| 
Resource List for Transgender Issues
Binding FAQ (pdf)
Helpful Hints for Primary Care Physicians (pdf)
General Information
Pride Network
Male-to-Female Issues
Male-to-Female Size Chart (MS Word)
Female-to-Male Issues
Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adults
Family Issues
Employment Issues
Video Resources
General Information
True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism by Mildred L. Brown & Chloe Ann Rounsley. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996. Hardcover book; 271 pages.
Described as a guide for families, friends, coworkers, and helping professionals, as well as transgender people themselves, the authors use real-life stories, letters, poems, and other examples that help provide readers with an understanding of what it means to be transsexual. The book breaks down common misconceptions about transsexualism and offers important recommendations for those who know and care about transsexual people.
Topics include terminology/definitions (sorting out gender identity from sexual orientation); childhood and adolescent life for transsexual people; adult life; therapy; making the transition, including discussion of workplace issues; discussing the issue with family members; medical and surgical options; and guidelines for support, with commentary from transsexual people throughout the book. A resource guide and selected bibliography are also provided.
Gender Shock: Exploding the Myths of Male & Female by Phyllis Burke. Anchor Books, 1996. Hardcover book; 308 pages.
Burke explodes the many myths surrounding our rigid gender system of male and female by looking through three lenses of gender identity: behavior, appearance, and science. Analyzing the latest research in psychology, genetics, neurology, and sociology, Burke finds that gender (or behavior) is not the result of one's biological sex (the body itself) and that gender and sexuality are separate elements of the self. With commonsense and compassion, Burke challenges the notion that men and women are from different planets by revealing how there are more variations within each sex than there are between the two. Burke also discusses controversy around the diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder, including "mental health incarceration" of youths who meet the criteria for this diagnosis.
Transgendered Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to RuPaul by Leslie Feinberg. Beacon Press, 1996. Hardcover; 212 pages.
Transgender Warriors is not only a moving personal account, it breaks both new historical and new theoretical ground. Feinberg shows that the suppression of transgender history has rendered invisible the links between class and gender oppression. She calls on all of us to wield the emerging recognition of transgender warriors throughout history as a weapon in the struggle to make the world a safer and better place for people of all sexes, genders, and desires.
Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender by Riki Anne Wilchins. Firebrand Books, 1997. Paperback; 231 pages.
In a voice that is by turns outraged, outrageous, sad, and hilarious, Wilchins - cofounder of the Transsexual Menace and Executive Director of GenderPAC - weaves theory and personal experience into a smart and compelling story of self-discovery. Lesbians, feminist, queer academics, activists, transpeople, the "queer-on-the-street," and the increasing audience of mainstream readers hungry for writing that pushes the absolute edge of the gender envelope - Read My Lips will change the way you think about bodies, sex, and gender. Yours and everyone else's.
Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism by Pat Califia. Cleis Press Inc., 1997. Paperback; 309 pages.
Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism is Pat Califia's meticulously researched analysis of the contemporary history of transsexuality. Writing about both male-to-female and female-to-male transsexuals, Califia examines the lives of early transgender pioneers like Christine Jorgenson, Jan Morris, Renee Richards and Mark Rees; partners of transgendered people like Minnie Bruce Pratt; and contemporary transgender activists like Leslie Feinberg and Kate Bornstein.
Crossing over: Liberating the Transgendered Christian by Vanessa Sheridan. Pilgrim Press, 2001. Paperback; 157 pages.
Claiming her identity as both Christian and transgendered, Vanessa Sheridan offers insight into the transgender experience and confronts the harsh reality of injustice prevalent in society and in the church toward those who are differently gendered.
Transsexuals: Candid Answers to Private Questions by Gerald Ramsey, Ph.D. The Crossing Press, 1996. Hardcover book; 173 pages.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Ramsey, who has worked with hundreds of transsexuals over the past two decades, candidly answers many hard-to-ask questions in this book. His groundbreaking book is the first to address transsexual issues in non-medical language. This book answers questions such as, "What is a transsexual?" "How does transsexuality most commonly affect families?" "What actually happens during transsexual surgery?" "How often do transsexuals regret their decision to undergo surgery?" The answers to these questions are discussed, as are boundaries, definitions, and stereotypes; family, friends, and lovers; philosophical, psychological and spiritual issues; preparing for sex reassignment surgery; and "nuts and bolts."
The Uninvited Dilemma: A Question of Gender by Kim Elizabeth Stuart. Metamorphous Press, 1991. Trade paperback; 174 pages.
