New and Notable – Trans* Reads

Trans*Am: Cis Men and Trans Women in Love
By Joseph McClellan

Distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution


Available March 2017 from ThreeL Media

Release Date: 03/14/17

A Call for Men to Respect ALL Women

Berkeley, CA — March 1, 2017 — ThreeL Media, publisher of Jiz Lee’s Coming Out Like a Porn Star and David J. Ley’s Ethical Porn For Dicks announces a new publication on a timely and sensitive topic for sex educators, therapists, and LGBTQ activists who are battling for humanity against sexual violence, discriminatory “Bathroom Bills,” and radical “feminists.” Teacher and Tibetan Buddhist scholar Joseph McClellan offers its readers some surprising ideas (based in feminist and trans-feminist writings) to consider.

Trans women—assigned male at birth and later transitioned into a female gender—are recently in media because of celebrities and controversial legislation. Therefore cis men—who identify with a masculine gender they were assigned at birth—are now called upon to share their experiences as lovers of trans women. Using theory and personal anecdotes, the author questions the codes that cis men and trans women use to interpret their own and others’ gendered and sexed bodies.

I am quite delighted by the subject matter and the approach here, and am looking forward to giving it a read soon. In the meantime, if I can snag an excerpt or a brief interview, you will be the first to know. – Sally

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Housewife: Home-remaking in a Transgender Marriage
By Kristin K Collier

Available November 2016 from Abbondanza Publishing, LLC


Release Date: 11/04/16

Kristin K. Collier is a Compassionate Communication Coach, legal spouse of an “out” transwoman and mother. Her recent featured interview on NBC Seattle’s Northwest Good Day shares her touching story when her husband told her he wanted to live the rest of his life as a woman about a decade ago. Her roles as a wife and mother were turned upside down, and even her understanding of what it was to be a woman needed rethinking.

Fast forward to the present: Collier’s family now consists of her legally married parenting partner (a transwoman), romantic partner, and two teenage boys living together — harmoniously! —  under one roof. She chronicles her story in her just released memoir: Housewife: Home-remaking in a Transgender Marriage.

“There are a lot of transpeople and transfamilies in the world who aren’t safe. Violence is born .people sharing their stories to shift these feelings around the transcommunity,” says Collier.

I was hoping to share Kristin’s story in this month’s issue of Frock, but some production issues forced us to hold her story back for the next issue. It’s a great story, and a great article, so I can’t wait for you all to read it. – Sally

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Transitioning Together: One Couple’s Journey of Gender and Identity Discovery
by Wenn B. Lawson & Beatrice M. Lawson

Available February 2017 from Jessica Kingsley Publishers


Release Date: 02/21/17

What happens when your partner of 20 years transitions from female to male?

Transitioning Together is the story of Wenn and Beatrice Lawson, a couple with almost 12 years between them, and over 20 years behind them. Mother of four Wenn (then known as Wendy) met Beatrice when she was 32 and Beatrice was 20, and they soon embarked upon a same-sex relationship. More than twenty years later, Wenn decided to transition from female to male.

We’re familiar with young people sharing their experiences of transition, but what about the older generation? This is the first book to explore the impact that transitioning can have on a long-standing relationship, recounting the physical, psychological and emotional highs and lows of a couple facing transition together.

Co-written by Beatrice and Wenn, this unique and candid memoir tells both sides of the story. When so often the focus is on the person transitioning, Transitioning Together offers a rare and compelling glimpse into the mind of the partner who remains physically unchanged.

Wenn and Beatrcie’s was another story I looked forward to sharing in this month’s issue of Frock, but we’ll have to wait one more issue. I think you will all agree it’s worth waiting for. – Sally

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