feel and how I expressed them to Joyce.
I penned the autobiography to help others within the transgender community to understand the path that I’ve taken and perhaps help them to navigate their own path. While much of my journey is unique, my journey isn’t really very different than others who have accepted this ‘uninvited dilemma’ and tried to blend their life role in society with a hope of happiness in the end.
2017,
English,
Paula Coffer,
"My memoirs, a multi-volume set, begin with long-awaited gender affirmation surgery. The surgery date had finally arrived. This was going to be the culmination of my physical transformation to my authentic self.
Was I ready for this irreversible and life-altering change? How was I going to deal with self-doubt, fear, trepidation, and hopefully resultant joy? I had lived over a half-century with biological error.
The biological engineer was asleep during the gestation period, allowing the female me to be crammed into a male's boy. Why couldn't I live with this for the rest of my life? Why couldn't I make peace with the error. After all, I had survived almost sixty years bearing the yoke of this problem."
2017,
English,
Nikki DiCaro,
Full title: "The Whole Shenanigans: Charlotte's Story"
"Charlotte's story is written from the heart of a young boy who grew up in an average three-bed semi in an ordinary street with ordinary people in the northeast of England.
He had to fight his way through the everyday grief and hate that was thrown his way but eventually found his way. He had to learn to stand up and tell the world about the true person who was fighting to get out."
2017,
Charlotte Flanigan,
English,
