A random collection of over 1994 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: "Debbie's Secret Life: The Transgender Experience" by Deborah Ballard.
Deborah Ballard’s Debbie’s Secret Life: The Transgender Experience is not just the story of one girl forced to live in hiding, it is a deeply human account of what it means to carry a truth so profound and yet so dangerous that it must be concealed at all costs. At its heart lies Debbie, a girl with a secret. To the outside world she appears to be a boy. Even her parents are uncertain about her identity, and she quickly learns that revealing the truth could bring consequences so severe that they might cost her everything, even her life. In this world of silence and fear, the question becomes whether she will ever find the strength and freedom to be herself, or whether her struggle will become a catalyst for changing the way the world sees transgender people.
The book weaves together personal testimony, raw emotion, and social critique, offering a voice to the millions of transgender children and adults who have had to live in the shadows. Debbie’s story is not one of fantasy or invention. It comes from the lived experience of Deborah Ballard, an American IT architect consultant, writer, and activist whose own life has been marked by both extraordinary professional accomplishments and the often-painful realities of growing up transgender in a world that did not understand or accept her. She was one of the early pioneers in the commercialization of the Internet during the 1990s, helped advance Linux and Open Source technology in the following decade, and played a key role in globalization initiatives that reshaped international business. Yet behind those achievements was the secret life of a girl who knew her identity from the age of two but was forced to conceal it.
2012,
Debbie Ballard,
Deborah Ballard,
English,
Interview,
Full title: "Living in Stealth: Undercover" by Deborah Ballard.
Deborah Ballard’s Living in Stealth: Undercover is a book that refuses to soften the truth of what it means to grow up transgender in a world that denies your existence. It is not a story about transition or the hopeful arc of becoming one’s authentic self. Instead, it is a haunting exploration of what happens when a girl is forced to live her entire life undercover, wearing the mask of boyhood, hiding the truth even from those closest to her.
At the heart of the story is Rex, a child who could not hide the girl inside no matter how hard he tried. His secret was impossible to share, even with his parents, who, though they knew, were powerless to offer real help. Trapped in a role that never fit, Rex learned what it meant to live with gender dysphoria unrelieved and unacknowledged. Ballard pulls no punches in showing the raw consequences of this forced concealment. The book captures the gnawing pain of dysphoria, the fear of being discovered, and the daily negotiations of survival in a hostile world. Readers encounter scenes of bullying, rejection, and violence, as well as moments of fragile tenderness that only sharpen the contrast with the constant secrecy. There are mildly sexual moments too, not gratuitous but necessary to depict how confusing and isolating intimacy becomes when one’s body is a source of betrayal. These elements remind us that dysphoria is not abstract or academic, but visceral and lived, shaping every choice and relationship.
2015,
Debbie Ballard,
Deborah Ballard,
English,
Interview,
USA,
