The Transgender Issue:Trans Justice is Justice for All
An incisive case for trans justice from a powerful new voice.
In this brilliant introduction to trans politics, journalist Shon Faye gives an incisive overview of systemic transphobia and argues that the struggle for trans rights is necessary to any struggle for social justice.
So often, Faye argues, trans people are understood as a “side issue,” the subjects of a toxic and increasingly polarized debate which generates reliable controversy for newspapers and talk shows. This media frenzy conceals a simple fact: that we are having the wrong conversation, a conversation in which trans people themselves are reduced to a talking point and denied a meaningful voice.
With skill, rigor, and heart, Faye uncovers the reality of what it means to be trans in a transphobic society. In this compellingly readable study, she explores issues of class, family, housing, healthcare, sex work, the prison system, and trans participation in the LGBTQ+ and feminist communities. What she finds, ultimately, is that when we fight for trans liberation, we fight for a better world for us all.
Reviews
A clear, intelligent, experience-based explanation of why the scapegoating of trans people must stop, while enthusiastically encouraging more trans people to join feminist, anti-racist movements for economic and social change.
Shon Faye has written a book that models clarity in its writing and its moral vision... One learns here how to distinguish between arguments that merit a response and those which should be refused because they are either cruel or stupid. This is a monumental work and utterly convincing - crystal clear in its understanding of how the world should be.
A powerful new call for trans liberation.
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A cold, hard, and, most importantly, convincing look into the facts surrounding trans rights both past and present, as well as a moving and impressively comprehensive overview of trans life... As well as being a manifesto of sorts, arguing for the benefits of trans liberation to society at large, The Transgender Issue is a vital resource for readers outside of the U.K. to understand just what is happening there in terms of trans rights—and how to bring about a long-overdue change to the conversation.
Vogue -
An inspiring call for coalition ... Shon Faye shows with courage and clarity that the struggle of trans people is the struggle of us all. This book is a game-changer.
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From the very first words... it is clear the reader is in the hands of someone with absolute clarity about the world we live in, and the one we deserve. Shon refutes those who seek to turn trans people’s lives into a subject of debate. Instead, she shows us that liberation for trans people is intimately tied to the struggle for workers’ rights, an end to the violent systems of policing and prisons, and bodily autonomy through universal healthcare. Refusing to water down the radicalism and urgency of her demands, Shon’s argument for justice is both a heartfelt outcry against injustice, and an utterly convincing vision for change rooted in analysis and research.
, @BetweenTwoBooks -
Shon Faye makes a compelling case that transgender issues are inexorably linked with other social justice causes. The result is a bold and pragmatic guide for challenging societal transphobia comprehensively and intersectionally.
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My god, this book couldn’t be more timely here in the USA. I hope that all of my trans family come to understand from this book that no matter how hard others try to make us an issue, we are first and always people, individuals, and brave ones at that.
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Writing with astonishing patience, clarity, and ethical force, Shon Faye has gifted us an essential primer for our times. The Transgender Issue calls us into a much-needed solidarity, and makes the project of constructing and inhabiting a more free and just world for everyone feel urgent, possible, and exhilarating.
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Faye writes with admirable clarity, and, accordingly, her book is accessible to general readers....It sheds essential light on a subject that is widely misunderstood-driven, unfortunately, by too many people's ignorance, which, one hopes, this volume will help correct.
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