Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Trans (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Equality and progress for our transgender neighbors and loved ones begins with overcoming misconceptions, misunderstandings, and ignorance about everything from health care to military service to the difference between sex and gender. With thorough research, extensive evidence, and personal experience, Brynn Tannehill guides readers through the complex challenges and the basic issues transgender people confront every day. -- Joseph Kennedy III, U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district This book is a must-have resource not just for transgender people but also for all of those who parent, educate, employ, serve, treat, love, and play, pray, work, or live with transgender youth and adults. It is beautifully written, painstakingly researched, sophisticated in its treatment of a wide range of topics, and destined to become a classic. Brava to Brynn! -- Anthony Varona, Professor of Law and Vice Dean at American University Washington College of Law This is a multifaceted book that welcomes the reader to explore basic terminology and the daily challenges faced by transgender people in American society. Brynn presents a holistic and integrated view of the transgender experience by combining fact based, peer-reviewed evidence with a discussion of the complex issues, myths and misconceptions experienced by the transgender community today. Whether you are transgender, cisgender, an ally, or simply someone who wants to become more educated about gender identity, this one of a kind book is appealing to general audiences and academics alike. -- Dr. Michelle Dietert, Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University Brynn Tannehill is definitely not afraid. In Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Trans (But Were Afraid To Ask), she bravely takes on the pernicious myths and outright lies about transgender people that otherwise circulate unchecked in American culture. With passion and humor, she intervenes in debates over science, religion, law, politics, and popular culture, bringing clarity to what can sometimes seem an unnavigable morass of unsubstantiated opinion. She also gives readers the tools they need to do their own myth-busting. This book is an essential introduction to transgender identities and politics for the uninitiated -- I can't wait to assign it in my "Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies" class -- but it is also a great resource for transgender people and their friends and families. Tannehill does not shy away from warning us that the future could be bleak for trans folks in the United States. But she provides us with the truth and reminds us that with knowledge comes power. -- Jennifer Putzi, Associate Professor of English and Gender, Sexuality, & Womens Studies, Director of Gender, Sexuality, & Womens Studies Program, College of William and Mary Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Trans (But Were Afraid to Ask) is a tremendously engaging and accessible resource that not only answers questions that people want to know, it informs about topics that we need to know. There is not another book on this topic that is as well-researched, comprehensive, clear, and vitally-needed. If you want to educate yourself and others about trans people and issues that affect trans communities -- as well as stimulate lively conversation -- use this in your book club and in college classes. I challenge readers to ask a question that Brynn Tannehill has not answered - and answered exceedingly well. -- Christine Robinson, Professor of Justice Studies, James Madison University Based on decades of research and real world advocacy on behalf of transgender people, this gem of a book offers unvarnished, informed, and extremely accessible answers to just about every aspect of transgender life, law, and politics. Brynn has an impressive ability to explain complex legal issues in simple but accurate terms, and her deep knowledge of the military gives her a

Brynn Tannehill is a leading trans activist and essayist, and has written for The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Bilerico, Slate, Salon, USA Today, The Advocate, LGBTQ Nation, The New Civil Rights Movement, as a blogger and featured columnist.