Read This Book…

Schuyler Bailar is a speaker, educator, and author who was also the first transgender athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team. His public transition to the Harvard Men’s Swim Team made headlines, and he is an important voice in trans advocacy. He/She/They is primarily for readers who consider themselves or would like to be allies to transgender folks. It’s also a really great read for folks who have someone transgender in their lives but don’t know the first thing about being trans. The tone of Bailar’s writing mirrors his online content, which is accessible, compassionate, and remarkably patient. He weaves in personal stories about his own experience of his gender and transition, as well as some of the tough conversations he has had, sometimes with family. He strives to teach readers how to approach these conversations ourselves.

He goes over the basics of definitions of terms like “sex,” “gender,” and “the gender binary,” which are all complicated, and he does an excellent job of conveying the complications without getting too far into the weeds for the sake of the book. He goes over what gender-affirming care is, detailing that it can be very different for a child than for an adult and that many people have wild ideas about what gender-affirming care for a child is when it’s really usually maybe some different clothes, a haircut, and maybe using a different name and pronouns.

He answers so many questions that people use to try to debate transgender folks’ right to care and have a peaceful existence. Throughout the book, the information he teaches readers is based on science, research, history, and basic human decency. He teaches readers about the importance of pronouns (in the English language) and the myth of being transgender as a mental illness. His chapter on transgender athletes was particularly poignant, given that he was himself a nationally ranked trans athlete.

While I mentioned the primary audience for this book seems to be folks who are not in the trans community themselves, he does speak to folks who are at some points through this book. He answers questions like, “Does it get better?” and offers his own stories about coming out and telling his family and teammates. He also takes some time to talk about the intersections of his gender and race.

This was such a wonderful and informative read. Content warnings for transphobia and discussions of gender dysphoria and eating disorders.