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.
Original title: "Transgender in Nederland: Een buitengewone geschiedenis" (Transgender in The Netherlands: An extraordinary history) by Alex Baker.
In the fifties and sixties, transgender people still had to be grateful if a psychiatrist did not admit them to an institution or administer electroshock; Nowadays, transgender people are often seen as inspiring, courageous people who dare to be themselves.
How the image has changed so much, historian Alex Bakker explains in this book in a clear and involved way. Six decades of physical treatment options, social opinions, legal entanglements, and shifting identities are reviewed. Bakker brings his story to life through the many poignant stories of transgender people, from old pioneers to children and teenagers.
The Netherlands was a forerunner in organizing assistance for transgender people. However, it still has a reputation to uphold worldwide when it comes to social acceptance, scientific research, and medical expertise in this field.
2018,
Alex Baker,
Dutch,
Netherlands,
Full title: "Pantau in India" by Veronique Renard. She is one of the most inspirational women for me.
"She was born near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In 2000, she immigrated to Asia. For nearly seven years, she lived in the hometown of the Dalai Lama in the Indian Himalayas. In the fall of 2006, Veronique moved to Thailand. Currently, she lives with her family in Bangkok."
"This compelling and inspiring story from the Himalayas will mesmerize the reader from the first to the last page. Pantau in India is a tale about fulfilling your dream and reaching your destiny. Pantau in India is the fascinating life story of Veronique Renard, a career woman who was struck by a severe depression at the turn of the millennium. On the night she wants to commit suicide, her inner voice tells her to stay alive and become the happiest person in the world.
2007,
English,
Interview,
Netherlands,
Veronique Renard,
Full title: "Alles mag er zijn" (Everything is allowed to be there!)
In this publication, Angela van Bebber presents her life lessons, experiences, and encounters after her gender change.
It is a sequel to "Eindelijk, ik lééf!" (Finally, I'm alive!) from 2009, in which she wrote about her transsexuality.
In the book, Angela covers a new phase. She experienced a lot and got to know herself better. She noticed that after what she went through, her feelings, everything in her life, are right, that everything happens for a reason.
In 2014, I interviewed Angela and I asked her about how she found the courage and energy to cope with all the transition challenges: "I have a lot of strength. All my life I solved all my problems myself. Never had any burnout. Never needed someone to help me out. I was always on my own.
2020,
Angela van Bebber,
Dutch,
Netherlands,
Full title: "Pholomolo: No Man No Woman" by Veronique Renard. She is one of the most inspirational women for me.
"She was born near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In 2000, she immigrated to Asia. For nearly seven years, she lived in the hometown of the Dalai Lama in the Indian Himalayas. In the fall of 2006, Veronique moved to Thailand. Currently, she lives with her family in Bangkok."
"Author Veronique Renard omitted something critical in her popular 2003 memoir Pantau in India. As if leaving behind Dutch corporate life, converting to Buddhism, and living among Tibetan refugees in the Himalayas was not amazing enough, Veronique transitioned from male to female 25 years ago and has never mentioned it since.
Until now. In her remarkable follow-up memoir Pholomolo, Veronique opens up for the first time. Laugh-out-loud moments punctuate this heartfelt portrait of her childhood struggles to express herself in a world that told her she had to be a boy. After transition at seventeen, she never discusses her background with family, friends, colleagues, and lovers. Now, she shares her unique experiences as a transsexual female in the occidental and oriental world with absolute candor."
In 2013, I interviewed her and asked her about the attitude of Buddhism towards transgender people: "The Tibetan Buddhists call us pholomolos. Pho means Male and Mo means Female and Lo means no. Not man, not woman. I liked that idea. Since the Tibetans explained to me the phenomenon of transsexualism, I started to feel a lot of self-worth. They think we are special, holy, half-god-like. It’s almost a joy to introduce myself to Tibetans and Indians as a transsexual! Buddhism doesn’t have much to say on this particular matter.
Buddhism is all about finding Nirvana, enlightenment, and everybody has the right to follow the path of the Buddha, including transsexuals, so there is no religious discrimination toward us.
In Asia people often turn to half-man-half-woman figures to receive their blessings for good luck.
Transsexualism is a totally different thing in Asia. They are the shamans, the holy people, the priests, those figures who find their place somewhere between the gods and the human people. We are everything; both man and woman, human and god in one body. We are unlike non-transsexual people."
2007,
English,
Interview,
Netherlands,
Veronique Renard,
Original title: "Mevrouw: autobiografische roman" (Madam: Autobiographical Novel)
She lived and wrote with courage and perseverance, but also with fear. Because she grew up in a time when there was no room for women like her. Because she could be 'exposed'. And she was, over and over again. It was Valérie against the world.
"Madam" is published because Valérie is no longer afraid. To show how we dealt with people who do not fit into specific boxes. It's time for her story.
And so it happened that at the age of eighteen, eleven years after child protection placed me under supervision and my parents pledged to take good care of me, I was practically illiterate, without any education, convinced that I was in the wrong body locked up, with a train ticket, seven guilders fifty and a garbage bag of worn-out clothes, returned penniless to the place where I had been taken from when I was seven, under supervision of me, locked up in the wrong body.
2022,
Dutch,
Netherlands,
Valérie Lempereur,
