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: "Die Transautolegasthenistin" (The transautodyslexic) by Nicole Doll and Nikolai Fritz.
This book was to become something like an autobiography by the author Nikolai Fritz under the title "The Autodyslexist". It started with a lot of euphoria, but then remained largely unfinished on the computer's hard drive.
Then Nikolai Fritz became a woman - Nicole Doll. She now has little or no interest in para-science and even less in fantasy stories. But it was time to speak out about what had happened to Nikolai Fritz.
So she picked up the manuscript she had started and added an account of the transformation from man to woman.
The "autodyslexic" became a "transautodyslexic". The biography that had started was thus expanded into a trans biography.
The result is a mixture of novel, biography, non-fiction, satire, and whatever else. Nicole Doll / Nikolai Fritz does not want to instruct anyone and does not claim to be scientifically correct at any point. Therefore, he/she also does not indicate the sources of his/her findings.
2018,
German,
Nicole Doll,
Nikolai Fritz,
Full title: "Gender Variation: A True Testimony" by Robbie Dee Ewens.
"This booklet sends a clear message to people who judge against people that are gender different, Truly there is a lack of knowledge by many on this subject which has lead to many, especially in the Christian church, to judge such people. Robbie Dee takes the reader through the process if addressing our traditional beliefs and presenting some of the facts medically and through the scriptures.
She shows how many of us have not really thought this through enough to see that people such as transgender people should be fully accepted in society and in the church. Her testimony is out in full in her book "At Last! Free to be Me" published in 2015 which has caused quite a stir where she lives, Oklahoma, the heart of the Bible belt.
2018,
English,
Robbie Dee Ewens,
USA,
Original title: "Trans en France: Histoire des personnes trans en France et ailleurs d'autrefois à nos jours" (Trans in France: History of trans people in France and elsewhere from the past to the present day) by Jenny Latreille.
This book is intended for anyone who is interested in the history of trans people, particularly in France but not only, and in the issues (medical, legal, psychological, philosophical, sociological, artistic and others) that have always accompanied and surround people who choose, claim, undergo or refuse a sex and/or gender reassignment.
Trans people themselves will, of course, be able to find information there, in particular of a historical or epistemological nature, which they would not necessarily find elsewhere. It's always good to know where you're from. The work includes a copious bibliography and a filmography, and an index.
2018,
Bambi,
Coccinelle,
French,
Jenny Latreille,
Marie-Pier Ysser,
Full title: "Transition Denied: Confronting the Crisis in Trans Healthcare" by Jane Fae.
"Trans people in the UK currently face widespread prejudice and discrimination, from how they are described in the media to the lack of healthcare support they receive. This institutional bias is illustrated by the tragic case of Synestra de Courcy, who died following neglect and rejection from the NHS, leading her to sex work to fund her transition and dangerous self-medication."
"Charting Syn's life from childhood through to her untimely death aged just 23, Jane Fae exposes the gross institutional and societal discrimination trans people experience on a daily basis and its impact on the lives of trans people young and old. Promoting honest discussion and bringing these hidden issues into the light of day, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in trans rights, and NHS accountability."
2018,
English,
Jane Fae,
Synestra de Courcy,
UK,
Original title: "Tranny: Confissões da Anarquista Mais Infame e Vendida do Punk Rock" (Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Selling Anarchist) is the Portuguese language edition of "Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout" by Laura Jane Grace.
Since its inception in 1997, Against Me! Not only has it been one of the most influential punk bands in the world, but also one of the most controversial. Throughout their career towards success, they have been conquering new fans while raising blisters among the old guard who supported them from the beginning. They got into trouble with the law, changed drums repeatedly, and faced a furious horde of punks who called them "sell-out" and sabotaged their concerts.
But, beyond all this, something much more important disturbed Tom Gabel, the founder of the group; A secret that for thirty years he only revealed in the pages of his diary and hinted at in some of the lyrics of his songs. After a difficult childhood and delinquent adolescence marked by drug use, Gabel continued to struggle to find her own identity, until in May 2012 she revealed it to everyone in an interview for Rolling Stone: Gabel declared to be transgender, and since that day she lives as a woman under the name of Laura Jane Grace.