Not the usual autobiography or clinical study, this book is a researched look into the myths and real-life experience of transsexuality. It represents two years of research involving carefully structured, in-depth personal interviews with 75 transsexuals, consultations with members of the medical and mental health communities, and conversations with loved ones of transsexuals. Topics explored include gender and sexuality; androgyny; issues in childhood and adulthood; school and workplace issues for transsexual people and medical care and mental health.
Crossdressing, Sex and Gender by Vern L. Bullogh and Bonnie Bullogh. University of Pennsylvania Press 1993. Paperback; 382 pages.
In most Western societies, being a man and demonstrating masculinity is more highly prized than being a woman and displaying femininity. Some non-Western societies, however, are more tolerant and even encourage men to behave like women and women to act like men. Cross Dressing, Sex and Gender not only surveys cross dressing and gender impersonation throughout history and in a variety of cultures, but also examines the medical, biological, psychological and sociological findings that have been presented in the modern scientific literature.
The Tranny Guide, Eighth Edition . Way Out Publishing Co, Ltd., London, England, 2000. Paperback, 336 pages.
The world's best "tranny friendly" international listing of books, magazines, shops, services and places to go.
How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States by Joanne Meyerowitz. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and London England, 2002. Hardcover, 363 pages.
How Sex Changed is a fascinating social, cultural and medical history of transsexuality in the United States. It is a powerful human story about people who have a deep and unshakable desire to transform their bodily sex. The book covers from early twentieth-century sex experiments in Europe, to the saga of Christine Jorgensen, whose sex-change surgery made headlines in 1952, to today's growing transgender movement. It focuses on the stories of the transsexual men and women themselves, as well as a large supporting casts of doctors, scientists, journalists, lawyers, judges, feminist, and gay liberationists, as they debated the big questions of medical ethics, nature versus nurture, self and society, and the scope of human rights.
Respect and Equality: Transsexual and Transgender Rights by Stephen Whittle. Cavendish Publishing, Portland, OR, 2002. Trade Paperback, 308 pages.
This book argues that current law does not adequately provide for transgender people and calls for respect and equality before the law. Theoretical discussions of sex, sexuality, gender and law, and an extensive range of primary and secondary research materials, are combined to provide an insightful analysis into the inadequacies of the current law.
Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude by Amy Bloom. Random House, New York, 2002. Hardcover, 140 pages.
Normal is about people widely considered not normal: female-to-male transsexuals, heterosexual crossdressers, and the intersexed sometimes known as hermaphrodites.
Male-to-Female Issues
The Bliss of Becoming One! Integrating "Feminine" Feelings into the Male Psyche Mainstreaming the Gender Community by Rachel Miller. Rainbow Books, Inc., 1996. Trade paperback; 115 pages.
"Rachel Miller" is a heterosexual, married man with a high-paying job in a prestigious company. In every way, he is a respected member of the community. You would never guess that he is a transvestite. He hid that fact due to shame and fear of rejection. Society tells such men that there is something wrong with them. They suppress their true selves and live in anguish and isolation. In desperation, Rachel began a quest for relief that led to the discovery of the truth about himself and other transvestites.
This book dispels the myths surrounding transvestites (TVs); encourages TVs to integrate their feminine and masculine traits; advocates TVs joining mainstream society; and promotes emotional health, wholeness and unity for TVs by helping them understand themselves better, accepting what they find, sharing what they learn with loved ones, and helping others in the community.
From Masculine to Feminine and All Points In Between by Jennifer Anne Stevens. Different Path Press, 1992. Oversized paperback; 137 pages.
The author, "a practicing 'T'," provides a practical guide for transvestites, cross-dressers, transgenderists, transsexuals, and others who choose to develop a more feminine image. Contents include discussions on gender attribution; clothing; makeup; body language; "what you say and how you say it;" hormones; significant others; living full time; and sex reassignment surgery.
I Am My Own Woman: The outlaw life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Berlin's most distinguished transvestite by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (translated by Jean Hollander). Cleis Press, 1995. Trade paperback; 179 pages.
The autobiography of von Mahlsdorf, whose lifelong pursuits of sexual liberty and antique furniture offer a unique perspective on European history. As a child, Lothar Berfelde loved to wear an apron and polish porcelain. Given his druthers, he would have chosen to live quietly in the 19th century, perhaps as a housekeeper in a well appointed home near Berlin. Instead, his life took a bumpier course. During World War II, Berfelde murdered his father, dubbed himself Charlotte (after his cross-dressing lesbian aunt's lover) von Mahlsdorf, and has lived openly as a transvestite since. Now well past 60, a quietly passionate, steadfast and serene figure, Charlotte shuns makeup, wearing the simplest frocks.
