From: BF1031@aol.com

On a postitive note, I have just finished a wonderful book, Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian. It is a wonderful, thoughtful, sensitive, well written, well researched book on guess what?

One of the best aspects of this book is that I found it right out in front on the Barnes and Noble new sales table. We have Hit mainstream.

While away this weekend, I devoured in 2 days, the relatively new book on Dusty Springfield- Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography. This is tell all dish. The book is written by two of Dusty's lesbian compatriots- Penny Valentine (music writer) & Vicki Wickham (producer of Ready, Steady, Go! and a manager of her's for a bit).

The book has got it all- her career rise as the "the White Negress of Soul", the family dysfunction, the magic of her voice, her perfectionism, her pills/booze, her self-destructive arm cutting, numerous psych hospitalizations, her relationships with various women, her tragicly slow downfall through the 70s in LA (you have to love a woman who has a pool only to throw things in), and rise again courtesy of Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe. She died of breast cancer in 1999, shortly after being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The book is really powerful as a testament to great talent, tremendous insecurity, and truly dealing with our own demons. I cried at the end...

*more dishy than last month's PBS special Definitively Dusty*

by no means exhaustive.

Symposium- Plato (the original groupie)

Starship troopers- Heinelin (movie doesn't count)

The Greek Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Greek Lands- Paul Lachlan MacKendrick


Zorba the Greek- Nikos Kazantzakis, Carl Wildman (Translator)

Freedom or Death - Nikos Kazantzakis

Funny my aunt gave me a copy of this book for Christmas last year. I still haven't got around to reading it. It's now a must based on your recommendation, Rose.

I'm presently on a Carson McCullers trip through the valley of wierdness. Right now I'm coming to the end of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Before that I read Reflections in a Golden Eye, Ballad of the Sad Cafe, and Member of the Wedding. All of them great.

Her novels are dark, dealing a lot with repression, loneliness and obsession, and her characters tend to be freaks or outsiders who dwell in out-of-the-way dreary dead-end Southern locales. But Margaret Mitchell she ain't. No celebrations of the Old South in her work, but still capturing brilliantly the slow pace of Southern country life.

I've read in her personal life she was quite the fag hag and was good pals with Tennessee Williams. It comes through in her writing. She gives you those cold, hard doses of reality like Williams does but sprinkled in smaller, less dramatic amounts throughout the stories. Also everything I've read of hers thus far either has a specific mention of homosexuality or else carries ongoing homoerotic subtext. She's a bit heavy and a trifle depressing for summer reading perhaps, but I recommend checking out McCullers sooner or later.

Her autobiography..that she can remember so much is utterly astounding, considering how plonked she was all the time.

The several-week party in Morocco she describes was utterly fabulous.

Bob Dylan sounds like a freaky little pig.

Read it (if you haven't before), there are tons of juicy bits...

I love her living in a Blitz-racked wall in London just prior to Broken English!

"Irving Klaw" just lent me a book entitled, "Practicalities" ("La Vie Materielle") by Marguerite Duras, one of the greatest, and most overlooked writers of the last century. The book is a kind of memoir, originally transcribed from tape recordings, and then edited and reworked into very short vignettes. Ms. Duras also wrote the script for Hiroshima, Mon Amour, one of the all-time great French New Wave films of the 1960's. I highly recommend both. Breathtaking.

Wow, Lux you must have a super hip Aunt- please report on the book.. I just pass along the info..(I give better advice on earrings):

From: rosettirosetti@yahoo.com (Christina Rosetti)

I will be giving a lecture on my book, Spiritual
Activism, at the Baldwinsville Library on August 6, 2002. The lectures and book, in part, point out the serious consequences of continued discrimination against the gender-variant community.

