A personal essay in which Russian emigre Masha Gessen ruminates on the culture’s tendency to privilege those who’ve suffered for a lack of choice — in becoming refugees, in picking their gender — and the choices (her own, and those of her parents and ancestors) that have impacted her life.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
About a Boy: A Transgender Teen at the Tipping Point
“As long as his contours didn’t give his secret away, ‘Jay’ was a clean slate, a boy who could be anyone.” For three years, Casey Parks chronicled the life of a transgender teenager in Washington State. This is part one in a three-part series.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Trans, Homeless, and Turning Tricks to Survive
Homeless trans teens: America’s most vulnerable population.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Is ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ the Most Radical Show on TV?
In her first cover piece for the New York Times magazine, Jenna Wortham profiles RuPaul, making note of the ways in which he — and his 9-year-old reality competition TV show — have had to evolve along with shifting understandings of gender, and the politics around it.
Posted inNonfiction
‘Brokenness and Holiness Really Go Together’: Darcey Steinke on Menopause
Darcey Steinke says that most menopause memoirs “end with this come-to-Jesus moment of, ‘Then I accepted hormones.’ I’m not against it, but … I wanted to hear what it’s like for other women.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘A Boy with No Backstory’: One Teenager’s Transition
For three years, Casey Parks chronicled the life of Jay, a transgender teenager in Washington State. This is the first installment in a three-part series for the Oregonian.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2018: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
Decisions, Decisions
Masha Gessen considers the nature of choice, for immigrants and trans people.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Stand Up For Transgender Equality: A Reading List
I was in the lobby of a theater in Washington, D.C. when I saw the first of the tweets about the Trump administration’s decision to stymie protections for transgender students on the federal level. It wasn’t until the play ended and I was on the Metro home that I had cell service; I began to piece together […]
Posted inBlog Post, Current Events, Essays & Criticism
The Myth of Kevin Williamson
He’s not very good at his job.