Speaking as A Woman by Alison Laing. Creative Design Services, 1989. Booklet; 40 pages.
This publication aims to provide understanding and techniques that will assist persons, born as males, to overcome any fear they have in speaking to others as females. The goal of the booklet, the author states, is to "assist the average TV/TS in achieving at least some improvement in their verbal communication skills," providing for increased confidence.
Topics include discussion of the how the voice works; what range and pitch are; intonation and reflection; voice quality; words and sentence structure; speaking and electronic devices; voice surgery; the proper state of mind; and non-verbal communication.
Transformations by Mariette Pathy Allen. EP Dutton, 1989. Hardcover.
Transformations is a book of photographs and interviews with these men who depend on feminine imagery to reach full personality expression. The crossdresser often sees his femme creation as his better half - the kinder, more charming person who has greater access to feelings and a greater ability to enjoy life. In the desire to find release from the straightjacket of a strictly defined masculine role, some may adopt an equally defined feminine stereotype. Others may reach a synthesis of the two. This is a radical subculture dressed in fifties apparel.
Rhonda, The Woman in Me. A Journey through Gender Transition by Rhonda D. Hoyman. Pearce Publishers, Inc., 1999. Hardcover, 306 pages.
For 48 years Ron had no sense of self-worth. Since age five, Ron knew he was a female trapped in a male body. As years went by, his inner conflict and sense of helplessness became too painful to bear. With a growing sense of emptiness, hopelessly long himself in work and three unsuccessful marriages, Ron was desperate to become a whole person. His strong sense of purpose could no longer repress the pain of living a male life. He decided there was no other answer, but to release his true feminine self. The details of what Ron went through to become Rhonda are a classic story of the challenges of transsexual life adjustment.
Me and Bobbi and the Gyrls by George Wilkerson/Bobbi Williams. Xlibris Corporation, 2000. Paperback, 192 pages.
This book is a compilation of columns and stories that appeared between 1997 and 2000 in TG Forum, an online magazine for the transgender community.
Hidden in Plain Sight by Leslie Townsend. Writers Club Press an imprint of Universe, Inc, Lincoln, NE, 2002. Trade Paperback, 147 pages.
This story follows the journey of a child in confusion, an adolescent in turmoil, and a young adult who embarks on a quest for wholeness. It is a story of breaking gender barriers and of crossing the chasm from male-to-female.
The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-bending and Transsexualism by J. Michael Bailey. Joseph Henry Press, Washington DC, 2003. Hardcover, 233 pages.
The Man Who Would Be Queen is a controversial, intensely poignant, and boldly forthright book about sex and gender.
Female-to-Male Issues
Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits , Photographs by Loren Cameron. Cleis Press Inc., 1996. Paperback, 110 pages.
For the longest time, transsexuals and especially transsexual men (female-to-males) have been virtually invisible to the dominant culture. Marginalized even within the gay and lesbian subculture, transsexuals have occupied no real space or our own. In the last decade or so, more and more transsexual people have been speaking out about our experiences. We are beginning to represent ourselves for the first time and to develop our own voice. Body Alchemy is the first photodocumentation of transsexual men from within our community.
Transmen & FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders & Sexualities by Jason Cromwell. University of Illinois Press, 1999. Trade Paperback, 201 pages.
"This book provides wonderful documentation of transmen's lives and voices as well as an excellent critique of a number of discourses that marginalize, pathologize, and otherwise make transmen invisible." (Evelyn Blackwood, coeditor of Female Desires: Same-Sex Relations and Transgender Practices across Cultures from the back cover.)
FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society by Holly Devor. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN. Hardback, 695 pages.
This book represents a substantial research effort to address the life experiences of female-to-male (FTM) transsexual individuals through oral and written history interviews. It captures the essence and uniqueness of the FTM journey by presenting a delicate balance of sociological analysis, social perception, facts, style, history, and feminism.
Lesbians Talk Transgender by Zachary I Nataf. Scarlet Press, 1996. Trade Paperback, 64 pages.
A small percentage of FTMs are gay, a significant percentage of FTMs identify as bisexual and 50 per cent of MTFs identify as lesbian. What does it mean for a man to become a lesbian and a lesbian to become a man? How do we define lesbian sex and who can be included in lesbian spaces and culture? With an international group of transgendered lesbians, this book examines the emergence of the new Transgender Nation and the implications for the lesbian community.
Dear Sir or Madam. The autobiography of a female-to-male transsexual by Mark Rees. Cassell Publishing, Inc., 1996. Paperback, 184 pages .
