My gender presentation

Below you’ll find a PDF of the presentation “Gender in 50 Min or Less” that I delivered at the Golden Crown Literary Society annual convention in early July. I’ve also tried to list most of the papers, articles and books that I read while thinking about my gender presentation.

I probably forgot some resources, so this list might expand later. At some point I hope to add my notes or a link to the video if it’s public (apologies to people who weren’t at the conference if the PDF doesn’t entirely make sense without the notes).

Thanks to the Golden Crown board for inviting me to speak, and to my audience for laughing at all my jokes!READ MORE

The science behind the new Being Emily

Because I like science, I read a lot of it while updating Being Emily. This ended up with many books and studies turning into only a few sentences on the page, but hopefully they’re the right, impactful sentences.

Here are some of the core concepts I heightened or added in the new edition of Being Emily:

  • Being transgender (and gender identity in general) is influenced to some degree by genetics, hormones and hormone receptors.
  • It’s unclear whether gender identity is also influenced by the shape of your brain or your gender identity shapes your brain.
  • Kids learn gender early and begin to have a gender identity at young ages.
  • Many trans girls know they’re girls at early ages both consciously and subconsciously.
  • Trans kids who can socially transition young are not at high risk for depression and anxiety.

Here’s some of the science behind that understanding:READ MORE

Being Emily launch day!

The new, anniversary edition of Being Emily is now available! Later today/this week I will answer some questions (lower in this post) and talk about the process of editing Being Emily.

First here’s some very important ordering info: on Amazon.com you can order the new paperback edition of Being Emily, but the current kindle edition is the old, 2012 version. If you want the new BE as an ebook, please order it from Bella Books. On the Bella site, you can get the new version, which I abbreviate as 2BE, as an epub, mobi or pdf file. It will work on all the major eReaders and tablet apps. The kindle format is .mobi. READ MORE

Previews from the New Being Emily

We’re less than two weeks to the launch of the new edition of Being Emily! I’m super excited. I got to add about 25% more content to the original story, plus there’s a whole new epilogue (set 10 years after the original story), and there’s a great intro.

You can pre-order the new Being Emily from the Bella Books site:

You can start to preview the new content now on these sites:READ MORE

Study expands understanding of nonbinary identities

A recent study displays the variety, diversity and wonder of gender identity among nonbinary people. As someone who struggles to describe my own sense of gender (when I have one), it’s deeply life-affirming to see other people say a lot of the same things I’ve said.

Often when I’m trying to explain nonbinary genders to people, I have to start by explaining what binary means: “Woman/man, you have to pick from one of two categories, that’s the binary. Some people don’t fit neatly into those categories, they’re nonbinary.” After I say that, I often still get blank looks—because woman/man is so ingrained in our culture it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people (who fit inside that binary) that there are experiences outside of what feels to them like natural categories.READ MORE

Exciting October events!

QUEER YA with Second Story & Queer Voices — Oct. 8 @ 2 p.m.

Second Story Reading Series, in collaboration with Queer Voices Reading Series, will host a QUEER YA event on Sunday, October 8th at 2pm at The Loft Literary Center. The event will feature readings by local LGBTQ authors, a panel discussion, and book sales by Addendum Books. Author Molly Beth Griffin (Silhouette of a Sparrow) will read from Either/Or, a young adult novel in progress, as part of a 2017 Minnesota Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant.

Readers will include Rachel Gold (Nico & Tucker), dc edwards (Bright City), Brian Farrey (With Or Without You), Laura Bradley Rede (Kissing Midnight), Junauda Petrus (“Sweetness of Wild”), and David LaRochelle (Absolutely Positively Not). Ally authors Steve Brezenoff (Brooklyn Burning), Juliann Rich (Gravity), and Kirstin Cronn-Mills (Beautiful Music for Ugly Children) will then join the readers for a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by Vee Signorelli of GayYA.org. A reception and book signing will follow the program.

For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/681836998671631

READ MORE

Buckle up, you’re blessed

Antidotes to the “Nashville Statement”

If you missed it in the midst of the hurricanes, a bunch of fundamentalist Christians put out the “Nashville Statement” at the end of August, attacking LGBTQ people. This is nothing new, but it comes at a time when other attacks have been leveled against the LGBTQ community—and this can make it particularly scary and damaging.

(If you’re not a reader of long blog posts, please scroll to the video below in the seat belt section and watch that. It will make you smile and feel wonder, joy, blessing or all three.)READ MORE

Reader question: Nico’s dance style

Got great reader questions this week: where does Nico’s dance style come from? And what was the inspiration for the cabaret scene in Nico & Tucker?

Second question first: I’ve been to a few genderqueer/genderfluid performances in the last few years. A cabaret at the Philly Trans Health conference provided the framework for the scene. And it gave me some ideas of the kinds of performances to showcase.READ MORE