Feature: Disproportionate Trans Feminine Books in Publishing

We recently saw a Thread about someone asking about TransFeminine Sapphic Romance books written by a TransFemme authors, and it got us thinking.

How many traditionally published books by and about TransFemme authors can you think of off the top of your head? Now, how many of them are romance?

It became abundantly clear that there is a disproportionate amount of traditionally published books by TransFemmes compared to TransMasculine published books (and an even smaller number overall in the romance field).

This disparity feels especially urgent given the current state of affairs in the US, where trans rights are under relentless attack, particularly targeting trans women and transfeminine people. In a moment when visibility and authentic storytelling are literally matters of survival, the silence from major publishers is deafening. By failing to acquire, promote, and support books by TransFemme authors, especially in romance, a genre that thrives on joy and love, publishing becomes complicit in a cultural erasure that mirrors the legislative and social hostility trans women face daily.

There are resource pages out there like LGBTQreads (for real, Dahlia is doing amazing work here…buy her books!), author Ray Stoeve hosts a YA/MG masterlist of trans books, and WeNeedDiverseBooks is another place to look, and there are great bookstores who are owned by queer & trans folks like Giovanni’s Room and A Room of One’s Own. But the publishing industry as a whole needs to do better, because trans joy and love stories shouldn’t have to fight this hard to exist.

At Team BookCrushin, we often focus on YA, so we’ll highlight some of the trans books we love and recommend, while also working to introduce ourselves, and you, to more TransFemme romance stories that deserve our attention and our shelves. It’s a reminder to seek out and buy books by TransFeminine authors, request them at your library, and talk about them online. Preorders and word-of-mouth are power. They show publishers there’s demand for these stories.

And most importantly, hold the publishing industry accountable. Ask why these stories are missing from their lists. Ask how they’re partnering with TransFemme influencers. Ask why joy, love, and happy endings for TransFemme characters are treated as optional or niche. Our shelves, and our culture, are richer when all of us get to exist fully on the page.

August is Trans History month, and we hope you take this opportunity to pick up some transfemme written books!

*We are not here to define any identity, nor do we make lists from inside knowledge, just using the resources available to uplift these marginalized voices. We believe trans is an umbrella term that can include anyone who is not cis, including nonbinary folks, if they so define themselves that way.

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms

by Crystal Frasier, Oscar O. Jupiter, Val Wise
Published by: Oni Press
on August 10, 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Graphic Novel, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
Bookshop
Goodreads

A sweet, queer teen romance perfect for fans of Fence and Check, Please!
Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who’s under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend BeeBee is a people-pleaser—a trans girl who must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life to keep their support of her transition. Through the rigors of squad training and amped up social pressures (not to mention micro aggressions and other queer youth problems), the two girls rekindle a friendship they thought they’d lost and discover there may be other, sweeter feelings springing up between them. 

Transfeminine Character Book Recommendations: Young Adult & Middle Grade

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise, and Oscar O. Jupiter

We both absolutely loved this YA graphic novel when it was released in 2021 – it made it to our favorite reads of the year. It is a sports romance with a trans girl joining the cheer squad. It was just so full of joy and I just can’t recommend it enough. I wish we got another volume of this perfect story.

Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

Christy read and loved Naomi’s YA contemporary which tackles the social commentary on how hard it is to live in a world full of transmisa and anti-trans legislation, when you just want to be accepted for who you are.

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod, Jess Taylor

Galaxy is more than just trans, they are also an alien species, and it’s a great metaphor to live as bright as you can and to be your true self. It is no shock to me that a lot of the current transfeminine books are graphic novels and comics, because as we know the art community is a space to be creative and open. We see this in the sheer number of queer comics out there, and the accessible queer stories made me a graphic novel reader!

Pet by Akwaeke Emzi

This speculative fiction novella is probably the most recommended upper MG/YA book with a transfeminine character, you will see it on every list, and of course we cannot leave it off of ours, because it is a transformative book in the trans world of literature.

Glitch Girl! by Rainie Oet

We recently hosted Rainie for an interview when Glitch Girl! released, and you should check it out.

Melissa by Alex Gino

One of the most famous transfeminine MG books on the market, so famous that as the times have changed, so did the book title. Absolutely a game changer for the market!

And if adult is more up your alley, the Boston Public Library has a list of transfemme books!