Dear Sir or Madam tells the story of the author's struggle through adolescence and into adulthood - her search for understanding, the long and tortuous process of becoming Mark, his legal battles and his media exposure. In becoming himself, Mark was enabled to live a richer and fuller life.
Women Who Become Men: Albanian Sworn Virgins by Antonia Young. Berg Press, New York, NY, 2000. Trade Paperback, 168 pages.
"Most people conceive of gender as a culturally informed response to a biological imperative. Such rigid notions are overturned by certain women in remote regions of Albania who elect to 'become' men. What is interesting is that in t his region of the Balkans, simply to dress as a man and to behave as a man earns these women the same respect accorded a man. Based on extensive interviews, this book tells the frank and engrossing stories of some of these women, but also sets their lives within the wider context of a country undergoing radical upheaval and social transformation." (Antonia Young)
The Last Time I Wore A Dress: A Memoir by Daphne Scholinski with Jane Meredith Adams. Riverhead Books, 1997. Trade Paperback, 211 pages.
From the time she was fifteen in 1981 until her eighteenth birthday, when the insurance ran out, Daphne Scholinski lived in mental institutions. Characterized as "an inappropriate female," Scholinski spent her high school years in hospitals learning how to apply eyeliner and blush, how to feather her hair, and how to walk like a girl. In this book she tells the story of those years.
The Phallus Palace: Female-to-Male Transsexuals by Dean Kotula, consulting editor William E. Parker. Alyson Publications, 2002. Trade Paperback, 253 pages.
The Phallus Palace is a bold approach to the subject of female-to-male transsexuals (FTMs). Author and photographer Dean Kotula has compiled essays by himself and 19 other FTMs, along with before-and-after photographs and essays by psychotherapists and doctors working in the field of sex reassignment. Also included are essays from Kotula's sister and the mother of a 15 year old FTM.
The Drag King Anthology edited by Donna J Troka, Kathleen LeBesco, and Jean B Noble. Co-published simultaneously as Journal of Homosexuality, Volume 43, Numbers 3/4 2002. Harrington Park Press, Binghamton, New York, 2002. Trade Paperback, 346 pages.
The Drag King Anthology dispels the myth that drag kings are simply "women doing drag," presenting enlightening essays that address gender, sexuality, and feminism. Using prose, poetry, and photographs, an eclectic mix of scholars, performers and fans offer cultural and political insights on the international growth and development of drag king troupes and communities.
Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adults
Gender in Early Childhood edited by Nicola Yelland. Routledge, London, England, 1998. Paperback, 278 pages.
This book explores the ways in which young children perceive themselves and are viewed by others in terms of their gender identities as individuals and as members of society. It will consider research from a variety of perspectives in the context of home/family and school. Topics covered include the construction of gender from the time when the child is conceived, through the analyses of young children's play and art making. It also explores young children's experiences with technology, the ways in which they feel about their bodies and the impact of popular culture on their lives.
Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents by Kenneth J. Zucker and Susan J. Bradley. The Guilford Press, New York, New York, 1995. Hardback, 440 pages.
This [book] provides a comprehensive overview of the cutting-edge clinical work and research on gender identity disorder in children and adolescents. Areas covered include core phenomenology, epidemiology, diagnosis and assessment, associated psychopathology, etiology, treatment, and long-term follow-up. This is an invaluable resource for child psychiatrists and psychologists, sexologists, pediatricians, social workers, and scholars and students of human sexuality, gender development, and child psychopathology.
Out & About Campus: Personal Accounts by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered College Students edited by Kim Howard and Annie Stevens. Alyson Publications, Los Angeles, CA, 2000. Paperback, 304 pages.
In spite of tremendous progress over the past 20 years, including the development of LGBT clubs and queer-studies curricula, many college students feel so isolated that they are afraid to speak out. In this extraordinary collection -- the first of its kind -- 28 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students describe not only how they survived college but also how they fought, endured, and changed it.
Family Issues
Our Trans Children . A Publication of the Transgender Special Outreach Network of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) 1999. Booklet; 16 pages.
This booklet provides an introduction to trans issues suitable for parents, family members and friends, as well as employers, counselors and anyone else interested, within or beyond PFLAG. We hope it may prove useful as well to those who are just beginning to question their own gender identity, and to assure them that there is support available in the larger community. To order contact M. Boenke, 180 Bailey Blvd., Hardy, VA 24101-3528.
Trans Forming Families: Real Stories About Transgendered Loved Ones edited by Mary Boenke. Walter Trook Publishing 1999. Paperback; 146 pages.
