13 Incredible Transgender Authors You Should Start Following
byCaroline Burke
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Nov. 20 marks this year's Transgender Day of Remembrance, which remembers the victims of anti-transgender violence. While its central premise is to honor those whose lives were taken, this day is also an opportunity to support the transgender community and the voices within it. In addition to volunteering with organizations like the National Center for Transgender Equality and learning how to be an ally, you can start delving into amazing books by trans authors as well.
There are countless trans artists who do incredible work that celebrates and highlightsthe trans experience. Stephanie Burt, for example,showed how powerful the spoken word can be in relayingyour own lived experience when she gave a speech in 1993 that would "forever alter the course of transgender studies," Them's Wren Sanders wrote. While speaking at an academic conference in California, Stryker said in part,
“Hearken unto me, fellow creatures. I who have dwelt in a form unmatched with my desire, I whose flesh has become an assemblage of incongruous anatomical parts, I who achieve the similitude of a natural body only through an unnatural process, I offer you this warning: the Nature you bedevil me with is a lie. Do not trust it to protect you from what I represent, for it is a fabrication that cloaks the groundlessness of the privilege you seek to maintain for yourself at my expense. You are as constructed as me; the same anarchic Womb has birthed us both...Heed my words, and you may well discover the seams and sutures in yourself.”
Ultimately, Transgender Day of Remembrance isn't the only time of the year to seek out books and other pieces of writing by members of the LGBTQ community. So, if you're looking for a new book to dive into at any point during the year, consider reading these trans authors' work: