beyond magenta transgender teens speak out by susan kuklin

The presentation of the spectrum of experiences is remarkably nuanced and sensitive. Her book provides both reassurance and answers to questions that teens may not even realize they have. Kuklin treats her subjects with tenderness and respect. Kuklin introduces each teen with a bit of background, and often (but not always) the teen's gender at birth. It is a testament to Susan Kuklin's gifts as a listener and interviewer that her subjects describe their lives with such candor. Pain and possibility are juxtaposed in this groundbreaking book that by its very existence portends a better future. There is much here that will resonate with and hearten the kids who need it and will foster understanding and support among those who live and work with transgender teens The level of detail about their lives, and the diversity of their identities–including gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and geography–provide a powerful antidote to the isolation and stigma that some transgender youth experience.

The youth interviewed here do not uniformly share It Gets Better-style happy endings, but their strength is nonetheless inspirational as they face ongoing challenges with families, sexual and romantic relationships, bullies, schools, transitions, mental health, and more.

Readers become immersed in these young adults’ voices and experiences. Speaking with equal impact to both the reader’s heart and mind, Beyond Magenta is highly recommended. Kuklin’s important new book brings welcome clarity to a subject that has often been obscure and gives faces-literally and metaphorically-to a segment of the teen population that has too long been invisible. strikingly in-depth examination of the sometimes clinical complexities of being transgender, even as Kuklin’s empathy-inducing pictures put a human face on the experience. The collective portrait that emerges from these narratives and pictures is diverse, complex and occasionally self-contradictory - as any true story should be.Informative, revealing, powerful and necessary. Kuklin brings her intimate, compassionate and respectful lens to the stories of six transgender young people. As Kuklin writes, “My subjects’ willingness to brave bullying and condemnation in order to reveal their individual selves makes it impossible to be nothing less than awestruck.” She isn’t wrong. Kuklin captures these teenagers not as idealized exemplars of what it “means” to be transgender but as full, complex, and imperfect human beings.

Sorely needed resource for teens and, frankly, many adults.

Beyond magenta transgender teens speak out by susan kuklin