2018,
Laura Jane Grace,
Portuguese,
Full title: "A Transgender Story: My Heart Was Your Slave" by Robbi Racks.
"Remember the 13 yr old girl that fell in love? You couldn't tell her anything. She was in love and going to get married, drive the minivan, do the shopping and pick the kids up from school. This is a true short story, the events were real and at the time my heart was the one of that 13 yr old little girl.
I started my transition from male to female later in life.
Before I started my transition all of my life experiences were from the vantage point of a testosterone-driven male, now all of a sudden I'm living as a female. With my testosterone count lowered and then the introduction of estrogen, my body and thought process are changing.
2018,
English,
Robbi Racks,
Full title: "Christine Jorgensen: The Power of Transgender Visibility (Transgender Empowerment Book 4)" by Leigh Goodwin.
"Christine Jorgensen is known as the Army GI that became a Beauty Queen in the early 1950s. She was an early open transgender woman, an early transgender advocate and she set a good example of work ethic for transgender people. Suffering from classic gender dysphoria, she was not the first to receive sexual reassignment surgery but was one of the first Americans to receive her surgeries supplemented with hormone replacement therapy medication. As is sometimes common with goal of obtaining sexual reassignment surgeries Miss Jorgensen had to travel abroad to receive some surgical treatments. Christine Jorgensen played a major role in helping to create transgender visibility by her openness about her gender identity in both her professional and her personal life."
2018,
Christine Jorgensen,
English,
Leigh Goodwin,
"Hello, monde cruel: 272" is the French language edition of "Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks & Other Outlaws: 101 Alternatives to Teen Suicide" by Kate Bornstein.
"Celebrated transsexual trailblazer Kate Bornstein has, with more humor and spunk than any other, ushered us into a world of limitless possibility through a daring re-envisionment of the gender system as we know it.
Here, Bornstein bravely and wittily shares personal and unorthodox methods of survival in an often cruel world. A one-of-a-kind guide to staying alive outside the box, Hello, Cruel World is a much-needed unconventional approach to life for those who want to stay on the edge, but alive.
Hello, Cruel World features a catalog of 101 alternatives to suicide that range from the playful (moisturize!), to the irreverent (shatter some family values), to the highly controversial. Designed to encourage readers to give themselves permission to unleash their hearts' harmless desires, the book has only one directive: "Don't be mean." It is this guiding principle that brings its reader on a self-validating journey, which forges wholly new paths toward a resounding decision to choose life.
Tenderly intimate and unapologetically edgy, Kate Bornstein is the radical role model, the affectionate best friend, and the guiding mentor all in one.
2018,
French,
Interview,
Kate Bornstein,
USA,
Full title: "Trans History: A Historic Reference Collective of Transgender Events" by Tess de Carlo.
"What is transsexualism? Some estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 4,500 males may be transsexual and 1 in 8,000 females. Transsexualism is most commonly defined as the desire to live as the opposite sex accompanied by a wish to change the body to that preferred sex through surgery or hormone therapy.
The term was coined in the middle of the 20th Century, but there are many references to the phenomenon throughout history - from Ancient Greek mythology to Roman times. Anthropologists have found instances of transsexualism in most societies and cultures, including Native American tribes such as the Navajo who have words in their own language for transsexual men and women."
2018,
English,
Tess de Carlo,
USA,
Original title: "Transgender in Nederland: Een buitengewone geschiedenis" (Transgender in The Netherlands: An extraordinary history) by Alex Baker.
In the fifties and sixties, transgender people still had to be grateful if a psychiatrist did not admit them to an institution or administer electroshock; Nowadays, transgender people are often seen as inspiring, courageous people who dare to be themselves.
How the image has changed so much, historian Alex Bakker explains in this book in a clear and involved way. Six decades of physical treatment options, social opinions, legal entanglements, and shifting identities are reviewed. Bakker brings his story to life through the many poignant stories of transgender people, from old pioneers to children and teenagers.
