Library Spotlight: Posts

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance on November 20 that honours the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. This is a day to also reflect on the work that is necessary to create an equitable, gender-inclusive world.  
  
In solidarity with and celebration of the transgender community, Humber Libraries would like to highlight some new and selected books related to this topic.  

What does gender actually mean and how do we talk about it? Learn more by reading Gender: Your guide, or look at gender in a more visual way with Gender: A graphic guide. Find out what it means to live outside the social binary of man and woman with Life isn't binary: on being both, beyond, and in-between and They/them/theirs: A guide to non-binary and genderqueer identities. Explore the intersection of Indigenous and queer identities through story in Love after the end : an anthology of Two-spirit & Indigiqueer speculative fiction. Read about the empowerment and liberation of owning your own gender through trans and nonbinary authors in Juno Roche's Trans power: Own your gender and Ivan Coyote's Rebent sinner.

Discover two-spirit and trans writers from Turtle Island, starting with Canada Reads 2021 Winner, Joshua Whitehead, and his book Jonny Appleseed, about a two-spirit, Indiqueer young man/ NDN glitter princess. Vivek Shraya’s “I’m afraid of men,” explores masculinity and gender through a trans femme’s personal perspective, and her new novel, The subtweet, delves into race, music and social media. In Holy wild, Gwen Benaway explores the complexities of being an Indigenous trans woman in lyric poetry. Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon write about their personal journeys toward gender self-acceptance in their collaborative book, Gender failure. Charlie Petch's debut poetry collection, Why I was late, offers witness to his decades long trans/coming of age story. Enjoy Kai Cheng Thom’s magical children’s book, From the stars in the sky to the fish in the sea, about gender, identity, and acceptance of the differences between all of us.

Read about being trans in higher education, starting with Trans* in college, a book written for students and educators, based on a trans writer’s personal and professional experience. Trans people in higher education brings individual narratives and original research to the experience of trans students in academia. Supporting transgender and non-binary students and staff in further and higher education presents studies, policies, interventions and advice that have proven effective in providing support to transgender students.  Or, receive guidance on how to come out at work with Transitioning in the workplace. 

Finally, discover our new 2SLGBTQ+ Education Guide, a primer on 2SLGBTQ+ identities and terminologies for the curious, questioning, teachers and allies, and a guide to further resources for research, assignments and interests. This resource was built in collaboration with Humber's LGBTQ+ Resource Centre. Watch Matthew Travill explain how it works with this quick video introduction:

Written by Joseph Chan and Aliya Dalfen