Coming out this week and next are two picture books featuring transgender girls (one told from her sibling’s perspective), one about a kid whose mom is a transgender man, and one about a boy who wants to dance ballet!
Fifteen-year-old Hunter Chinn-Raicht, who is non-binary, knows that the term “non-binary” isn’t always understood. “This is a new word and it’s super confusing for a lot of people, especially people that weren’t brought up with it,” they told me in an interview. They hope to dispel some of that confusion through a new book they’ve written, one of a set of three titles by “champions” of the GenderCool Project, a youth-led movement of teens who are speaking out to show that transgender and non-binary youth can thrive.
A series of eight new Asian language posters from the Family Acceptance Project (FAP) at San Francisco State University offers Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) parents a research-backed, proven resource to help their LGBTQ children thrive.
Penelope is “no ordinary kid.” Penelope is a ninja—strong and smart, with ninja moves. It’s hard to be a ninja with a name like “Penelope,” though, when everyone calls you “cute.” And no one sees that Penelope is a boy—so he has to tell them, in an affirming new picture book that is also a true story, written by the real boy’s mother.
Kyle Lukoff, author of the Stonewall Award-winning When Aidan Became a Brother and the Max and Friends series (both about transgender boys), has just published his first middle grade novel. That in itself should be enough for you to go read it immediately. If you need more convincing, though, or just want to know a little more about it, however, here’s a review.
While the current legislative season is seeing a horrifying record number of anti-transgender bills, there were three wins this week: the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo affirming that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, contrary to what the Trump administration had said; the governor of Arkansas vetoed a bill that would have prevented transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming medication or surgery; and the NCAA president has spoken in support of transgender youth in sports.
Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, so I’m celebrating by rounding up 25 (!) picture books with transgender and/or nonbinary characters that have been published in 2020 and 2021 alone. (I’ll also show you how to find older trans-inclusive kids’ books and ones for and about trans parents.)
In a new picture book by the real-life mother of a transgender daughter, a young boy isn’t quite sure what’s happening when his younger sibling, whom he thought was a boy, begins to want long hair and to wear dresses. The whole family learns together in this story that adds to the small number of picture books about transgender children and their siblings.
A new ad from Pantene, part of a series about LGBTQ families, stars a transgender girl and her two moms talking about the power of visibility. It’s a wonderful ad, not only for depicting a trans girl, but also for giving us representation of a queer kid with queer parents.
Today, at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equality Act, the most powerful testimony came from 16-year-old Stella Keating, a high school sophomore, a transgender girl, and a possible future senator (or even president) herself.
