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.
Full title: "Drag Queen of Scots: The Dos and Dont's of a Drag Superstar" by Lawrence Chaney.
"Lawrence Chaney is a testament to the strength that comes from drag. Lawrence (Drag) Queen of Scots celebrates the little boy learning to sew at age seven and his journey to taking the UK by storm. From growing up as the gay class clown and being bullied to finding an outlet in performance and drag, celebrating both his outer curves and inner beauty.
The book will showcase valuable life lessons and tricks of the trade, all told in Chaney's trademark charming style, and will resonate with anyone who holds dreams and aspirations that are bigger than the town they grew up in."
2022,
Drag queen,
English,
Lawrence Chaney,
Scotland,
Full title: "It's About Time: Poems of an Uncertain Woman" by Lesley Storm.
""I’m a woman. I support them. I’m bisexual. I support them. I’m a feminist. I support them. I endure regular abuse for being trans. I support them. I am called a “poof” by the unenlightened. I support them. My name is Lesley, and I'm a woman ― that is to say that I am human, just like you, and you like me. A meditation on the passing of time, a declaration that life, love and poetry are defined by time, are all about time and timing. Here are love poems, life poems, elegies, aubades, odes, existential solitude poems, prose poems, joyous poems of fleeting human pleasures, poems compassionate, sanguine and witty, poems delicate with vulnerability, urgent poems on survival over time."
2020,
English,
Lesley Storm,
Scotland,
UK,
Full title: "None So Pretty: The Sexing of Rebecca Pine" by Rebecca Pine.
"This is the incredible story of Robert Pine's transformation into Rebecca Pine and the shock waves this new persona causes in Scotland where Robert and his wife, Jean, live.
It is also a love story, as Jean struggles to accept the changes in their lives. The story of strength in the face of adversity, of the courage to be true to one's self, None So Pretty is a transexual love story fitting for the new millennium."
1999,
English,
Rebecca Pine,
Scotland,
In 2016 Later Jo Clifford took the title role in Eve, a piece she co-wrote with Chris Goode, based on her own experiences as a trans woman. The play was performed as part of the double bill Eve/Adam produced by the National Theatre of Scotland. In 2017, the play was published as a book.
"Eve tells the story of a child raised as a boy when she knew all along that was wrong.
That child grew up to be one of the 10 Outstanding Women in Scotland in 2017.
With trans rights again under threat, legendary playwright, performer, father, and grandmother Jo Clifford tells a story both gentle and passionate, intimate and political, to remind us that the journey towards our real selves is one we all need to make."
Jo Clifford was born on March 22, 1950 in Derby, England. She is a writer, actress, and playwright, known for her performances in Great Expectations (2013), These Are My Hands (2018), and Front Row Late (2017). She was married to Susan Katriona Innes, a feminist historian and columnist for Scotland on Sunday, that died in 2005. After the death of her wife, Jo transitioned into a woman. She is one of the most successful contemporary Scottish playwrights.
2017,
Chris Goode,
English,
Jo Clifford,
Scotland,
"Julie Clarke was born a boy in the 50s in central Scotland. From a very early age she knew she was different from other boys, but growing up in the 50s and 60s was not conducive to discussing feelings of gender difference and for many years Julie didn't even know there was a medical term for her dilemma: she was transsexual.
Becoming Julie details how Julie Clarke spent many years battling her demons. As a man she married and became a firefighter and later, a charter boat skipper on the Isle of Coll, hoping that these acts would suppress her longing to become female, but to no avail. She encountered much prejudice in her journey to become the woman she is today, but also many acts of kindness, and the book tells Julie's story in her own words.
Finally, in 2006, Julie achieved her dream and after undergoing transgender surgery, she physically became a woman. She is still living happily on the Isle of Coll and working for Cal-Mac in the role she previously held as a man. Sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, but always honest, Becoming Julie charts the author's struggle to build a new life as a woman."
2014,
English,
Julie Clarke,
Scotland,
Full title: "Just Call Me Lady: A Work of Completion" by Mandy Goodhandy
"She was a little girl born in Scotland. Mainstream society's rude awakening forced her to live as a boy for survival. This is a journey of discovery and survival told with sometimes shocking honesty while including humour during some disturbingly touching life events.
She must give an academy award worthy performance to act as a boy and then a man. Later in life, she forgives herself for allowing society to force her to live as a character. She then finally finds completion by allowing the little girl from her past to live again, along with the parts of herself that she discovered along the way.
2018,
English,
Mandy Goodhandy,
Scotland,
Full title: "My Trans Life" by Nina Gray.
"My name is Nina Gray. I am Trans Lesbian, though have only been out since 2015. I grew up in the Scottish Highlands, and have lived in Scotland all of my life. I have worked within various fields of social care for the past 26 years. My personal passions are music, film, comedy, art, and literature. More recently times I have begun to reengage with my love of creating abstract visual art.
I started writing this just under a year prior to my vaginoplasty operation. The period building up to this felt like a good time to take stock of and reflect over my life to date. This felt to be a very cathartic process to engage in and also helped me feel sure that the major steps I was about to take felt right. There are several elements I have decided to write about. Sections of anecdotes of happenings that stand out in my memory for varying reasons, largely due to my finding amusing or odd. Details and thoughts about my relatively smooth transitioning process, which I feel may help serve as a positive example for people at earlier stages of similar processes."
2020,
English,
Nina Gray,
Scotland,