=====
Christina Rosetti
Website: http://www.RosettiRosetti.com
Green Party Candidate for 123rd NYS Assembly

Recently I was elected to be co-director of the
local GLBT library. I
accepted the job, knowing that this is a vital
organization to have in such
a small town. Roanoke, VA is just about as
right wing Christian as a town
can get, which was proven to be true during the
recent NIGHTLINE series,
where 80 percent of the week long telecast was
devoted to sensationalizing
the old “religion versus homosexuality”
argument and downplaying the real
reason for the show, the murder of a local gay
man and shooting of patrons
who were attending a local gay establishment.

The Ricketson GLBT Library currently houses
2,800 gay related volumes and is
a full service lending library. We sponsor
lesbian and gay book clubs, which
meet monthly in our space. We also sponsor a
local group for people of
transitional gender, and provide a safe space
for gatherings. Due in part
to the NIGHTLINE publicity, our landlord has
decided to not renew our lease,
forcing us to find another space. Our rent
increased by 400%, which has
devastated our financial resources.

Simply put, we are flat out scrambling to pay
our rent, and have no funds
for acquisitions or to renew our periodicals as
they become due. The
saddest part of the whole situation is that if
there is no new reading
material, we have nothing new to offer our
patrons. I would like to ask if
you would donate books or funds to the
Ricketson. All contributions are tax
deductible as we are a 501(c)(3) organization.
Please feel free to send
whatever books you would like, all are accepted
and needed. Any help at all
you can provide is so appreciated.

Please send books, donations, et cetera, to
Ricketson Library, PO Box
4356, Roanoke, VA 24015 or visit our website
at www.roanokegaylibrary.org

Thank you for allowing me to take up your time
with this.
Nechamah P. Singer
Executive Co-Director
Ricketson GLBT Library
www.roanokegaylibrary.org

I am concurrently reading 2 books on the subject.

The Apples of Apollo

The Mystery of Manna

They both have to do with the mystery cults in Hellenic Greece and Judaism and the subsequent incorporation into modern christian eucharist ceremonies. The kicker is, that the ancient traditions incorporated psychadelic mushrooms into the religious expierience.

A good read.

T

PLEASE FORWARD:

September 2002: publication of an new book -
"Respect and Equality: Transsexual and Transgender Rights", written by Stephen Whittle, Vice-President of Press For Change, the UK's
lobby group campaigning for respect and equality for transgender people.

This 300 page 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, are combined to provide an insightful analysis into the inadequacies of current law. The book will be essential reading for
legislators and legal practitioners working to enhance the rights and social acceptance of transgender people, also transgender
campaigners, as well as those researching and studying within the field.

It is due to be published in September 2002 and is priced at 25 pounds sterling. Please find some information about the book attached at the bottom of this message.

This book will make a substantial contribution to current discussion of transsexual and transgender rights within the transcommunity.

This book can also be ordered through Amazon.co.uk - why not go through the Press For Change website:

www.pfc.org.uk

and support PFC whilst buying this book

If you are able to promote this book to trans people, and those who work with them please do not hesitate to contact Cathy Thornhill of
Cavendish Publishing (details below) to discuss this further, or for any more information about the book.

Cathy Thornhill, Brand and Product Manager, Cavendish Publishing
Limited, The Glass House, Wharton Street
London WC1X 9PX, United Kingdom, Tel: +44(0) 20 7278 8000 Fax: +44(0)
20 7278 8080
www.cavendishpublishing.com

**********************************************************************

RESPECT AND EQUALITY: TRANSSEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

Everything you need about transgender law History, theory, principles and practice of transgender law. Current, up to date, in-depth and comprehensive analysis for students, lawyers, legislators and transgender people This book provides everything you would ever want to know about the law relating to transgender issues. Using an extensive range of primary and secondary research materials it provides an insightful and cogent analysis into the inadequacies of current law.

Writing coherently and persuasively, the author uses innovative theoretical discussions of sex, sexuality, gender, and the law to demonstrate the injustices meted out to transgender people. Combining analysis of up-to date national and international statute and case law with practical examples of successful affidavits, this book is a
rich, up to date study taking account of the most recent developments in the field. Accurate and well articulated, there is a rigorous critique of areas as diverse and wide ranging as the medical
treatment of teenagers, immigration and asylum, the military, as well as marriage and employment. It is a timely contribution to the knowledge of the law in this area.

