A Letter to Pawtone: From Barrio to Transgender Pioneer by Arlina A. is an intimate, heartfelt autobiography that captures one woman’s extraordinary journey of self-discovery, courage, and transformation. Through diary entries that begin when she was just seven years old, Arlina chronicles a lifetime of experiences shaped by culture, faith, and the quiet but unshakable desire to live authentically. Born in 1934 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Mexican immigrant parents, she began life as Arnold, a child growing up in the Golden Gate Barrio. Her early years were marked by the warmth of a large family and the richness of cultural traditions that offered comfort amid the struggles of poverty and prejudice. The barrio was alive with music, laughter, and the sounds of a community that held together through love and faith. For young Arnold, those years were also a time of quiet confusion, as he sensed a profound difference between how the world saw him and who he knew himself to be.
The book captures this duality beautifully, drawing readers into the vivid world of postwar America through references to the movies, television shows, and music that filled Arlina’s youth. Popular culture became both an escape and an expression of hope, something she shared with her siblings and friends. Yet beneath the surface of everyday joys lay a deeper longing that no amount of playacting or pretense could suppress. Arlina describes how she preferred the company of girls and found solace in imagination, where she could explore her true self without fear or judgment. These reflections offer a window into the emotional complexity of growing up transgender in a time when such words were barely whispered.