The Netherlands was a forerunner in organizing assistance for transgender people. However, it still has a reputation to uphold worldwide when it comes to social acceptance, scientific research, and medical expertise in this field.
2018,
Alex Baker,
Dutch,
Netherlands,
Original title: "Tranny: Punkrockin kaupallisimman anarkistin tunnustuksia" (Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Commercial Anarchist) is the Finnish language edition of "Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout" by Laura Jane Grace.
Since its inception in 1997, Against Me! Not only has it been one of the most influential punk bands in the world, but also one of the most controversial. Throughout their career towards success, they have been conquering new fans while raising blisters among the old guard who supported them from the beginning. They got into trouble with the law, changed drums repeatedly, and faced a furious horde of punks who called them "sell-out" and sabotaged their concerts.
But, beyond all this, something much more important disturbed Tom Gabel, the founder of the group; A secret that for thirty years he only revealed in the pages of his diary and hinted at in some of the lyrics of his songs. After a difficult childhood and delinquent adolescence marked by drug use, Gabel continued to struggle to find her own identity, until in May 2012 she revealed it to everyone in an interview for Rolling Stone: Gabel declared to be transgender, and since that day she lives as a woman under the name of Laura Jane Grace.
2018,
Finnish,
Laura Jane Grace,
Full title: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Trans (But Were Afraid to Ask)" by Brynn Tannehill.
"Leading activist and essayist Brynn Tannehill tells you everything you ever wanted to know about transgender issues but were afraid to ask. The book aims to break down deeply held misconceptions about trans people across all aspects of life, from politics, law and culture, through to science, religion and mental health, to provide readers with a deeper understanding of what it means to be trans.
The book walks the reader through transgender issues, starting with "What does transgender mean?" before moving on to more complex topics including growing up trans, dating and sex, medical and mental health, and debates around gender and feminism. Brynn also challenges deliberately deceptive information about transgender people being put out into the public sphere. Transphobic myths are debunked and biased research, bad statistics and bad science are carefully and clearly refuted."
2018,
Brynn Tannehill,
English,
USA,
"Süßwasser" is the German language edition of "Freshwater" by Akwaeke Emezi.
I liked Gina Maya's review a lot, so let me quote her: "Transgender narrative this may be, but it's far removed from Western, U.S.-based definitions in spite of its primary location in the U.S. The story follows the young life of Ada, a Nigerian child who travels to America to study, but her whole life involves psychical interaction with the indigenous spirits who vie for control of her. Is Ada Ogbanje too?
By the end, she appears to embrace this self-conception as an offspring of the Universal Creator Ala, visualized as cosmic python – the source of the spring from which all freshwater comes from its mouth. Yet Ada for almost the novel's entirety is also the human, engaged in an uneasy relationship with otherworldly spirits who inhabit her mind, visualized in turn as a room of marble, perhaps not unlike the Kaaba of Mecca. The most powerful, possessive, and controlling of the spirits is Asughara, occasionally presented as Ada's pernicious alpha. At times, Asughara blocks out Ada from consciousness, either to protect or punish Ada."
2018,
Akwaeke Emezi,
German,
Nigeria,
Full title: "Transgender Sex Work and Society" by Larry Nuttbrock.
"This is the only book that systematically examines transgender sex work in the United States and globally. Bringing together perspectives from a rich range of disciplines and experiences, it is an invaluable resource on issues related to commercial sex in the transgender community and in the lives of trans sex workers, including mental health, substance use, relationship dynamics, encounters with the criminal justice system, and opportunities and challenges in the realm of public health."
"The volume covers trans sex workers' interactions with health, social service, and mental-health agencies, featuring more than forty contributors from across the globe. Synthesizing introductions by the editor help organize and put into context a vast and scattered research and empirical literature. The book is essential for researchers, health practitioners, and policy analysts in the areas of sex-work research, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ/gender studies."
2018,
English,
Larry Nuttbrock,
USA,
Original title: "L'aurora delle trans cattive. Storie, sguardi e vissuti della mia generazione transgender" (The dawn of bad trans women. Stories, looks and experiences of my transgender generation) by Porpora Marcasciano.
