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.
"Lynne's Diaries is the paperback that was published prior to the e-Books: Book 1 and Book 2. It tells the story of a young boy's school days followed by almost forty years of service in the Royal Air Force. Then finally having to face up to reality and the birth of "Lynne" The book is no longer available as it was "Remaindered" by the publisher (Vanity Press)."
Lynne Janine Braithwaite was born Lawrence James Braithwaite on the 1st of July 1934 in the village of Near Sawrey about halfway between Hawkshead and the Ferry across Windermere in the Lake District. What more could one want than to be born into such idyllic surroundings.
She attended Hawkshead school and left at the age of 15 years to join the RAF as a "Boy Entrant" and signed the dotted line on 27th September 1949. Demob day was the 1st of July 1989 followed by divorce on the 4th of July 1989.
2000,
England,
English,
Lynne Janine Braithwaite,
UK,
"In Tumbleweed, The Boy, author Ann Edmead, born a male, recounts the painful but ultimately triumphant story of her life. It all begins when two brothers are put into a children's home as babies after their mother dies and their father gives up custody.
The boys' lives are riddled with sexual abuse by older boys. When the brothers leave the home at fifteen, one of them, who is very effeminate, falls victim to sexual manipulation, playing on the only skill he knows. Suicidal and in despair, he is helped by medical professionals and transitions to female, becoming Ann.
2011,
Ann Edmead,
England,
English,
UK,
Full title: "Diaries of a Transfemale: Book 2".
This is the second part of "Diaries of a Transfemale". The first part was published in the same year because Lynne's e-publisher deemed the original book (almost 800 pages) to be too big for an e-book. So Lynne agreed to split it into two books.
"The author was born Lawrence James Braithwaite on the 1st of July 1934 in the village of Near Sawrey about halfway between Hawkshead and the Ferry across Windermere in the Lake District.
What more could one want than to be born into such idyllic surroundings.
She attended Hawkshead school and left at the age of 15 years to join the RAF as a "Boy Entrant" and signed the dotted line on 27th September 1949.
Demob day was the 1st of July 1989 followed by divorce on the 4th of July 1989."
2002,
England,
English,
Lynne Janine Braithwaite,
UK,
Full title: "Dazzling Darkness: Gender, Sexuality, Illness and God" by Rachel Mann. The book was re-published in 2022.
"This passionate and nuanced book brings together poetry, feminist theology, and philosophy and explores them through one person s hunger for wholeness, self-knowledge and God."
Rachel Mann is an inspiring woman, the Church of England priest in charge of St. Nicholas’ Church Burnage in Manchester, and Minor Canon of Manchester Cathedral. She is a broadcaster, published poet, theologian, and music journalist specializing in metal, prog, and folk. Her memoir of being trans, lesbian, and Christian, “Dazzling Darkness” (2012) was a Church Times bestseller.
2012,
England,
English,
Rachel Mann,
Full title: "The Gender Trap: The moving autobiography of Chris & Cathy, the first transexual parents" by Chris Johnson and Cathy Brown, with Wendy Nelson
The book presents the story of the first British transgender couple, Christopher Brown, formerly Anne Johnson, and Cathy Browne, formerly Eugene Brown, from Handsworth, Birmingham. Both of them transitioned after their daughter was born.
I found one article about them in the Digital Transgender Archive portal: "Cathy was born Eugene in Belfast. Her parents were travelers, her father in and out of jail. At 14, she was placed in Borstal for constant truanting. At borstal, she had her first experience of homosexuality and rejected it. Throughout her childhood, she felt 'different'. She dressed in women's clothes. She disliked the idea of heterosexual relationships in which she took the male role but neither was she attracted to men."
1982,
Cathy Brown,
Chris Johnson,
England,
English,
UK,