The book will become a classic as an nvestigation of the law's inadequacy in framing sexual citizenship. An ideal text for all levels of higher education, it will appeal to academics and students of sexuality, gender, and human rights. Legislators and legal practitioners working to enhance human rights and social acceptance for transgender people will find in it a wealth of otherwise inaccessible information. Transgender people should ensure they have two copies, one for themselves, and one their lawyer.

Finally, the book will be a fabulous resource for transgender campaigners, because of its vast breadth of coverage of the many pertinent and crucial issues. Each chapter contains extremely useful information about the law's approach and will be readily accessible to anyone involved in seeking information and reform of any particular area within the book's ambit.

2. Back Cover Copy
This book is not so much a `call for rights' as a call for people to be given respect and an equal footing before the law. The first part explores both the historical medico-legal construction of
transsexualism as a syndrome, and the socio-legal construction of the transsexual it clarifies the inadequacy of current legal thinking and law in practice. Transsexual and transgender people are given space to discuss their own construction of self in the face of an inadequate legal framework. The book discusses their theoretical and practical approaches to the legal problems faced through new forms of activism, and understandings of what gender is as a means of expression and as a mechanism of oppression.

The remainder of the book concerns the law and the current position as regards transsexual people. The chapters are comprehensive,
addressing the `live' issues that have come before the courts and the justice system. It tackles transgender employment (including a
chapter on the employment of trans people as police officers), marriage, parenting, treatment access, the position in European law, and imprisonment. These are given a theoretical and legal perspective but are grounded in the lives of real transsexual people. As such, the book provides a guide to tackling he problems of the law. Included at the end of the book are examples of affidavits that have been used in practice to illustrate `how trans people do law'.

This book is the perfect tool for anyone who ever has anything to do with the law as it relates to transgender people, as well as providing an excellent campaigning resource for transgender people themselves.

3. Contents
CHAPTER 1
DISEMBODIED LAW: TRANS PEOPLE'S LEGAL (OUTER)SPACE
CHAPTER 2
LEGAL MADNESS: TRANSSEXUALISM
CHAPTER 3
TRANSSEXUAL DENIAL: SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTING THE LEGAL BODY
CHAPTER 4
STILL GENDER FUCKING OR STILL FUCKING GENDER?
CHAPTER 5
THE TRANS-CYBERIAN MAIL WAY
CHAPTER 6
INSTITUTIONALISED EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AND TRANSSEXUAL PEOPLE
CHAPTER 7
SEX AND MARRIAGE: GOES TOGETHER LIKE A ?
CHAPTER 8
GEMEINSCHAFTSFREMDEN - OR HOW TO BE SHAFTED BY YOUR FRIENDS: STERILISATION REQUIREMENTS AND LEGAL STATUS RECOGNITION FOR THE TRANSSEXUAL
CHAPTER 9
SEEKING A GENDERED ADOLESCENCE: LIABILITY AND ETHICS SURROUNDING ADOLESCENTS WITH GENDER DYSPHORIA
CHAPTER 10
EUROPEAN TRANSGENDER RIGHTS: NEW IDENTITY POLITICS FOR A NEW AGE
CHAPTER 11
THE PRAXIS AND POLITICS OF POLICING: PROBLEMS FACING TRANS PEOPLE
CHAPTER 12
PRISON PROVISION FOR TRANS PEOPLE
CHAPTER 13
GENDER IDENTITY': PROPOSED ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL BROADENING ARTICLE 14 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION; THE NEED FOR EXPRESS INCLUSION
CHAPTER 14
SURGICAL REQUIRMENTS FOR LEGAL RECOGNITION: WHY A VAGINECTOMY SHOULD NOT BE DEMANDED OF A TRANSSEXUAL MAN
CHAPTER 15
TRANSSEXUAL PEOPLE IN THE MILITARY
CHAPTER 16
A TEMPORARY ASYLUM APPEAL FOR A TRANSSEXUAL PRISONER

