Trans Like Me: 'An essential voice at the razor edge of gender politics' Laurie Penny

(Paperback)

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'Lester makes the most complex of subjects easy to digest. I finished with more insight and knowledge than I ever expected' Stylist

What does it mean to be transgender

How do we discuss the subject

In this eye-opening book, CN Lester, academic and activist, takes us on a journey through some of the most pressing issues concerning the trans debate: from pronouns to Caitlyn Jenner; from feminist and LGBTQ activists, to the rise in referrals for gender variant children - all by way of insightful and moving passages about the author's own experience. TRANS LIKE ME shows us how to strive for authenticity in a world which often seeks to limit us by way of labels.

'CN Lester breaks down the myths and misconceptions about trans people and politics with clarity and calm. An important, timely book' Juliet Jacques

'CN Lester is a writer for our times - a moving, learned and essential voice at the razor edge of gender politics' Laurie Penny

'One of the year's most important books on transgender identity' Gay Times

Reviews

This personal, powerful and yet humble human testimony makes a vital contribution to a debate that has too often contained more heat than light. I challenge anyone not to have both heart and mind a little more open after reading this book * Shami Chakrabarti *
CN Lester breaks down the myths and misconceptions about trans people and politics with clarity and calm. An important, timely book * Juliet Jacques *
Lester is a writer for our times - a moving, learned and essential voice at the razor edge of gender politics. Their work has been inspirational to me for many years. Lester writes with the compassionate authority of a person not just wise beyond their years, but beyond the age they were born into * Laurie Penny *
A thoughtprovoking account that blends personal experience with wider historical and social insight * New Internationalist *
CN Lester's Trans Like Me is a clear, compassionate and infinitely readable overview of the ways society does gender * Marylebone Journal *
The subtleties of CN Lester's own account are incredibly moving and only serve to reinforce the message that so many amongst us struggle, and will continue to do so . . . Trans Like Me is a clarion call, but to us all * GCN *
Frank, witty and educational * Stylist *
One of the year's most important books on transgender identity * Gay Times *
[A] timely collection of essays on the trans experience, bringing together anecdotes from CN Lester's own life, alongside an analysis of the media, and forgotten moments of LGBT history, always with an activist's eye for the marginalised or ignored. Lester's writing is refreshing and accessible * Diva *
In this collection of essays, Lester, a British activist and singer-songwriter who identifies as nonbinary, draws from research and personal experience to question and debunk myths related to transgender identity. Lester finds precedent for the use of the pronoun "they" in literature as far back as Shakespeare, for instance, and argues that transgender people have been largely excluded from historical narratives and movements. The book also offers an insider's look at Lester's evolving understanding of gender in our society and personal struggles with self-identification * New York Times *

Author Bio

CN Lester is an academic, writer, musician and leading LGBTI activist. Co-founder of the UK's first national queer youth organisation, they curate the trans art event Transpose for Barbican and work internationally as a trans and feminist educator and speaker. Their work has featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, SBS, The Guardian, ABC, The Independent, Newsnight, New Internationalist and at Sydney Opera House.

A singer-songwriter and a classical performer, composer and researcher, CN specialises in early and modern music, particularly by women composers.

They live in London and drink too much coffee. Trans Like Me is their first book.

www.cnlester.com