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.
Original title: "Diálogo das Bonecas" (Dialogue of the Dolls) by Jovanna Baby Cardoso da Silva.
In 1992, in the heart of Rio de Janeiro, a groundbreaking book titled Diálogo das Bonecas (Dialogue of the Dolls) emerged as a symbol of resistance, language, and identity. Written by Jovanna Baby Cardoso da Silva, one of Brazil’s most important trans and travesti activists, the book represented far more than a linguistic curiosity. It was the codification of a dialect born on the margins, a language created by travestis to communicate, protect themselves, and affirm their existence in a world that sought to erase them. The work was published by ASTRAL, the Associação de Travestis e Liberados, which was founded in the same year and recognized as the first association of travestis in the world. Both the organization and the book marked the birth of a new era in trans activism, an era in which the community began to name itself and to write its own history.
Diálogo das Bonecas was, in essence, the first dictionary of Bajubá, the secret language spoken among travestis, formed through a mixture of Portuguese, Yoruba, and words drawn from Afro-Brazilian religions such as Umbanda and Candomblé. Bajubá was a living archive of survival, humor, and rebellion. It emerged as a linguistic shield, allowing travestis to express themselves freely without fear of persecution or mockery. In a Brazil where being a travesti was often criminalized, this language became an act of coded defiance and solidarity. Jovanna Baby and her collaborators captured this living speech, transforming it into a written document that preserved the culture and ingenuity of a community that was always spoken about but rarely allowed to speak for itself.
1992,
Brazil,
Jovanna Baby Cardoso da Silva,
Jovanna Cardoso,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Bajubá odara" by Jovanna Baby Cardoso da Silva.
“Bajubá odara”, published in 2021 by Jovanna Baby Cardoso da Silva, stands as one of the most important literary and historical works documenting the trajectory of the trans and travesti movement in Brazil. More than a simple linguistic study, it is a living archive of voices that have long been silenced and marginalized. In this book, Jovanna Baby, founder of the Movimento Trans do Brasil and a pioneer of trans activism in Latin America, revisits and expands her earlier work “Diálogo das Bonecas”, published in 1992. That earlier publication was the first dictionary of bajubá, the secret language created and used by Brazilian travestis to communicate in a world that criminalized and excluded them. The new edition, Bajubá odara, not only preserves this invaluable cultural code but also adds a rich historical and autobiographical dimension, exploring the evolution of the travesti movement from the early twentieth century to the early 1990s.
2021,
Brazil,
Jovanna Baby Cardoso da Silva,
Jovanna Cardoso,
Portuguese,
