PRIDE & Equality 2019 - The Book Review

sA new year and new books to dive into. Here are our choices for this year's books to take a look at.

SHE/HE/THEY/ME
When it comes to gender, my path is 10-2-13-22-24-36-46, what’s yours? Sociologist Robyn Ryle has taken the fun experience of a choose-your-own-adventure book and applied it to the gender journey in She/He/They/Me creating a non-confrontational and safe space for people to explore a multitude of experiences. In celebration of Pride Month in June, She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters, Misters, and Binary Resisters allows readers to follow more than 100 different paths through the world of gender and LGBTQIA+.

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YAY! YOU'RE GAY! (NOW WHAT?)
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
$14.99
YAY! YOU'RE GAY! NOW WHAT? is a personal, heartfelt go-to guide for young queer guys from YouTube star and BBC podcaster Riyadh Khalaf has written a thought-provoking, heartfelt guide for young queer males that have taken the plunge and come out as their true selves. In Yay! You’re Gay! Now What?, Riyadh shares his knowledge and gives advice on everything from coming out to relationships. The book also includes inspiring interviews with queer role models - offering encouragement during times that prove to be difficult. There's a support section written by Riyadh's parents. Yay! Includes chapters on Labels – what does it mean to be gay, bi, trans or queer? Coming out, Dealing with Bullies, and Finding your Tribe. This book is a must read for the newly discovered.

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MORE THAN A FLAG
More Than Just A Flag details the major events of Monica’s life, from childhood through to her autobiography’s publication in 2019. Included are her service in the U.S. Navy as a submariner, and her personal journey to discovering her true self as a trans woman, including the subsequent battles she fought with her civilian employer, Sprint.
    Helms recalls her creation of the Transgender Flag in 1999 – the flag will celebrate it’s 20th anniversary in August 2019 -  and her donation of the original to the Smithsonian in 2014. Monica also details her founding of the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) in 2003, where she went on to serve as president for ten years.
    The book details numerous other examples of her trans activism, including holding Atlanta’s first TDOR event in 2000. Helms also recounts lobbying state legislators in Arizona and Georgia, as well as in D.C., and being elected a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
    At times funny, at others, necessarily sad, More Than Just A Flag is the story of a leader in the fight for transgender acceptance, at a time when the trans community was first coalescing and finding its voice.