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: "(h)amor 6: trans" ((h)love 6: trans) by Alana Portero (Author), Pol Galofre Molero (Author), Ártemis López (Author), Coco Wiener (Author), Roberta Marrero (Author), Iki Yos Piña Narváez funes (Author), Coco Guzmán (Author), Sabrina Sánchez (Author), Teo Pardo (Author), Elsa Ruiz (Author), Alicia Ramos (Author), Jenifer Rubí (Author), and Lucas Platero.
"What happens when we approach desire beyond binary categories? Is care crossed by gender? What relationship exists between identity, orientation and sexual politics? How to take charge of the intersection of gender, class, race? Thirteen voices put body, affection and writing to try to provide answers to these and other questions in this collaborative volume, (h)amor 6_trans. A diverse set of reflections with the same demand, that of a full life, one that deserves to be lived and mourned."
2023,
Alana Portero,
Alicia Ramos,
Ártemis López,
Coco Guzmán,
Coco Wiener,
Elsa Ruiz,
Jenifer Rubí,
Lucas Platero,
Pol Galofre Molero,
Roberta Marrero,
Sabrina Sánchez,
Spanish,
Teo Pardo,
Full title: "Becoming Wiebke VI: Part VI of a diary of someone genetically born a man and diagnosed as transgender (May 22 - Jul. 22)" is the English language version of "Wiebke werden VI: Teil VI eines Tagebuchs von jemandem, der genetisch als Mann geboren und als transident diagnostiziert wurde (Mai 22 - Jul. 22)" by Wiebke ter Lichten.
"This is the sixth part of my ever-growing diary and I highly recommend reading the earlier parts first. I had finished my third book by stating that I would not publish any more parts unless there was more progress to report. I didn't expect it at the time, but it happened! That's why in the fall of 2022 I published three new episodes of my diary in a short time and this is the later German translation. I have the diagnosis, have been in transition for a year and of course I have continued to write my diary and reached a point where publishing makes sense again. The speed of my progress has increased and my social transition is more than halfway. This part covers the period between May and July 2022."
2023,
English,
Wiebke ter Lichten,
Full title: "RuPaul: The Biography of RuPaul" by BiographInk Press.
"From the gritty backdrop of a broken home to the glittering stage of drag, RuPaul's life story unfolds with breathtaking clarity and tenderness. It's a journey that traverses the complexities of growing up Black, poor, and queer, and the relentless pursuit of dreams in the face of adversity. RuPaul's life is a testament to the power of performance, the importance of found family, and the significance of self-acceptance. In this biography, we peel away the layers of artifice to reveal the unvarnished truth of his existence.
We share his early years as a queer Black child in San Diego, navigating the turbulent waters of family dynamics. He takes us into the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, where he forged his identity and found his voice. But this biography is more than a journey—it's a profound introspection into RuPaul's life, relationships, and identity. It's a self-portrait of a legendary icon who has not only scaled the heights of fame but has also transformed the way the world perceives drag."
2023,
BiographInk Press,
Drag queen,
English,
RuPaul,
Original title: "Versos Arcoíris" (Rainbow Verses) by Loana Leona.
"This book is a collection of poetry and poetic prose that celebrates diversity, identity, and love in all its forms. In these pages, you will find a journey through the unique and personal experiences of a trans woman who has fought for acceptance and freedom, self-love, and exploring her sexuality.
Through her verses, Loana invites us to reflect on the beauty of diversity and the importance of inclusion.
This book is an invitation to embrace the uniqueness of each person and celebrate the richness of life in all its forms.
"Rainbow Colors" offers a wide range of themes and emotions, from the deep and reflective to the passionate and liberating. With titles such as "Guerrera sagrada", "Universo interior", "Identidad en construcció" and "La Constelación del Amor", each poem is a sample of the variety of experiences that encompasses the life of a trans person.
We invite you to immerse yourself in the magic of Loana's poetry and let yourself be carried away by the strength and beauty of these words. Open your eyes and your heart to the "Versos Arcoíris" and discover the strength, passion, and love that reside in each of us."
2023,
Loana Leona,
Spanish,
Full title: "Danica Roem: Biography. Beyond Boundaries: The Legacy of Danica Roem's Political Prowess" by Moonlight Press.
"Step into the compelling narrative of "Danica Roem", a powerful biography that chronicles the extraordinary journey of Danica Roem, a trailblazer who shattered barriers and transformed American politics. From her early days as a musician to her groundbreaking election as the first openly transgender person in the Virginia House of Delegates, Roem's story is one of resilience, authenticity, and unwavering commitment to creating positive change.
