Reena Leigh Gibson’s book The Long Road Ahead: ...one person’s struggle for identity is not just an autobiography, it is an intimate account of a life spent navigating fear, self-discovery, resilience, and hope. The story begins with a moment that was neither planned nor carefully thought out, but one that became a turning point.
On February 11th, 1994, after a works party and under the haze of alcohol, Reena confessed to her two closest friends that she was transsexual. That night marked the beginning of a long journey of honesty and authenticity, though at the time she hardly understood what the term even meant. Her only reference points were fleeting glimpses of trans women whose lives had been portrayed in a tabloid newspaper and a women’s magazine. With no internet and no ready access to resources, she clung to those stories and recognized in them a mirror of her own deeply buried truth.
