Michelle Kosilek, a transgender woman in prison for the 1990 murder of her wife, is fighting for the right to have the state provide sexual-reassignment surgery. Kosilek’s battle touches on what is covered under the Eighth Amendment: We enter into a kind of compact with the people we incarcerate. Much as we might like to […]
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Reading List: Stories From the Working Class
Emily Perper is a word-writing human for hire. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. I read a brilliant piece, “Zen and the Art of Cover Letter Writing,” that reminded me that I had not yet featured the stories of those suffering under the yoke of this abusive economy. These are stories about […]
Reading List: Stories From the Working Class
Emily Perper is a word-writing human for hire. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. I read a brilliant piece, “Zen and the Art of Cover Letter Writing,” that reminded me that I had not yet featured the stories of those suffering under the yoke of this abusive economy. These are stories about […]
About a Boy
On being young and transgender: “At thirteen, Skylar was browsing at Barnes & Noble and came across the young-adult novel ‘Parrotfish,’ by Ellen Wittlinger, which, along with books like ‘Luna’ and ‘I Am J,’ is a touchstone for trans kids. ‘Parrotfish’ is the story of Grady—born Angela—who realizes by page 9 that ‘inside the body […]
Reading List: Mother’s Day
With Mother’s Day on the horizon, I chose “mothers/relationship with moms” as the theme of my list this week: * * * 1. My Mom (Mary H. K. Choi, Aeon, April 2013) A deceptively simple title belies a gorgeous, funny, sometimes dark essay in which Choi attempts to communicate her strange affection for her mother. 2. The Love […]
Moving Around
On being young and transgender: “I’m in a bar on a date in the West Village. I’m twenty-two. It’s not that long ago. “It’s my fifth, maybe sixth date with Molly. Far enough along, anyway, that I don’t even think to dress fancy, just a nice T-shirt and a skirt. “After our second pitcher, I […]
Reading List: Mother’s Day
With Mother’s Day on the horizon, I chose “mothers/relationship with moms” as the theme of my list this week: * * * 1. My Mom (Mary H. K. Choi, Aeon, April 2013) A deceptively simple title belies a gorgeous, funny, sometimes dark essay in which Choi attempts to communicate her strange affection for her mother. 2. The Love […]
The Secret Life of Transgender Rocker Tom Gabel
The lead singer of Against Me!, married with a child, is now Laura Jane Grace. She speaks out about gender dysphoria, which left her uncomfortable in a male body for as long as she can remember: “In retrospect, the lyrics are almost shockingly direct: If I could have chosen I would have been born a […]
Transgender at Five
An examination of one family’s experience with a child who has gender dysphoria: “As a teacher, Stephen knew how cruel kids could be. He imagined his child walking into the social battlefield that is school, insisting she was a boy when under her clothing, she wasn’t. What about bathrooms? P.E.? The prom? How would all […]
Transition Point
Examining the unmet medical needs for transgender people in the United States: “The problem is that in the United States, most physicians don’t exactly know what treatment for the transgender patient entails. For an untrained professional, it’s a challenge to provide care to a patient with a penis who wants a vagina, or to a […]
