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: "Travestis brasileiras e escolas (da vida): cartografias do movimento social organizado aos gêneros nômades" (Brazilian transgenders and schools (of life): cartographies of the organized social movement to nomadic genders) by Adriana Sales.
The book Travestis brasileiras e escolas (da vida): cartografias do movimento social organizado aos gêneros nômades by Adriana Sales is a groundbreaking and deeply personal exploration of transgender existence and resistance in Brazil. It does not merely analyze the lives of travestis from an external academic perspective, but instead speaks from within their world, blending experience, activism, and research into a single, powerful narrative. What makes this work so important is that it was written by someone who has lived the history she describes. Adriana Sales is herself a travesti, an activist who has been part of the organized trans movement in Brazil since 1998. Her position as both an insider and a scholar allows her to approach her subject matter with sensitivity, complexity, and courage.
2020,
Adriana Sales,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
"Mau Género" (Wrong Gender) is the Portuguese language version of "Mauvais genre" (Wrong Gender) by Chloé Cruchaudet.
Chloé Cruchaudet’s Mau Genre (Mauvais genre in French, Wrong Gender in English) is one of those graphic novels that stays with the reader long after the last page has been turned. Inspired by true events, it tells the remarkable story of Paul and Louise Grappe, an ordinary Parisian couple whose lives are transformed by the brutality of war, the fluidity of gender, and the search for freedom in a society bound by rigid norms. Cruchaudet’s work moves beyond historical retelling and ventures into an exploration of identity, trauma, and the unstable boundaries between love and destruction.
At its core, Mau Genre begins as a love story. Paul and Louise meet, fall in love, and marry just before the outbreak of the First World War. Their happiness, however, is short-lived. Paul is called to the front, and what he experiences in the trenches shatters any illusion of heroism or glory. Cruchaudet captures these early war scenes with a chilling economy of color and form. Black and sickly green dominate, evoking both the decay of human life and the collapse of reason. Paul’s trauma manifests in hallucinations and despair; when a comrade’s head is blown apart before his eyes, he loses all sense of self. To escape the unbearable cycle of violence, he mutilates himself, hoping for discharge. Yet the army is merciless, and Paul soon faces the prospect of being sent back. Terrified, he deserts and makes his way to Paris, where Louise hides him in their tiny room.
2023,
Chloé Cruchaudet,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Cinema Queerité: Gêneros e Identidades no Documentário "Paris is Burning"" (Cinema Queerité: Genders and Identities in the Documentary "Paris is Burning") by Ademir Corrêa.
Ademir Corrêa’s Cinema Queerité: Gêneros e Identidades no Documentário “Paris is Burning” is an insightful exploration of one of the most powerful and culturally charged documentaries of the late twentieth century. Corrêa’s book takes Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary Paris is Burning as both a cinematic and social landmark, dissecting its layers of meaning to reveal how film can function as a living archive of marginalized lives. The documentary, filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, captures the dazzling yet precarious world of New York City’s ballroom scene, a world built and sustained by Black and Latino gay men, transgender women, and drag performers who found in it a stage for self-definition and survival. Corrêa’s analysis situates this film not merely as a record of a vanished era but as a complex commentary on gender, identity, and resistance.
2021,
Ademir Corrêa,
Paris Is Burning,
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,
Original title: "Terapia. A Outra Face do Amor. Relatos de Uma Paciente Transexual" (Therapy. The Other Face of Love. Reports of a Transgender Patient) by Laura Rodrigues Rocha.
The book Terapia. A Outra Face do Amor. Relatos de Uma Paciente Transexual by Laura Rodrigues Rocha is an unusual and thought-provoking work that sits at the intersection of autobiography, testimony, and personal discovery. On the surface, it tells the intimate story of a transgender woman, presenting her reflections, struggles, and healing process through the metaphor of therapy and the broader theme of love. Yet behind its pages lies a structure that mirrors the author’s approach to another long and patient project she carried out over nearly a decade: the creation of a series of self-taught music manuals.