4. Personal Bio
Stephen Whittle is the Reader in Law at Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as being the Vice-president of Press For Change,
which is the UK's lobby group campaigning for respect and equality for all trans people. His background as a transsexual man, led to his legal career. Having suffered prejudice and discrimination throughout the 1970s and 1980s including being dismissed from several jobs, he
chose to become a lawyer pursuing a part time degree, Masters, and doctorate. He reckons 10 years of evening classes made him realize
how much could be achieved by not watching television. He has worked with Amnesty international. ILGA Europe, The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association and Liberty to provide amicus briefs in many trans-related cases throughout the world. He and his partner, Sarah, have 4 young children (including
twins). It was their fight to protect their children that led them to make their own application to the European Court of Human Rights in 1996 (X, Y and Z v UK Government).
He has many publications, most recently " The Transgender Debate the current crisis in gender identities", South Street Press: 2000,and "Reclaiming Genders: Transsexual Grammars at the fin de siecle",
Cassell: 1999, edited with Kate More. Currently he is working on "50 years of Sex Changing: A Social History of Transformation in the late
20th Century" and a "Trans-Studies Reader".

[This message was edited by Rose Royalle on 08-28-02 at 01:57 AM.]

Subject: Call for literary submissions

All you writers -
Here are some anthologies etc, currently seeking submissions. Go for it, if the spirit moves you.

TRUE STORIES OF TRANSITION AND BEYOND

The main focus of the book is to bring together the insights and experiences of transitioning people as they attempt to move from their birth gender to the gender presentation that feels most like them. For some this does not involve a complete switch to the opposite pole (male to female or female to male), as they transition to the place on the gender continuum that brings
them the best sense of personal equilibrium. See URL for submission details.

URL: http://www.tsbeyond.com

FLOOD, QUARTERLY FICTION MAGAZINE OF BUTCHDYKEBOY.COM

Flood seeks quality queer and particularly transgender fiction submissions of less than 5,000 words sent via email as an attached MS Word file, no explicit language and graphic sex.

Email: emmet@butchdykeboy.com (Emmet)
URL: http://www.butchdykeboy.com
Deadline: ongoing

DESIRES IN TRANSITION

Lovers of transfolk anthology. An anthology by, for, and about partners and potential partners of trans people. Trans lovers are rarely visible as a
group. We're here to change that, and we want you to write about loving intersex, trans(gendered/sexual) and gender queer people. Coming out stories; sex; relationships; creating communities; organizing for social change. Writers of all genders; writers of all sexual identities; writers of all body sizes, shapes, races, ethnicities, religions, health statuses,
physical abilities, economic classes.

Email: Natalie Patrice, nptucker@yahoo.com
URL: http://desireintransition.homestead.com/files/index.htm

FTM: A FEMME'S PERSPECTIVE

An Anthology tentatively titled: "FTM: A Femme's Perspective" is seeking submissions of personal essays and academic and theoretical papers
exploring FTM from a femme perspective and its impact on lesbian/dyke community; butch/femme relationships; and the construction of femme identity. Open deadline at the moment. Email queries BEFORE sending submissions to
femmeperspective@hotmail.com.

DYVERSITY

Dyversity is an international literary magazine for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. There is an urgent call for submissions of short
stories, poetry, erotica, essays and articles. For details visit
http://www.dyverse.co.uk/call.html

METROMADNESS.COM
Metromadness is a Web zine that publishes written and visual art exploring the connections between and breaking down the assumptions about gender
identification, sexuality, and the body.
Address: PO Box 15851, San Francisco, CA 94115

Info: Sarahjane White, editor, sarahjane@metromadness.com
Email: submit@metromadness.com
URL: http://www.metromadness.com
Deadline: 1st Friday of every Month

SSSPREAD.COM
SSSpread.com is a recently launched website created by a collection of artists and writers working with issues of sexuality and gender. SSSpread.com bills itself as "The prime porn site for hot femmes, studly butches, and lots of
gender fuck." If you are interested in writing for SSSpread (and they do accept multimedia-based text pieces) check out their guides at the address below.

