Review by New York Times Review
L.G.B.T.Q. PEOPLE are everywhere. It is a simple and seemingly obvious fact, but one you will be forgiven for not fully realizing. Even the most well-intentioned person can fall into the trap of the dominant narrative. Through the repetition and limitation of the stories we see and the voices we hear, we have been conditioned to think of a very specific set of experiences when a particular community or identity is evoked. We create a limited stereotype of life that glosses over a broader diversity. In doing so, we leave far too many behind. We hear "transgender" and we think of a transgender woman, much like myself. We hear "L.G.B.T.Q." and we think of a white gay man. And, no matter the letter we are referring to, we almost exclusively envision lives lived in coastal, blue-state cities. But part of the beauty of the L.G.B.T.Q. community - and one of the factors that have fostered change - is that we exist everywhere, in all our rainbow glory, across region, class, race. In Jacob Tobia's "Sissy: A Coming-ofGender Story," and Samantha Allen's "Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States," these two young authors bust through the dominant L.G.B.T.Q. narratives with poise and pride to further reveal the community's wide diversity. While different in style and tone, these books share the common thread of highlighting parts of a marginalized population that too often remain invisible and ignored. Despite the predominant focus in politics and entertainment on transgender men and (particularly) women, many in the transgender community actually identify outside of the gender binary: between 25 percent and 35 percent, according to a recent survey. These nonbinary identities have existed throughout time, but in contemporary media they are just beginning to receive the visibility they deserve. Tobia, a nonbinary writer, activist and actor who uses the pronouns they/them/ their, combines incisive wit and undeniable intelligence to invite readers into their personal journey as a gender-nonconforming young person in North Carolina. Tobia makes clear early on that this book will not be your traditional "Transgender 101." Even so, through evocative rhetoric, the memoir subtly educates even the most uninformed reader about the spectrum of nonbinary identities by recounting Tobia's various coming-out experiences, their initial refuge in their Methodist faith and their gradual self-discovery and advocacy as a visible student at a Southern university. It is in Tobia's often self-deprecating humor that "Sissy" is most transformative, and where it most departs from other trans memoirs. The seriousness of the topic never feels glossed over, which allows for an organic and seamless journey from tears on one page to laughing aloud on the next. If Tobia aspires to the ranks of comic memoirists like David Sedaris and Mindy Kaling, "Sissy" succeeds. Allen's powerful book of memoir and reportage, "Real Queer America," is decidedly more serious in tone, but it's no less entertaining. The Daily Beast reporter gathers stories from L.G.B.T.Q. people she met in conservative states across the country on a road trip she took in July 2017, the first summer of the Trump presidency. An anthology of testimonials might feel disjointed, but Allen's never does. She connects each stop and story by weaving in her own personal journey, from a closeted Mormon missionary and student at Brigham Young University to one of the nation's most prominent openly transgender reporters (who, while on the road for this very book in Texas, covered reactions to what she calls the "dystopian development" of Trump's tweeted ban on transgender troops). It is difficult to capture universality in a way that also celebrates uniqueness. Allen does so through the diversity of the individual stories she uplifts, giving any reader an entry point into L.G.B.T.Q. lives. Tobia achieves the same thing through humor while avoiding the "Trans Narrative©." Both writers do so with a vulnerability and humility as approachable and accessible as it is profoundly moving. On one stop along Allen's journey, she returns to her former college town of Provo, Utah. Ten years before, deep in the closet, she would escape the conservative town for late-night solo drives through the mountains, "searching the city's plentiful parking lots for isolated corners where I could apply makeup and change into women's clothing unseen." Fast forward a decade, and Allen, now living openly as a transgender woman, visits Provo's L.G.B.T. youth center. There she meets young people and their loving families doing what once seemed impossible to her: living boldly, and authentically, in a place where Allen used to feel completely alienated. That is the shared beauty of these books: They demonstrate that progress and pride in red-state America is a tangible reality. There's no doubt there are significant challenges to that progress, but from North Carolina to Texas to Utah, L.G.B.T.Q. individuals are not just living, but thriving. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary people exist in every corner of this vibrant nation; Tobia and Allen are simply showing us how to appreciate this great multiplicity of voices and experiences. In seeing this, we learn that the ground, whether red or blue, is more than ready for the seeds of change. SARAH MCBRIDE is the national press secretary at the Human Rights Campaign, and the author of "Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 2, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