Explore the intersection of her personal and political life as she navigates challenges, confronts societal norms, and leaves an indelible mark on the legislative landscape. This biography delves deep into Roem's transformative leadership, capturing the essence of her advocacy for inclusive policies and the tangible impact of her legislative initiatives. Discover how her legacy extends beyond individual achievements, influencing a cultural shift towards acceptance, representation, and a more inclusive society."
2023,
Danica Roem,
English,
Moonlight Press,
Full title: "The Murder Mystery of Brianna Ghey: Inside Story of The Transgender Girl, Brief Biography, Investigations & Trials" by Smith Curtshall.
"The Murder Mystery of Brianna Ghey” is a precise account of the life and untimely death of Brianna, a courageous transgender girl whose journey was cut short by a heart-wrenching act of violence. The book begins by introducing readers to Brianna’s background."
"The narrative takes a devastating turn as the book unfolds the circumstances surrounding Brianna’s murder at the hands of two teenagers. The police investigation becomes a focal point, revealing the pursuit of justice for Brianna. The author provides a clear and precise account of the efforts to uncover the truth. In the final chapters, the book navigates through the trials that follow, examining the impact on Brianna’s family, the accused, and society at large."
2023,
Brianna Ghey,
English,
Smith Curtshall,
Full title: "Transitory" by Subhaga Crystal Bacon.
"Grounded in protest and solidarity, Subhaga Crystal Bacon’s Isabella Gardner Award-winning Transitory is a collection of elegies memorializing 46 transgender and gender-nonconforming people murdered in the US and Puerto Rico in 2020.
Epistolary in nature, these commemorative poems are “gleaned sketches” attempting to reconstruct lives and deaths from the typically scarce information made available on the internet.
Interspersed with the elegies are personal explorations of gender identities and sexualities from a Queer elder who has lived through the post-Stonewall years of sexual liberation, the second wave of feminism, and the recent rapid increases in awareness about gender and sexualities met almost equally with anti-trans and anti-Queer violence. Seen through the lenses of whiteness and privilege from the last quarter of a lifetime, these poems navigate the desire to be at home in our bodies, to be loved and desired without danger, and most of all to live free, healthy, and welcome in the world we inhabit."
2023,
English,
Subhaga Crystal Bacon,
Full title: "Jeanne Hoff: Concealing Pain, Dismantling Boundaries. The Amazing Tale of America's First Discreet Transgender Psychiatrist" by John T. White.
"Take an uplifting trip through the life and teachings of Jeanne Hoff, a light of compassion in the field of psychiatry, with this pocket book. An amazing Tale that is a poignant manual that is little in size yet teeming with wisdom and resiliency.
Explore the amazing life of Jeanne Hoff, a pioneer who changed the field of transgender psychiatry, on these pages. The story is told in simple yet meaningful language, allowing you to experience the fortitude that shaped Jeanne's life. Sharing her experiences, both personal and professional, with an honesty that makes one feel something.
It is a wisdom-filled pocket boom that provides an understanding of acceptance, empathy, and the transforming potential of compassion. The tales here speak to the accomplishments of the human spirit as well as the struggles Jeanne endured."
2023,
English,
Jeanne Hoff,
John T. White,
Full title: "Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix" by Tilly Bridges.
"Trans woman and screenwriter Tilly Bridges takes you through the trans allegories of the Matrix franchise, with deep dives into The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections, tracking one person’s transition journey - from Thomas Anderson, to Neo... to Trinity.
Each movie’s allegory is deeply layered, building from movie to movie, and speaks to a different aspect of trans existence.
You’ll learn how color is used to convey more than you realize, how Neo’s psyche is personified in the people around him, how no other mass media franchise speaks as truly, deeply, and honestly to the trans experience, and exactly why these movies are beloved and vital to the trans community (and their cis allies).
Free your mind, and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes."
2023,
English,
Interview,
Tilly Bridges,
"Valid: Dystopian Autofiction" is the English language edition of "Valide" by Chris Bergeron.
"Although it is described as an autobiographical science fiction novel, the context it offers is not that far removed from our current world. We project ourselves 30 years into the future, in a world governed by the artificial intelligence Total David. Human beings are then confined and are only allowed a few hours of going out a day. "This feeling of living in a bubble that is in the novel, and that came before the pandemic, is for many trans women what they experience on a daily basis. Valide is a sci-fi and sci-fi novel, but it's also an allegory of today. What I tried to describe was this isolation, this feeling that maybe society isn't built for me.""