Email: CJ Hammond, Project Manager, cj@ssspread.com
URL: http://ssspread.com/join/talentkit/writers.html

I finished the Oral History of Punk by Leggs McNeill and someone else whose name escapes me at this moment. An amazing historical piece and it is all interviews with those who were there starting with the Velvet Underground (and Nico, Andy & Edie, etc) through Iggy & the Stooges, the New York Dolls, Wayne/Jayne County, to the Ramones, Patti Smith, to the Sex Pistols, Television, the Dead Boys, to Blondie, and so on. Fascinating read, really. Drugs (lots of junkies), lots of sex (gender definition had yet to come to play and everybody just slept with anybody or everybody regardless of sex), and the nastiness underlying some of the relationships, both personal & professional within that era of New York in the 70s. The book really gave me a greater understanding of the evolution of music, nightclubs, and rock&roll. Furthermore, this is definitely a primer for the new romantic and new wave of the early 80s (which was my era).

[This message was edited by randella on 09-04-02 at 12:11 PM.]

Life of man who worked in the sex industry and had a sex change operation before becoming the first transsexual mayor in the world in 1995

I would give the highest recommendation to Georgina Beyer's book "Change for the Better". However, it is not easy to obtain. I have only seen it available from this New Zealand book dealer. I bought a copy from them over a year ago, and it worked smoothly.
They take US credit cards, and shipping takes a couple of weeks.

Here's the listing from http://dogbert.abebooks.com :

BEYER, Georgina, with CASEY, Cathy CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. The story of Georgina Beyer.
Auckland: Random House, 1999 Card covers. 163pp. 227mm x 150mm.

B/w photos.
Corners of covers slightly rubbed else fresh & bright. Book clean & tight inside. VG+.
Book # 004511
Price: NZ$ 35.00 (approx. US$ 16.40) convert currency

Homepage of Kowhai Gold Books, , New Zealand

Buy directly from the Bookseller:

Kowhai Gold Books, P.O. Box 79116, Royal Heights, Auckland, New
Zealand, 1008.
Phone: None. Fax: +64 9 833 7871. Email: books@kowhaigold.co.nz

From: uravampire@mindspring.com

GENDERQUEER: VOICES FROM
BEYOND THE SEXUAL BINARY

Writing Across Gender Collection of essays taps diverse expressions of desire

As the LGBT community gains more recognition: Why do so many butches, high femmes, cross dressers, drag queens, tomboys, sissy boys, fairies, intersex and other gender-variant people feel excluded? In one of four essays on gender theory, activist and author Riki Wilchins asks: “Do we want a transgender struggle that focuses on the rights of transsexuals to change their driver’s licenses, get surgery, and transition on the job? Or do we want a movement against the gender stereotypes that affect all Americans?”


It’s a provocative question in an anthology about people who defy gender norms on a daily basis. Take J.T. LeRoy. He writes novels about transgender prostitutes that have reached cult status—but transgender groups are wary about mentioning it in their magazines.


Or Cheryl Chase, who discovered she was intersex (someone who is born neither male or female but is given a sex by a physician). She took her fear, outrage and isolation and formed the Intersex Society of North America.


Or “Lionhart,” a feminist-lesbian therapist who finds herself attracted to men but writes using a pseudonym, feeling that it’s inappropriate for therapists to be public about desire.


Or Carrie Davis, a transgender activist who writes about being harassed on the A train, and her rules for working in the sex industry. Earlier this year, she moved City Councilwoman Christine Quinn to tears giving testimony during the passage of the local transgender civil rights bill.


