Celebrating Trans Women During Women's History Month

By Rebecca Ryan, Children's Libarian
March 5, 2021

This March, The New York Public Library celebrates women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling in honor of Women's History Month. Join us for recommended reading, programs, resources, and more. Plus, check out book lists that highlight the contributions of women writers and look back on the women who helped build NYPL.

March is Women’s History Month, a time when we celebrate the role and contributions of women in American history and contemporary society.  Below is a list of some books in NYPL's collection by or about trans women: some you may already know, and others you may want to learn more about.

  • Wendy Carlos: A Biography

    by Amanda Sewell

    Drawing on published and unpublished interviews with Wendy Carlos and with other people in her life and career, this full biography tells the story of Carlos' life from her childhood in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to her present life in New York and the secrecy that has surrounded it.

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    Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout

    by Laura Jane Grace

    The transgender advocate and lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me! describes her intensely personal struggles with identity and addiction through journal entries that date back to her childhood.

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    Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

    by Janet Mock

    With unflinching honesty and moving prose, Janet Mock relays her experiences of growing up young, multiracial, poor, and trans in America, offering readers accessible language while imparting vital insight about the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of a marginalized and misunderstood population.

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    To My Trans Sisters

    edited by Charlie Craggs 

    An empowering, heartfelt collection of letters from celebrated trans women addressed to those who are transitioning. Each letter offers honest advice from their own experience on everything from make-up and dating, through to deeper subjects like battling dysphoria and dealing with transphobia.

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    Yes, You Are Trans Enough: My Transition from Self-Loathing to Self-Love

    by Mia Violet

    With entertaining anecdotes and thoughtful observations, this memoir depicts the realities of being a trans woman—from bullying and botched coming out attempts to self-acceptance and love—whilst exploring the inaccuracies of trans representation and confronting what the media has gotten wrong.

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    She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders

    by Jennifer Finney Boylan

    She's Not There is the story of a person changing genders, the story of a person bearing and finally revealing a complex secret; above all, it is a love story.

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    Laverne Cox by Erin Staley

    This biography documents Cox's triumphant life and work as an activist, documenting her own growth from troubling times she recalls as a teenager to becoming the first openly transgender actor nominated for an Emmy.

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    Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition

    by Katie Rain Hill

    A college student who endured years of bullying and disapprobation describes how after numerous failed therapies she accepted her transgender status and began learning how to be a girl while pursuing surgical gender reassignment.

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    No Way Renée: The Second Half of my Notorious Life

    by Renée Richards

    A candid personal account by a pioneering doctor and tennis player who underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1975 discusses her pursuit of legal rights, her perspectives on gender issues, and her relationship with her son.

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    Lana and Lilly Wachowski 

    by Cael M. Keegan

    Lana and Lilly Wachowski are intensely political film writers, directors, and producers whose work has made an indelible impact on American popular culture. From The Matrix (1999) to Cloud Atlas (2012), they have left their mark as innovators in the industry, consistently pushing the boundaries of what is perceived as technically and topically possible in studio film. They are also the world's first major transgender film directors and arguably the most influential transgender cultural producers in human history. 

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    I Rise: The Transformation of Toni Newman

    by Toni Newman

    Born the eldest son into a strict Christian family, Toni admits knowing from her earliest days that she “was a different bird born in the wrong body.” With laser-guided sincerity, curiosity, and above all, humor and compassion, Toni tells her story of being a “sissy boy,” a scholarship student, a business professional, an escort, a drag queen, a NYC prostitute, an LA dominatrix, and finally, a transsexual attending law school in order to help her transsexual sisters in need. 

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    Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality

    by Sarah McBride

    The national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign presents a timely memoir about her struggles with gender identity and relationships against a backdrop of the transgender equality movement. In 2020 Sarah McBride was elected in Delaware as the first transgender state senator.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.