Laura’s book does not rely on traditional scholarly references, academic frameworks, or the guiding voice of a teacher. Instead, it is written with the same philosophy that guided her manuals on musical instruments, which she conceived as complete works born of personal experience and self-study. In those manuals, dedicated to guitar, bass, and music theory, she laid out methods that connected one book to the other, forming a cohesive system built entirely on her own discoveries and organized around chord notation. What emerges is not only a technical guide but also a map of the author’s personal learning journey. In the same way, Terapia. A Outra Face do Amor can be understood as an extension of this methodology: an exploration of identity and self-acceptance that is written not from the perspective of authority but from the vulnerability of a learner sharing her progress with others who may face the same obstacles.
2022,
Brazil,
Laura Rodrigues Rocha,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Toda vida importa: uma análise antropológica, sociológica e jurídica sobre os trabalhadores transexuais" (Every life matters: an anthropological, sociological, and legal analysis of transgender workers) by Daniela Miranda Duarte.
Daniela Miranda Duarte’s book Toda vida importa: uma análise antropológica, sociológica e jurídica sobre os trabalhadores transexuais emerges as a necessary and urgent contribution to contemporary Brazilian society. The author begins by carefully introducing conceptual aspects, guiding the reader into a subject that is often surrounded by prejudice, misunderstanding, or silence. She lays the groundwork with clarity, ensuring that even those unfamiliar with the struggles of transgender people can engage with the discussion in a meaningful way. By doing so, she removes barriers of distance and indifference, replacing them with knowledge and empathy.
2020,
Brazil,
Daniela Miranda Duarte,
Portuguese,
Original title: "TRANSLUCIDA" (Translucent) by Sebastião Reis Junior.
The book Translúcida by Sebastião Reis Junior emerges as a singular work that blends photography, literature, and social critique to confront the realities of transgender prisoners in Brazil. Composed of thirty-eight photographs of incarcerated transgender women taken by Reis Junior, a minister of the Superior Court of Justice, the book is accompanied by thirty-five texts and two illustrations, all aiming to provoke reflection on human rights, incarceration, and the right to self-identity.
The photographs were captured at the Pinheiros II Detention Center in São Paulo, providing a rare and intimate glimpse into lives often hidden behind prison walls. Reis Junior approaches his subjects with sensitivity and respect, requesting permission to photograph each inmate, ensuring that the images convey dignity rather than exploitation. The book is not intended merely as a photo collection, nor does it confine itself to a discussion of prison conditions. Instead, it uses visual and literary art to spark broader conversations about transgender existence, societal prejudice, and the human experience of those marginalized by both the legal system and social norms. According to the minister, the work seeks to dismantle the silences that surround transgender lives and to illuminate the truths that prejudice and misinformation often obscure. The contributions in Translúcida come from people with diverse backgrounds, including legal professionals, military personnel, doctors, and artists, each expressing their reflections on human rights through the medium of their choice.
2023,
Portuguese,
Sebastião Reis Junior,
Original title: "Quando Eu Tinha 35" (When I was 35) by Jon O'Brien.
Quando Eu Tinha 35, or When I Was 35, by Jon O'Brien, is a raw and piercing exploration of a life that reflects the stark realities faced by travestis in Brazil, a population whose average life expectancy tragically hovers around thirty-five years, a figure dramatically lower than the national average of seventy-five. The narrative immerses readers in the life of a travesti who confronts her existence with unflinching honesty, alternating between profound despair and a persistent drive to carve out a life that feels meaningful and worth living.
The story is meticulously structured to trace the protagonist's losses and victories throughout her journey, illustrating both the intimate struggles of identity and the broader societal indifference toward the shortened lifespans of trans and travesti individuals. The curation by Eller Cristine Müller, a travesti poet and writer, and Christopher João, a trans man and activist for LGBTQIA+ rights, amplifies the book's critical lens on social neglect and systemic discrimination, making it not only a personal account but also a pointed social critique.
2021,
Brazil,
Jon O'Brien,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Transradioativa: Você me conhece porque tem medo ou tem medo porque me conhece?" (Transradioactive: Do you know me because you're afraid, or are you afraid because you know me?) by Valéria Barcellos.
“Transradioativa: Você me conhece porque tem medo ou tem medo porque me conhece?” by Valéria Barcellos is a powerful and deeply personal work that transcends conventional autobiographical writing. In this book, Valéria, a black trans woman, singer, actress, DJ, performer, writer, and visual artist, shares her lived experiences with unflinching honesty and artistry.