Some of the stories in this new book are more touching than sad. In the aptly-titled “Story of a Preadolescent Drag King,” L. Maurer writes wistfully about being a tomboy in the 5th grade and failing because of poor penmanship. But when she becomes more feminine, her grades perk right up. In “Scars,” Aaron Link, who’s had reassignment surgery, and his mother, Hilda Raz, who survived breast cancer, compare their scars as well as the scar of Aaron’s brother, who had heart surgery. In another story, Shirle (another pseudonym), pens a loving tribute to various women who saved her from childhood abuse.
There are also moments of humor and erotica. Allen James writes a bitchy rant aimed at the whiners in the gender-variant community. Sonya Bolus writes of transition and sex when her butch lover becomes a man.


A lot has already been written about gender, and in lesser hands, an anthology about transgender people would not be terribly innovative. But Nestle and Wilchins are both well-revered activists and writers who clearly took pains to include as many different voices as possible. Howell is perhaps not as well known as the other two editors. A MTF who is a senior librarian at the Brookyln Public Library, her activism is simply going to work every day and greeting the public at the reference desk.


In fact, Nestle, author of The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader and A Fragile Union, had reservations about editing this anthology because she’s a non-transgender lesbian. But her essays on femme desire, including a sexy tribute to her butch lover, offer a broader spectrum on gender identity and are also just plain fun to read. Wilchins, for her part, is an executive director of GenderPAC, and this influence is clearly evident in some of the essay choices. It is obvious that many of the contributors and editors know each other.


Regardless, this is a laudable contribution to the world of gender studies. But a book that’s not afraid to ask questions shouldn’t just be read by the converted. Anything that can get this book out into the world should be done.


Sylvia Rivera, the veteran of the Stonewall uprising and a longtime political and transgender activist who died last winter, wrote about her personal life and political struggles. She wanted to live to see the transgender community get the respect it deserved. After dying earlier this year, we all know that didn’t happen.

As the LGBT community gains more recognition: Why do so many butches, high femmes, cross dressers, drag queens, tomboys, sissy boys, fairies, intersex and other gender-variant people feel excluded? In one of four essays on gender theory, activist and author Riki Wilchins asks: “Do we want a transgender struggle that focuses on the rights of transsexuals to change their driver’s licenses, get surgery, and transition on the job? Or do we want a movement against the gender stereotypes that affect all Americans?”


It’s a provocative question in an anthology about people who defy gender norms on a daily basis. Take J.T. LeRoy. He writes novels about transgender prostitutes that have reached cult status—but transgender groups are wary about mentioning it in their magazines.


Or Cheryl Chase, who discovered she was intersex (someone who is born neither male or female but is given a sex by a physician). She took her fear, outrage and isolation and formed the Intersex Society of North America.


Or “Lionhart,” a feminist-lesbian therapist who finds herself attracted to men but writes using a pseudonym, feeling that it’s inappropriate for therapists to be public about desire.


Or Carrie Davis, a transgender activist who writes about being harassed on the A train, and her rules for working in the sex industry. Earlier this year, she moved City Councilwoman Christine Quinn to tears giving testimony during the passage of the local transgender civil rights bill.


Some of the stories in this new book are more touching than sad. In the aptly-titled “Story of a Preadolescent Drag King,” L. Maurer writes wistfully about being a tomboy in the 5th grade and failing because of poor penmanship. But when she becomes more feminine, her grades perk right up. In “Scars,” Aaron Link, who’s had reassignment surgery, and his mother, Hilda Raz, who survived breast cancer, compare their scars as well as the scar of Aaron’s brother, who had heart surgery. In another story, Shirle (another pseudonym), pens a loving tribute to various women who saved her from childhood abuse.
There are also moments of humor and erotica. Allen James writes a bitchy rant aimed at the whiners in the gender-variant community. Sonya Bolus writes of transition and sex when her butch lover becomes a man.