The stories in Trans Forming Families are, perhaps, the best examples of trans family members, since they are willing not only to accept but also to write about their exceptional children, siblings, and even parents. As such, they are the first, brave ones to out themselves, out of love for their trans family members. In their own individual ways, they all have come to understand their trans loved ones, fighting through much misinformation and massive stigmatization to obtain truthful, factual information, about trans people.
Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Parents and Their Families edited by Peggy Gillespie. C&C Offset Printing Co. Ltd. 1999. Trade Paperback; 260 pages.
"Believers in free speech and other basic American values should welcome this contribution to information about who we are in all of our diversity. Showing that the family values which are important to so many have full application to lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals is a very important contribution." --Barney Frank, House of Representatives, United States Congress
Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods -- My Mother's, My Father's and Mine by Noelle Howey. Picador USA 2002. Hardback; 332 pages.
Throughout her childhood in suburban Ohio, Noelle Howey struggled to gain love and affection from her distant father. At age 14, [her] mom let her buy a pair of Guess? Jeans.Then staring straight at the car windshield on the way home from the mall, her mom finally blurted out the family secret: "Dad likes to wear women's clothes." As Noelle copes with a turbulent adolescence, further confused by the male and female role models she had as a girl, her father begins to metamorphose into the loving parent she had always longed for -- only now outfitted with pedal pushers and pink lipstick.
.mom, I need to be a girl by Just Evelyn. Walter Trook Publishing, 1998. Paperback, 116 pages.
The road from anguish to joy of a teenage transsexual with the support and love from her mother and brothers. The book tells of the roadblocks constructed by greedy "helpful professionals." It tells about getting through high school PE, Girl Scout canoe trip, and many other challenges faced by this brave new girl.
As Nature Made Him - The Boy Who Was Raised As A Girl by John Colapinto. Harper-Collins Publishing, 2000. Hardcover, 277 pages.
In 1967, after a baby boy suffered a botched circumcision, his family agreed to a radical treatment. On the advice of a renowned expert in gender identity and sexual reassignment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the boy was surgically altered to live as a girl. This landmark case, initially reported to be a complete success, seemed all the more remarkable since the child had been born an identical twin: his uninjured brother, raised as a boy, provided to the experiment the perfect matched control. The so-called twins case would become one of the most famous in modern medicine and the social sciences; cited repeatedly over the past thirty years as living proof that our sense of being male or female is not inborn, but primarily the result of how we are raised. A touchstone for the feminist movement, the case also set the precedent for sex reassignment as standard treatment for thousands of newborns with similarly injured or irregular genitals.
But the case was a failure from the outset. From the start the famous twin had, in fact, struggled against his imposed girlhood. Since age 14, when finally informed of his medical history, he made the decision to live as a male.
Employment Issues
Transsexual Workers: An Employer's Guide by Janis Walworth, MS, Center for Gender Sanity, Westchester, CA 1998. Paperback 135 pages.
.Clear and concise book answers the questions we have heard employers ask time and time again. It offers reasonable solutions to common problems transitioning people can have in the workplace and provides many suggestions to help employers move their staff through this experience. (Mary Keller, MFC, Founder and Director of the Los Angeles Gender Center from the back cover of the book).
Working with a Transsexual: A Guide for Coworkers by Janis Walworth, MS Center for Gender Sanity, Westchester, CA 1999. Paperback 59 pages.
Companion to the Transsexual Workers: An Employer's Guide from the co-workers perspective.
Medical, Legal & Workplace Issues for the Transsexua l by Sheila Kirk, MD and Martine Rothblatt, JD. Together Lifeworks, Watertown, MA, 1995. Trade Paperback, 148 pages.
This book provides information addressing the medical, legal and workplace issues encountered through every phase of the transition process.
Video Resources
A Boy Named Sue . A documentary chronicling the transformation of a transsexual named Theo from a woman to a man over the course of six years. Available through Women Make Movies, 428 Broadway, Suite 500, New York, NY 10013. E-mail: orders@wmm.com
You Don't Know Dick . A documentary featuring transmen speaking about their lives as men.
Transgender Revolution by A and E Investigative Reports . A look at America's growing transsexual community. Available through www.aande.com.
Art & Illusion Tricks & Tips with JoAnn Roberts . Tips and tricks on make-up application. (Available through the IFGE Bookstore, www.ifge.org).
What is Femininity? with Alison Laing. Feminine style and deportment. (Available through the IFGE Bookstore, www.ifge.org).
What Sex Am I? A documentary chronicling the world of transsexuals, transvestites, and She-Males. Available from MPI Video Release, Oak Forest, IL 60452
|