Her life story is inseparable from the broader struggles of trans and Black communities in Brazil, and her work embodies transnegritude and transfeminism with an intensity that challenges readers to confront their own assumptions and fears. Valéria’s recognition as a Mulher Cidadã, the highest honor awarded to women in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, underscores her role as a trailblazer not only in the arts but in social advocacy, making her story one of resistance, resilience, and radical affirmation of identity.
2020,
Portuguese,
Valéria Barcellos,
Original title: "In...confidências mineiras e outras histórias" (Minas Gerais inconfidences and other stories) by Ruddy Pinho.
When we turn to the literature of trans authorship in Brazil, the name Ruddy Pinho inevitably surfaces as one of its earliest and most vibrant voices. Known widely as “A Maravilhosa,” Ruddy was not only a celebrated hairdresser to Brazil’s elite but also a writer who brought her personal history, humor, and resilience into the literary scene. Her book In...confidências mineiras e outras histórias (Minas Gerais Inconfidences and Other Stories), a collection of short stories awarded by the National Library, stands as one of her most important contributions to Brazilian letters, blending sharp social observation with the intimate details of her lived experience.
Born in Sabinópolis, Minas Gerais, and raised in Belo Horizonte, Ruddy Pinho began her working life at just 16, cutting hair in the bohemian quarters of the city. By the 1960s, she had moved to Rio de Janeiro, where her talent, charisma, and bold style quickly made her one of the most sought-after hairdressers in the country. She transformed the look of countless stars, including Marília Pêra, Odete Lara, and Susana Vieira. Her invention of the “lioness cut,” immortalized by singer Simone Bittencourt, became a cultural phenomenon of the 1980s.
Yet Pinho was never confined to one role. She was also an actress, appearing in Neville de Almeida’s Navalha na Carne and later in Leandra Leal’s celebrated documentary Divinas Divas. Her ability to move seamlessly between salon, stage, and screen reflected the same fluidity that characterized her life story.
1999,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Ruddy Pinho,
Original title: "A Transformação Crossdressing" (The Crossdressing Transformation) by Sabrina Loren.
“The Crossdressing Transformation" is an invitation to delve into the fascinating universe of crossdressing through the personal and inspiring story of Sabrina Loren.
With an engaging and sincere narrative, Sabrina shares her experiences, challenges and achievements as a crossdresser, revealing the ups and downs of this journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
Throughout the book, she presents a complete overview of crossdressing, from the motivations that lead people to get involved in this practice to the emotional and social complexities that surround it.
Based on her experiences, Sabrina offers practical tips on fashion, makeup, hair and body language, as well as valuable advice on how to deal with public outings, relationships and the search for "passing".
2024,
Crossdressing,
Portuguese,
Sabrina Loren,
Original title: "O caso Bruna: Gênero, transexualidades e opinião pública" (The case of Bruna: Gender, transsexualities and public opinion) by Ubirajara de None Caputo.
"Transvestites and transsexual women demonstrate for the right to use women's restrooms open to the public in a shopping mall in São Paulo. The act has repercussions on a news site of great circulation, provoking the reaction of hundreds of readers. Ubirajara Caputo analyzed the opinions of this group of people, most of whom were against the right of use motivated by religious and social conceptions or by attributing to the plaintiffs a dubious character and distorted aspects of health and body.
2022,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Ubirajara de None Caputo,
Original title: "Cartas pra Pepita" (Letters to Pepita) by Mulher Pepita.
"The program "Cartas pra Pepita", a public success on IGTV and YouTube, completes one year on the air and to celebrate brings the best letters in the debut book of Selo Monocó! Hosted by LGBT activist, singer and songwriter Mulher Pepita, one of the first transsexual funk singers in Brazil, the program brings the author's sometimes affectionate, sometimes acidic advice and tips about relationships and questions about love and sex from readers-viewers, who send their letters to the program and are read on the air, without shame!"
Mulher Pepita, also known as Pepita, is a Brazilian singer, composer, and dancer. Born Priscila Nogueira on January 25, 1983, in Rio de Janeiro, she gained prominence as one of the first trans women in the Brazilian funk music scene. Her work is closely associated with LGBT activism1.
