Allyn’s Reviews > Trans and Gender Diverse Voices in LIS > Status Update

unfortunately, I read too slowly and the book had to go back to the library from whence it came, but I requested it for my library so hopefully it will come in soon

I [...] believe that genuine support looks like humane workloads, check-ins, follow through, and trust. Without these essential components, harm is caused and for those of us with a history of trauma, that harm is experienced much more intensely.

As a child, gender identity was not a topic of conversation. I only understood the distinction between comfort and discomfort.

Imagination is a realm of political struggle, and I think that carving out spaces where we can experience the impossible-feeling of showing up as our whole shelves is a key tool in the struggle.

Running away to the big city is an ever-present narrative that queer youth hear over and over as a solution to their impossible-feeling lives. Since survival was the goal, I knew that option wasn't the best one. Paying rent felt hard enough, and I knew a city would be worse Leaving whatever sparse safety net I had constructed for myself felt needlessly risky. And for what? Some hope of a liberal paradise?

As a child, I didn't really dream of my future. The now required so much tending, so much attention, so much energy, that I didn't really think about what kind of life grownup me wanted. At other times, I was certain there wouldn't be a grownup me. The child that made choices about my career, my home, my marriage, only had the context to understand survival.

For a long time, I didn't realize there was a difference between being something and pretending. [...] Presentation wise I was very femme. I understood gender was performative [...] the rationalization I was surviving on was, if gender is fake, then I can just fake it. -- well this just punched me in the gut

While the reality can be messy, the dream of the public library is a beautiful one. Communities making a space to share and learn and grow that anyone can come to? That's a big dream and one that can be hard to actualize. This is true everywhere, but especially in conservative communities.