Ref. HRA 2000/4
©2000Human Rights Awareness

Books on Transgenders (mainly) for

 non-Transgender Persons

True Selves : Understanding Transsexualism-For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals by Mildred L. Brown, Chloe Ann Rounsley (Contributor).  True Selves is the ideal  fast reading for people approaching the subject of transgender for the first time, but also for young transgender persons that still have a confused idea of their own identity. It deals with most aspects of transsexualism, including the legal ones,  with special consideration for the human side but also with rigorous and concise information on medical aspects. It is a book which is valuable to form an  opinion uninfluenced by personal prejudices on transgender persons. I circulated this book among several (non-TG) co-workers, and all recognized its clarity and effectiveness.

Transsexual Workers: An Employer's Guide by Janis Walworth.  This book is designed for employers, managers, human resources personnel, implementers of employee assistance programs, and others in a position to make workplace decisions about how to handle a transsexual employee's transition from one sex to the other. The book includes basic information about transsexualism, an explanation of the transition process, illustrative personal histories, information on relevant civil rights and disability laws, tips for managing difficult situations, and a glossary. There are suggestions for dealing with coworkers' concerns, uncomfortable clients, the general public, and the media. Common workplace issues, such as pronoun usage, dress codes, restroom use, employee transfers, and health insurance, are addressed. A wider concept of transgender is also introduced as it pertains to crossdressers, transgenderists, intersex people, post-transition transsexuals, and others. A resource section lists helpful national and regional organizations, books, magazines, and videos. On the back cover we read this helpful comment by Marie Keller, MFCC, Founder and Director of the Los Angeles Gender Center: "This clear and concise book answers the questions we have heard employers ask time and time again. It offers reasonable solutions to common problems transitioning people can have in the workplace and provides many suggestions to help employers move their staff smoothly through this experience. A fantastic contribution to the field!"  

Transgender Warriors : Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman  by  Leslie Feinberg.  Transgender Warriors is an historical account of gender issues, useful to understand how the perception of gender depended on time and on society. Especially insightful is the identification of the gender binary system (i.e. strong gender role differentiation) in capitalistic industrial society as instrumental for women oppression, and for the cruel repression of transgender persons. This book helps dispel the prejudice that transgenders have been ostracized in every society, as they have been in our own. 

Different Loving : The World of Sexual Dominance and Submission  Gloria G. Brame, Jon Jacobs (Contributor)   This book is an informative, clearly written overview on  consensual Bondage-  Domination- Sado- Masochism (BDSM). It is especially helpful for people who approach this world -- as yet ostracized and surrounded by   labels of weirdness and  ``monstrosity'' -- from the outside.   As human right activists, we repute BDSM practices acceptable  within a relationship between consenting, adult individuals. It is rather the discrimination of persons involved in consensual BDSM (many of them transgenders) that may lead to civil and human right violations.