It’s a scary time to be transgender. Trans people in Kansas are being forced to change their driver’s licenses to reflect a gender that isn’t their own; representations of trans people in media are being censored in libraries and schools across the country; and unfortunately these examples are only the tip of the iceberg. That’s why, when we say that March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility, what we mean is that this is a day to formally acknowledge and celebrate the transgender people in our world and our community, exactly as they are. Of course, showing love and care toward the trans community isn’t just isolated to one day of the year, but it never hurts to have a designated day on which we make a point to learn about somebody else’s experience–or, if you yourself are transgender, to celebrate your own experience, because it probably wasn’t an easy road to get to where you are today.
Books are one of the best ways to learn about how it feels to have an identity that you haven’t experienced firsthand. Not only can they help us to understand the feelings that are part of another person’s daily experience, but they can show us ways of relating to those feelings even when our own reality is very different from what we are reading about. With that in mind, here are some books that will help you celebrate trans people while also gaining understanding of the challenges many trans people face. When you pick up one of these books, you will be honoring Trans Day of Visibility by seeing even just one transgender person a little bit more clearly.