Pepita began her journey as a funk dancer in Rio de Janeiro’s nightclubs. During this time, she received a song titled “Tô à Procura de um Homem” from a friend. Inspired by the music, she transitioned into a music career and performed her first show in São Paulo.
2019,
Brazil,
Mulher Pepita,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Liberdade Ainda Que Profana" (Freedom Even If Profane) by Ruddy Pinho.
When we turn to the literature of trans authorship in Brazil, we inevitably arrive at Ruddy Pinho, who in 1980 debuted on the literary scene with the poetic biographical work Eu, Ruddy. In that period Ruddy did not yet recognize herself as a woman, nor did she bring this issue explicitly to her writing, which only occurred after the publication of her second autobiography, Liberdade ainda que profana (1998), in which she celebrates her 35-year career as a hairdresser, and she identifies as a woman.
Ruddy Pinho, also known as “A Maravilhosa”, was a celebrated transgender hairdresser from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was known for her work with famous clients, including Susana Vieira and Marilia Pêra. Ruddy Pinho made a significant contribution to the hairdressing industry, including creating the “lioness cut” that marked the career of singer Simone Bittencourt and was widely copied in the 1980s.
1998,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Ruddy Pinho,
Original title: "Crianças Trans: Infâncias possíveis" (Trans Children: Possible Childhoods) by Sofia Favero.
"Trans kids, do you exist? The question is, in my view, rhetorical. Sofia pursues her childhood with unparalleled refinement and wit in this publication. Language, as always, is placed in a captious way when we refer to what was not posited, at first, as "natural" from the cisgender gaze.
The author undertakes a fantastic work, using a self-history that is intertwined with contemporary virtual culture and scientific literature, to tell us about something central to studies on childhood, or to be more direct, about how the social devices of affirmation of certain identities work, to the detriment of others, hierarchical as "normal", "good", "beautiful"."
2021,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Sofia Favero,
Original title: "Elas me contaram: Histórias de Travestis e Transexuais" (They told me: Stories of Transvestites and Transsexuals) by Melquiades Galindo.
"A photographer and writer, and his saga to get to know the stories of transvestites and transsexual women with the intention of gathering material to make a novel that tells their lives. What he didn't imagine is that he would be faced with dramatic situations to the point of making his mission almost impossible."
2018,
Melquiades Galindo,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Metamorfose: Poesias sobre ser e existir" (Metamorphosis: Poems about being and existing) by Giulia Martins.
Metamorphosis is a book of authorial poetry with rhythm, depth and, sometimes, a bit of unvarnished reality. The 13 poems reflect things that the author, Giulia Martins, a Brazilian trans woman, lives, has seen and lived in her transition experience.
2024,
Brazil,
Giulia Martins,
Portuguese,
Original title: "Autobiografias trans: Escritas em movimento" (Trans Autobiographies: Writing on the Move) by Leocádia Chaves and Carolina Edições.
"In this book, Leocádia Chaves presents in an unprecedented way the cartography of the autobiographical writing of transgender people in Brazil between 1982 and 2019, recognizing it as the result of organization and resistance in the contemporary literary field.
The approach of the texts opens up as a space for listening, whether for radical narrators, as they lay bare the transphobic mechanisms of oppression in our society, or for the insurgency of producers of narratives of self-identification and self-valorization, essential for the formation of a community of sharing, of affections."
2021,
Carolina Edições,
Leocádia Chaves,
Portuguese,
Original title: "O sabor do cio" (The taste of heat) by Ruddy Pinho.
"O sabor do cio" is the second poetry book by Ruddy (Ruddy Pinho). In that period the author did not yet recognize herself as a woman, nor did she bring this issue explicitly to her writing, which will only occur after the publication of her autobiography, Liberdade ainda que profana (1998).
Ruddy Pinho, also known as “A Maravilhosa”, was a celebrated transgender hairdresser from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was known for her work with famous clients, including Susana Vieira and Marilia Pêra. Ruddy Pinho made a significant contribution to the hairdressing industry, including creating the “lioness cut” that marked the career of singer Simone Bittencourt and was widely copied in the 1980s.
1981,
Brazil,
Portuguese,
Ruddy Pinho,