"This novel is also an opportunity to show a very dark future for the LGBT community and especially trans people. Indeed, in the story, in order to adapt to this new regime dominated by artificial intelligence, the heroine Christelle is forced to become Christian again. And to erase all traces of his past. This echoes a reality experienced on a daily basis by transgender people, which is the fear of not being accepted by our society. That of losing their job if they decide to transition. That of no longer existing within society."
2023,
Canada,
Chris Bergeron,
English,
"Being Wiebke II: Part VIII of the diary of a trans woman, the second “I finally am myself” part (Jan. - Mar. 2023) (Becoming Wiebke) is the English language edition of "Wiebke sein II: Teil VIII des Tagebuchs einer trans Frau, der zweite “angekommene” Teil (Jan. - Mär. 2023)” (Wiebke werden) by Wiebke ter Lichten.
""It must have been around the summer of 2018 when my girlfriend asked me out of the blue if I had ever thought of being completely transformed into a woman. She suggested that it might be interesting. I was pushing around quite a bit, and honestly, the thought might have crossed my mind for a fraction of a second, but I had discarded it because I was absolutely sure that the result wouldn't come close to meeting my quality standard."
2023,
English,
Wiebke ter Lichten,
"Follando con mujeres trans" (Fucking trans women) is the Spanish language edition of "Fucking Trans Women: A Zine About the Sex Lives of Trans Women" by Mira Bellwether.
"Mira's groundbreaking text is not so much a guide on how to have sex as a trans person or with a trans person, but what trans culture can teach us about sex and sexuality. Trans culture is consent, exploration, knowing and loving each other, fluidity and romance. Mira captures this wisdom in his text, from the little-known practice of "muffing" to toys, anatomy, communication, friendship, and more."
According to Wikipedia, "Fucking Trans Women (FTW) is a zine created by Mira Bellwether. A single 80-page issue, numbered "#0", was published in October 2010 and republished in 2013 as Fucking Trans Women: A Zine About the Sex Lives of Trans Women; further issues were planned, but none had been published as of Bellwether's death in December 2022.
Bellwether wrote all of the issue's articles, which explore a variety of sexual activities involving trans women, primarily ones who are pre-op or non-op with respect to bottom surgery. Fucking Trans Women was the first publication of note to focus on sex with trans women and was innovative in its focus on trans women's own perspectives and its inclusion of instructions for many of the sex acts depicted".
2023,
Mira Bellwether,
Spanish,
Full title: "Danica Roem: Biography. Breaking Barriers, Challenging Societal Norms, And Effecting Positive Change" by Eric Miller.
"Danica Roem, is a trailblazing figure whose remarkable journey spans music, journalism, and groundbreaking politics. A passionate violinist in her early years, Roem's commitment to self-expression and community service set the stage for her multifaceted life.
Transitioning from a career in journalism, where she worked at the Gainesville Times, Roem entered the political arena with a historic win in the 2017 Virginia House of Delegates election. Her victory made her the first openly transgender person elected to a U.S. state legislature, challenging norms and inspiring a new era of diverse political representation."
2023,
Danica Roem,
English,
Eric Miller,
Full title: "Italian Trans Geographies" by Danila Cannamela, Marzia Mauriello, and Summer Minerva.
"To my knowledge, this collection is absolutely unique-and, for that reason, absolutely vital. Over and over again, I was impressed with how smart it is. Besides being accessible to audiences both inside and outside of the academy, the movement across gender studies, anthropology, history, and political activism is also useful. I learned a lot by reading this anthology, and it really challenged me to think about the relationship between my own Sicilian American identity, gender, and sexuality, and the possibilities they might present for future projects and encounters, both scholarly and personal." - John Champagne, author of Queer Ventennio: Italian Fascism, Homoerotic Art, and the Nonmodern in the Modern
2023,
Danila Cannamela,
English,
Helena Velena,
Italy,
Marzia Mauriello,
Porpora Marcasciano,
Romina Cecconi,
Summer Minerva,
Full title: "What Is A Woman? Answers From A Transgender Perspective" by Michelle Jacklyn Miller.
"As we near the 2024 elections, certain members of the far right have made anti-trans legislation their battle cry. Candidates are making bigotry their platform for election. This book is meant to combat common misconceptions about transgender people in general. We dive into the science behind gender and understand why transgender women are, indeed, women.
This book is a must-read for everyone who supports the transgender community. However, if you are on the fence about who to believe, the crazy ravings of the far right and their bigotry or science, read this book and decide for yourself after examining the evidence. This book was written by a transgender woman in response to bigots who disguise their bigotry as science."
2023,
English,
Michelle Jacklyn Miller,
Full title: "Gender Rebels: 30 Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Heroes Past and Present" by Katherine Locke and Shanee Benjamin (Illustrator).