Allen (Love & Estrogen, 2018) chronicles a six-week road trip she took in the summer of 2017, visiting so-called red states to document their vibrant queer communities. She seeks to challenge the narrative that queer people flee red states for the bicoastal blue bastions. In straightforward and readable prose, Allen argues that queerness thrives everywhere, perhaps even more so in states like Indiana, Texas, and Tennessee, precisely because there's still so much advocacy work to do. Allen's openness about her personal story including growing up Mormon, living an angst-filled double life in Provo, coming out as transgendered, meeting her wife in an elevator at the Kinsey Institute, and undergoing surgery to get a vagina invites respect. She writes with loving curiosity about other people in the LGBTQ community and blends this with national-level reporting on political and historical LGBTQ issues. In Texas, Allen attends a rally protesting Texas' SB 3 bathroom bill, an attempt to restrict use of bathrooms to birth-certificate gender markers intensely relevant, as Allen must navigate public restrooms throughout her trip. Also focusing on the concept of place, ""queer world-making,"" Allen claims cafés, bars, community centers, and even Utah's hiking trails as part of red-state queerness.--Emily Dziuban Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this clever combination of easy travelogue and thoughtful exploration of queerness in America, journalist Allen retraces her transformation from a Mormon missionary in Utah to a transgender woman living happily in rural Florida. With Billy, her wife's ex (also trans), in the passenger seat, she tours the country looking for what she calls the "real" stories of LGBTQ experience, finding a vibrant bar in Jackson, Miss., featuring fabulous drag queens, and the comfortable LGBTQ youth center in Provo, Utah, fittingly named Encircle. Allen makes the case, bolstered by statistics, that these red-state oases produce tight-knit, supportive queer communities, which can result in measurable happiness. Allen combines stories of hope and even a funny reunion with her wife at the place where they first met-the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction in Bloomington, Ind., appropriately enough-with events happening at the same time elsewhere in the country: the 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va., and attempts to remove legal protections for LGBTQ people. Her approach is firmly inclusive; she acknowledges the limitations of her perspective as a white woman, giving readers a brief explainer on Kimberlé Crenshaw's concept of intersectional oppression. Queer readers will nod knowingly at the descriptions of finding gay-friendly hangouts and questioning whether public hand-holding is safe in a new area, and readers without that experience will still enjoy Allen's charming, humorous recounting of the ultimate road trip through rainbow-colored America. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this part memoir, part casual sociological survey, and part love letter, Daily Beast senior reporter Allen (Love & Estrogen) takes readers on a journey across the continental United States. Allen makes stops in Utah, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, and other locations while describing her encounters there, sharing the experiences of friends, and telling her own accounts of coming out, transition, and romance. Allen presents an optimistic look at states that seem or are hostile to LGBT-identified folks, including tales about Encircle, the LGBT youth and family safehouse in Provo, UT, as well as the story of Jess Herbst, the first openly transgender mayor in Texas. Allen handles events with grace and regularly reminds readers of the immediacy of her subjects with hope for the future. Her prose is highly engaging and fun despite the seriousness of her book. VERDICT Suitable for fans of memoirs and travelogs, this collection is a soothing and motivating balm for readers engaged with social justice issues. It is also a revealing and surprising tour through the country for readers both within and outside the LGBT community.-Abby Hargreaves, Dist. of Columbia P.L. © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In a cross-country journey, a transgender reporter revisits red-state locations from her past.In 1989, before the United States was quite as divisively separated into red and blue states, reporter Neil Miller traveled across the country interviewing men and women living openly gay lives in settings outside of the usual urban gay meccas. The resulting book, In Search of Gay America, is a clear precursor for the present volume by Allen (Love Estrogen, 2018), a GLAAD Award-winning journalist who covers LGBT issues for the Daily Beast. Despite some progress over the last several years, discrimination and human rights violations continue to plague the LGBT community, particularly in rural regions within red states. The author traveled from Provo, Utah, where she attended Brigham Young University, to locations in Texas, Bloomington, Indiana, where she met her wife at the Kinsey Institute, as well as Tennessee and other spots in the South. Along the way, she reacquainted herself with friends and mentors from her past or recent social media contacts, many of whom are also transgender. Readers old enough to recall the memorable profiles captured in Miller's book might expect a similar approach here, at least based on the book's summary and the author's journalist credentials. However, Allen tells a more personal story relating to her own transformational experience, which, while often instructive, pulls attention away from the fascinating individuals she encountered on her trip. Though she generously acknowledges the strong work they are doing within their communities and sheds meaningful light on the progress achieved within these red-state regions, she doesn't allow their portraits to come into clear focus; all too often their stories revert back to her. By the end of the book, few of these folks will be memorable for readers.While expanding awareness on the efforts being made in the LGBT community within red states, this journey feels somewhat perfunctory, and the narrative rarely sustains the promise shown in the opening chapters. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