Spanning a period of about forty years and its profound socio-political changes, Porpora traces her trans genealogy by adding essential pieces to the historical reconstruction of a culture often relegated to the margins. And she does so as the protagonist of the collective path, still devoid of shared reading, of those who have consciously placed themselves in the border space between genres. With "visual" writing able to render in images what she has seen and experienced, Porpora accompanies us in a world populated by legendary trans women who have given life, form, scene, and screenplay to an experience in many ways closer to the spectacular or performative dimension than to that of real life, from which they were absolutely excluded.
2018,
Italian,
Porpora Marcasciano,
Full title: "The Lady Chablis Quiz Book" by T. Buburuz.
This quiz book focuses on the career and personal life of transgender icon, performer, actress, and author, the Grand Empress herself, The Lady Chablis.
According to Wikipedia, The Lady Chablis (1957-2016), also known as The Grand Empress and The Doll, was an American actress, author, and transgender club performer. Through exposure in the bestselling nonfiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and its 1997 film adaptation, she became one of the first trans performers to be introduced to a wide audience.
2018,
English,
T. Buburuz,
The Lady Chablis,
Full title: "The Survival of the Transgender Girl" by Ellie Victoria.
"It is my intention to inspire Transgender people to a new level of self-love and self-acceptance. Although everyone can benefit from this awareness, I feel it's more important for those that are told on a daily basis that there is something wrong with them for just being. May every person that feel in some way different find the courage to be who they feel themselves to be without fear or shame."
2018,
Ellie Victoria,
English,
Original title: "Soefies en transgenders: Kinderen van een betere God" (Sufis and transgenders: Children of a better God) by Wilma van der Maten.
Pakistani transgender Inaya applied for political asylum in the Netherlands in 2017 after her father threatened to kill her in an act of 'honor killing'. Both culture and religion do not accept such sinners. Yet in the ancient Indus civilization five thousand years ago there was great respect for transgender women called hijras. They guarded the harems of the Muslim princes (between 1526-1858).
Under colonial British rule, discrimination began. But in the holy tombs of the Sufis, these outcasts are hailed as 'children of Allah'. Transsexuals are closest to the genderless God.
"No one is good or bad. Oh God, bless humanity," wrote Bulleh Shah (1680-1757), one of the greatest Sufis Pakistan ever produced. With his romantic poems and songs, he tried to teach his followers that there is more to life than just your gender.
The Pakistani transgender Inaya applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 2017 and received it. Her story is covered in the book.
2018,
Dutch,
Wilma van der Maten,
Full title: "Histories of the Transgender Child" by Julian Gill-Peterson.
"Beginning with the early 1900s when children with “ambiguous” sex first sought medical attention, to the 1930s when transgender people began to seek out doctors involved in altering children’s sex, to the invention of the category gender, and finally the 1960s and ’70s when, as the field institutionalized, transgender children began to take hormones, change their names, and even access gender confirmation, Julian Gill-Peterson reconstructs the medicalization and racialization of children’s bodies. Throughout, they foreground the racial history of medicine that excludes black and trans of color children through the concept of gender’s plasticity, placing race at the center of their analysis and at the center of transgender studies.
2018,
English,
Julian Gill-Peterson,
USA,
"Io principessa. Storia di Luana, una bambina transgender" (I princess. Story of Luana, a transgender child) is the Italian language edition of "Yo nena, yo princesa: Luana, la niña que eligió su propio nombre" (Me baby, me princess: Luana, the girl who chose her own name) by Gabriela Mansilla.
On May 9, 2012, the Argentine National Congress passed a law on gender identity recognizing the right to identity of transvestites, transsexuals, and transgenders, indicating their female sex. A political-social revolution that has been intertwined with that of Manuel, the Argentine child, who became by law, at the age of six, the youngest transgender in the world with the name of Luana.
This is her story, told in an intimate personal diary, by her mother Gabriela Mansila.
2018,
Argentina,
Gabriela Mansilla,
Italian,
