Transgender Fiction Nomination
Approximately a year ago, Tom Léger wrote a column for OP about the incredible importance of trans inclusion in the newly minted transgender categories in the Lambda Literary Awards. I thought his post was huge and crucial, especially since many of the G&L writers I follow on Twitter and elsewhere were all, “Hooray for the splendid changes!,” and more than one of them cisplained the whole thing to me when I suggested that maybe they were a bit too enthused. This year, I am pleased to announce that at least two of the five finalists for Transgender Fiction are actually trans – I don’t wish to out anyone (although I suppose if she identifies herself as a trans woman, I probably can), but: one is a trans woman, and one of them is a trans man (me). Of the other three, I have no idea what the gender identity/expression of one of the authors is, and the other two are (to the best of my knowledge, and I apologize if I am wrong) cis women who, I am told, are really strong trans allies. (One of the finalists is Tristan Taormino; you may wish to peruse this glowing review of Tristan’s book here.)
Full disclosure: I have not read any of the other books in this category, for a variety of reasons. I have no idea whether they’re “good” or “bad.” I do know, based on reading reviews and summaries on different websites, that one book features a young trans woman as the protagonist, and one features a young trans man, also as the main character. In the third novel, I’m unclear about the gender identity of the protagonist – based on what I read online, I feel like the character has switched genders, but not in a trans way (that is, without the taking-control-of-our-own-stories level of action that I love so much in trans people). My book, meanwhile, has a trans author (obviously), and includes stories about trans men. [Read full post...]