A lot has already been written about gender, and in lesser hands, an anthology about transgender people would not be terribly innovative. But Nestle and Wilchins are both well-revered activists and writers who clearly took pains to include as many different voices as possible. Howell is perhaps not as well known as the other two editors. A MTF who is a senior librarian at the Brookyln Public Library, her activism is simply going to work every day and greeting the public at the reference desk.


In fact, Nestle, author of The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader and A Fragile Union, had reservations about editing this anthology because she’s a non-transgender lesbian. But her essays on femme desire, including a sexy tribute to her butch lover, offer a broader spectrum on gender identity and are also just plain fun to read. Wilchins, for her part, is an executive director of GenderPAC, and this influence is clearly evident in some of the essay choices. It is obvious that many of the contributors and editors know each other.


Regardless, this is a laudable contribution to the world of gender studies. But a book that’s not afraid to ask questions shouldn’t just be read by the converted. Anything that can get this book out into the world should be done.


Sylvia Rivera, the veteran of the Stonewall uprising and a longtime political and transgender activist who died last winter, wrote about her personal life and political struggles. She wanted to live to see the transgender community get the respect it deserved. After dying earlier this year, we all know that didn’t happen.

GENDERQUEER: VOICES FROM
BEYOND THE SEXUAL BINARY
Edited by Joan Nestle, Clare Howell, and Riki Wilchins
Alyson Books, $16.95


Writing Across Gender
Collection of essays taps diverse
expressions of desire

By JANE S.VAN INGEN

As the LGBT community gains more recognition: Why do so many butches, high femmes, cross dressers, drag queens, tomboys, sissy boys, fairies, intersex and other gender-variant people feel excluded? In one of four essays on gender theory, activist and author Riki Wilchins asks: “Do we want a transgender struggle that focuses on the rights of transsexuals to change their driver’s licenses, get surgery, and transition on the job? Or do we want a movement against the gender stereotypes that affect all Americans?”


It’s a provocative question in an anthology about people who defy gender norms on a daily basis. Take J.T. LeRoy. He writes novels about transgender prostitutes that have reached cult status—but transgender groups are wary about mentioning it in their magazines.


Or Cheryl Chase, who discovered she was intersex (someone who is born neither male or female but is given a sex by a physician). She took her fear, outrage and isolation and formed the Intersex Society of North America.


Or “Lionhart,” a feminist-lesbian therapist who finds herself attracted to men but writes using a pseudonym, feeling that it’s inappropriate for therapists to be public about desire.


Or Carrie Davis, a transgender activist who writes about being harassed on the A train, and her rules for working in the sex industry. Earlier this year, she moved City Councilwoman Christine Quinn to tears giving testimony during the passage of the local transgender civil rights bill.


Some of the stories in this new book are more touching than sad. In the aptly-titled “Story of a Preadolescent Drag King,” L. Maurer writes wistfully about being a tomboy in the 5th grade and failing because of poor penmanship. But when she becomes more feminine, her grades perk right up. In “Scars,” Aaron Link, who’s had reassignment surgery, and his mother, Hilda Raz, who survived breast cancer, compare their scars as well as the scar of Aaron’s brother, who had heart surgery. In another story, Shirle (another pseudonym), pens a loving tribute to various women who saved her from childhood abuse.
There are also moments of humor and erotica. Allen James writes a bitchy rant aimed at the whiners in the gender-variant community. Sonya Bolus writes of transition and sex when her butch lover becomes a man.


A lot has already been written about gender, and in lesser hands, an anthology about transgender people would not be terribly innovative. But Nestle and Wilchins are both well-revered activists and writers who clearly took pains to include as many different voices as possible. Howell is perhaps not as well known as the other two editors. A MTF who is a senior librarian at the Brookyln Public Library, her activism is simply going to work every day and greeting the public at the reference desk.


In fact, Nestle, author of The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader and A Fragile Union, had reservations about editing this anthology because she’s a non-transgender lesbian. But her essays on femme desire, including a sexy tribute to her butch lover, offer a broader spectrum on gender identity and are also just plain fun to read. Wilchins, for her part, is an executive director of GenderPAC, and this influence is clearly evident in some of the essay choices. It is obvious that many of the contributors and editors know each other.


