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.
Full title: "Our Lives Our Words: Telling Aravani Life Stories" by A. Revathi.
"For long, aravanis or hijras have been the invisible yet hypervisible subjects of a societal gaze -- looked at, talked about, feared, revered, cursed, and imagined. They have largely stood as metaphors, refused individual histories, lives, identities and selves by a society that reduces them to corporeal bodies, stereotypes, and objects of disdain. Yet this gaze has been challenged and subverted time and time again by a community that refuses to be ashamed or see itself as the victim.
Some of the greatest victories in recent history in this battle for rights have been won in Tamil Nadu - the first state in India where the government recognised many of the rights of the hijra community. The stories in this volume chronicle many of the aravanis who were part of this groundbreaking change. Indeed, in Tamil, these stories were some of the first narratives of hijra lives told to, written by and produced entirely by the members of the community themselves. Appearing in English for the first time, these landmark narratives still retain the authenticity, simplicity and rawness of life stories of courage, pain, searching, and both triumph and despair, told without agenda."
2011,
A. Revathi,
English,
India,
Original title: "Veḷḷai moḻi" வெள்ளை மொழி (White language) by A. Revathi.
"This is the autobiography of an Aravani who struggles to live as a woman. From the moment she realizes herself as a woman, her struggle begins. The book openly talks about different types of experiences such as finding people who are similar to her and following their traditions, living in the sex industry imposed on Aravanis, from the family that excludes and hates them due to lack of understanding to the inhumane police, and the ways of working together with people who understand about gender minorities.
This book contains the power to create vibrations in the hardened public mind and break the conventions of writing and give newness to the Tamil script."
2011,
A. Revathi,
India,
Tamil,
Full title: "The Truth about Me: A Hijra Life Story" by A. Revathi.
"Revathi was born a boy, but felt and behaved like a girl. In telling her life story, Revathi evokes marvellously the deep unease of being in the wrong body that plagued her from childhood.
To be true to herself, to escape the constant violence visited upon her by her family and community, the village-born Revathi ran away to Delhi to join a house of hijras. Her life became an incredible series of dangerous physical and emotional journeys to become a woman and to find love.
The Truth about Me is the unflinchingly courageous and moving autobiography of a hijra who fought ridicule, persecution and violence both within her home and outside to find a life of dignity."
2010,
A. Revathi,
English,
India,
Full title: "A Life in Trans Activism" by A. Revathi.
"When Revathi’s powerful memoir, The Truth About Me, first appeared in 2011, it caused a sensation. Readers learned of Revathi’s childhood unease with her male body, her escape from her birth family to a house of hijras (the South Asian generic term for transgender people), and her eventual transition to being the woman she always knew she was.
This new book charts her remarkable journey from relative obscurity to becoming India’s leading spokesperson for transgender rights and an inspiration to thousands.
Revathi describes her life, her work in the NGO Sangama, which works with people across a spectrum of gender identities and sexual orientations, and how she rose from office assistant to director in the organization. Today she is an independent activist, theatre person, actor and writer, and works for the rights of transgender persons."
2016,
A. Revathi,
English,
India,
Nandini Murali,
