Celebrating Trans Women During Women's History Month
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Drawing on published and unpublished interviews with Wendy Carlos and with other people in her life and career, this full biography tells the story of Carlos' life from her childhood in Pawtucket,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.
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.
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.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.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.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.
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.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.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.
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.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.