Regardless, this is a laudable contribution to the world of gender studies. But a book that’s not afraid to ask questions shouldn’t just be read by the converted. Anything that can get this book out into the world should be done.


Sylvia Rivera, the veteran of the Stonewall uprising and a longtime political and transgender activist who died last winter, wrote about her personal life and political struggles. She wanted to live to see the transgender community get the respect it deserved. After dying earlier this year, we all know that didn’t happen.

Edited by Joan Nestle, Clare Howell, and Riki Wilchins
Alyson Books, $16.95

Jane S. Van Ingen/Gay City News

Barnes & Noble 18th St. Presents
S e x W o r k e r L i t e r a t i

"The literary equivalent of thong panties" -- New York Times

Thursday, Sept. 26th, 2002, 6:30PM
Performances, Readings & Discussion
DAVID HENRY STERRY, TRACY QUAN, VERONICA VERA

SEX WORKER LIT, AS DESCRIBED IN THE NY TIMES, IS THE NEWEST WAVE, COMBINING
GRITTY URBAN REALISM WITH THE TIMELESSNESS OF AN UNDERDOG SURVIVING...

DAVID HENRY STERRY is the author of the best selling memoir
CHICKEN: SELF-PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN FOR RENT, about his year of living dangerously as a teenage gigolo in Hollywood. He has been in the New York Times and on NPR'S "Talk of the Nation," wrote for Disney, worked as a stand-up comic, a marriage counselor, and acted with everyone from Will Smith to Zippy the Chimp.

TRACY QUAN is the author of
DIARY OF A MANHATTAN CALL GIRL,
an insider's look at the oldest profession at the turn of the milennium, based on her adventures in the sex trade. She is a member of PONY (Prostitutes of New York) and a regular contributor to Salon.com.

VERONICA VERA is the author of
MISS VERA'S CROSS-DRESS FOR SUCCESS,
a resource guide for boys who want to be girls. A former porn star and longtime PONY member, she founded the world's first cross-dressing academy
in NYC. She has been featured in People magazine, Harper's Bazaar, theLos Angeles Times and the Jay Leno Show and is the subject of the one-hour
documentary, "The Tranny School."

CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
WHAT: SEX-WORKER LITERATI
WHERE: Barnes & Noble, 105 5th Ave at 18th St. NY NY 10003
When: Thurs., Sept. 26th, 2002, 6:30PM
Info: 212.807.0099

REVIEWS OF THE COLORING BOOK:

"Coloring just took on a whole new meaning. The GIRLS WILL BE BOYS WILL BE GIRLS WILL BE . . . COLORING BOOK is provocative, thoughtful, funny, and downright revolutionary! The creators playfully deconstruct gender while touching upon issues of young people's and women's empowerment, sexual orientation, and organizing. I can think of no better gift for a young person than the message that this book provides: the freedom to be themselves. This book is a true inspiration for us all." --Annia Reyes, Instructor,
Women's Studies Department, SUNY New Paltz.


"The GIRLS WILL BE BOYS WILL BE GIRLS WILL BE . . .COLORING BOOK is a vital artifact in the struggle to deconstruct traditional gender roles. Assumptions about gender are produced in our day-to-day lives through our interactions and most importantly in the way that we teach young people. This coloring book represents a direct challenge to the categories of meaning that help gender "make sense". Sharing this coloring book with any thoughtful person will have an impact on their life because it pokes and prods at simple ideas of gender, encouraging us to throw away
our old ideas and make something new. Covering topics such as clothing, assumptions about bodies, toys, and education, this coloring book gently exposes phall (icies) of gender stability. The coloring book is created, produced and sold by independent activists. We should all support this project. " --Maxwell Schnurer, professor of
communication, Marist College.


"This original project is a refreshing new look at the way humans hav