"This fully illustrated book celebrates the history of thirty trans, gender expansive, and nonbinary heroes throughout the world.
Explore the history of trans and nonbinary people throughout the world in this gorgeously illustrated nonfiction book for young teens.
Readers will be educated and enlightened about gender-expansive people who have made a difference in our history and who continue to help raise awareness of diversity and inclusion in current society. Introductory materials give readers an insight into pronoun usage, the history of the word "transgender," and more before providing engaging and fascinating information about thirty trans, gender expansive, and nonbinary people who have helped shape our world.
2023,
Coccinelle,
English,
Georgina Beyer,
Jazz Jennings,
Katherine Locke,
Lana Wachowski,
lavern,
Lili Elbe,
Lilly Wachowski,
Lucy Hicks Anderson,
Marsha P. Johnson,
Rachel Levine,
Renée Richards,
Sylvia Rivera,
"Being Wiebke I: Part VII of the diary of a trans woman, the first “I finally am myself” Aug. - Dec. 2022) (Becoming Wiebke) is the English language edition of "Wiebke sein I: Teil VII des Tagebuchs einer trans Frau, der erste “angekommene” Teil (Aug. - Dez. 2022) by Wiebke ter Lichten.
"This is the seventh part of my ever growing diary and as always I highly recommend reading the earlier parts first. This is the first part with a different title because I feel like I'm not becoming Wiebke anymore. I'm mostly Wiebke now anyway. This part ends with my official diagnosis. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, because I've learned not to accept absolute truths anymore. The volume covers the period between August and December 2022."
2023,
English,
Wiebke ter Lichten,
Original title: "Nuestro Códigos: Archivo de la Memoria Trans Argentina" (Our Codes: Trans Argentina Memory Archive) by Trans Memory Archive.
Archivo de la Memoria Trans (AMT), in the words of its members, is a space for the protection, construction, and vindication of trans memory. Since the late 1990s, activists Claudia Pía Baudracco and María Belén Correa had dreamed of gathering their friends and fellow survivors—of violence and murder by police, imprisonment, and the AIDS pandemic—to share memories and images of one another.
In 2012, months after the death of Claudia Pía and the approval of Argentina's Gender Identity Law (which removed barriers to legal gender recognition and provided healthcare to trans youth and adults), Belén founded AMT on social media while living in exile in Germany. Together with photographer Cecilia Estalles, Belén developed the project, collecting and scanning the personal archives of Argentine trans women and sharing their lives and histories online and through print publications.
2023,
Argentina,
Spanish,
Trans Memory Archive,
Full title: "Biography of Dr. Jeanne Hoff: Pioneering Transgender Psychiatrist, Advocate, and Trailblazer in the Quest for Acceptance and Understanding" by Valerie A. Wood.
"Explore Dr. Hoff's early life, negotiating the intricacies of identification and self-discovery. Explore the obstacles and achievements that formed her into a trailblazer in the quest for acceptance and understanding, from her early years to the groundbreaking decision to pursue a career in psychiatry. Dr. Hoff's path as a pioneering transgender psychiatrist goes beyond the usual confines of medical practice.
Explore her relentless advocacy work, which has challenged conventional standards and paved the path for a more inclusive and compassionate understanding of transgender people. This biography is more than just a chronological overview; it delves into Dr. Hoff's contributions to the changing landscape of transgender healthcare. Learn about her groundbreaking approaches, compassionate patient care, and persistent commitment to creating a society where acceptance and understanding thrive. Navigate Dr. Hoff's problems in a field that requires resilience and courage. Celebrate her accomplishments in shattering glass ceilings and being a beacon of hope for people navigating the confluence of gender identity and mental health."
2023,
English,
Jeanne Hoff,
Valerie A. Wood,
Full title: "The Life of a Transgender: My Personal Struggles without Censorship" by Eliana Mejia SIlva.
"In the pages of this book, I emotionally strip myself, expose my soul, and share my transgender journey with the world. It is an uncensored story, a narrative that springs from the depths of my bowels, where each word is an echo of my story, my struggles and my identity. From my first memory, my story began to be woven into a peculiar canvas. I saw myself physically as a boy, but in the mirror of my soul, I recognized myself as a girl.
This book is my attempt to put into words what it has been like to live with that duality, with the dissonance
between my physical appearance and my true identity as a woman. The story begins in the first chapters of my life, when I was a "little bird" looking for its nest. I will talk about my transition, how I went through adolescence feeling like a woman in a body that did not align with my true self.
2023,
Eliana Mejia SIlva,
English,
