From femmes who channel Marlene Dietrich in the sexiest of suits to men who love nothing more than the feel silky panties stretched tight against their skin, these characters boldly indulge their fantasies of being a girl — or a guy — for a night. Drag queens get dolled up for a night on the town, a dyke packs a special surprise beneath her dress, and a devoted husband puts his dress-up skills to the ultimate test in this seductive new collection.
Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers Author:Cris Beam Publisher: Harvest Books ISBN: 978-0156033770 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 2008 Pages: 336
In this gripping, illuminating and deeply moving portrait of transgender teens in Los Angeles, the smallest incidents reverberate sharply. Beam, volunteering at a support center for trans teens, helps a young woman named Christina make changes on her driver's license: her name from Eduardo and the gender from male to female. The DMV clerk adamantly refuses to make the adjustment and only acquiesces after the humiliated Christina has a meltdown and Beam, pretending to be an ACLU lawyer, demands a supervisor. Christina is one of several, mostly minority, male-to-female transgender women to whom Beam becomes attached. Their group interactions—including fights, friendships and daily struggles to survive—form the center of the book. Though these women's lives are difficult—when Christina is beaten during an attempted rape, she has to lie to the police about being transgender—there are also moments of quick wit. As Beam morphs from parent to therapist, chum, cheerleader and legal adviser, she seamlessly blends memoir, reportage and advocacy. The result is a vivid and fiercely empathetic narrative that juxtaposes dead-on portraits of these young women with clearly articulated fury at a culture that's not only fearful of anyone who deviates from traditional gender roles but treats minorities and the poor with contempt.
Alec always thought she was a lesbian. She got thrown out of her house for it as a teenager, in fact. But when she moves to Chicago she begins a journey of self- discovery that leads to a place that she never imagined possible. She discovers that she isn't a lesbian at all....but a straight man.
The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion Author:Eli Clare Publisher: Homofactus Press, L.L.C. ISBN: 978-0978597313 Format: Paperback Publication Date: August 15, 2007 Pages: 128
Eli Clare's poetry and prose rushed through my heart and soul with the same intensity as the mighty Oregon rivers which feature so prominently in his work. "The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion" is storytelling in its finest form. This book challenges readers to look beyond initial assumptions and expectations in order to intimately explore the intersections of race, ability, gender, and sexuality. Politically charged, this work forges an important trail through body memories linked to childhood sexual abuse, ritual abuse, gender transformation, the act of sex, and body acceptance. Through tantalizing poetry "The Marrow's Telling" challenges us as readers to look more closely at the geography of our own lives.
