Willy Wilkinson - Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency

PRAISE FOR BORN ON THE EDGE OF RACE AND GENDER

Born on the Edge of Race and Gender is far more than the traditional transgender memoir, as it places Willy Wilkinsons stories of childhood gender nonconformity and adulthood transition within the context of intersecting identities, and his several decades-long commitment to public health and policy advocacy for transgender communities. Smart, illuminating, passionate, and often humorous, it is a wonderful read for anyone interested in transgender activism, intersectionality, and social justice more generally.

JULIA SERANO, author of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, and Excluded:Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive

Willy Wilkinsons Born on the Edge of Race and Gender is an important addition to the ever-growing body of trans narratives in American literature. Willys nakedly honest stories about resilience, disability, racism, parenting, surgical complications, and more provide a refreshingly intersectional and nuanced perspective on life as a full, complex transgender person.

MASEN DAVIS, Codirector of Global Action for Trans Equality

Its incredibly usefuleven life-changingwhenever an experienced community health worker like Willy Wilkinson records the years of on-the-ground knowledge theyve developed. Its even more so when it comes to communities, like trans people and people of color, whose health disparities remain underexplored, particularly by workers who are of the people. But its truly a gift when that person also has the soul of a creative writer, as Wilkinson does. His professional expertise on the individual tolls of intersecting oppressions is deep, making Born on the Edge of Race and Gender useful to other health workers and future medical historians. However, the books even more enduring impact comes from a balancing of this informative impulse with a willingness to relate how transphobia, homophobia, and racism play out in his own life and across his own body in deft, emotional recollections that lead readers to more intimately grasp the urgency of the trans-inclusive health care reform he calls for. This is how change is made.

MITCH KELLAWAY, Advocate.com reporter and coeditor of ManningUp: Transsexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family & Themselves

Wilkinsons dynamic and thoughtful exploration of his own gender-and racially blended experience shines a warm light on what might be complicated aspects of gendered life. In his graceful prose, he deftly unravels some of lifes mysteries and imparts a confidence that carries his readers to a less frightening edge than those edges he himself has touched. Transformation is to be expected, but we need not be afraid.

JAMISON GREEN, PHD, author of Becoming a Visible Man

In Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency, Willy Wilkinson artfully weaves deeply personal and poignant narrative with historic and current cultural references to illustrate strides forward and backward along the road to equity. He also provides a much-needed upgrade to the misinformation surrounding the female-to-male genital reconstruction process and its outcomes.

ZANDER KEIG, LCSW, coeditor of Letters for My Brothers: TransitionalWisdom in Retrospect and Manning Up: Transsexual Men on FindingBrotherhood, Family & Themselves

In this moment when transgender people are more visible than ever yet continue to face incredible violence and discrimination, Born on the Edge of Race and Gender is critically important in raising the visibility of transgender men of color, who are rarely made visible.

KRIS HAYASHI, executive director, Transgender Law Center

Not only is the gift of parenthood a sublime joy and right that many trans people can realize, but, as Willy is showing us, being an awesome dad can be an additional facet of ones true identity.

THOMAS BEATIE, author of Labor of Love: The Story ofOne Mans Extraordinary Pregnancy

BORN ON THE EDGE OF RACE AND GENDER

Copyright 2015 by Willy Wilkinson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address Hapa Papa Press.

Published 2015

Printed in the United States of America

Smashwords edition

ISBN: 978-0-9970123-0-9

E-ISBN: 978-0-9970123-1-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015956879

Cover and interior design by Tabitha Lahr

Hapa Papa Press

PO Box 27401, Oakland, CA 94602

www.willywilkinson.com

The author has changed some names, places, and recognizable details to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned in the book.

An earlier version of Freedom to Love: Where Same-Sex and Interracial Marriage Convene (in the chapter entitled Winter of Love) appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on March 5, 2004, and March 12, 2004. Reprinted with permission.

An earlier version of Reveling in Our Authenticity appeared in Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, Laura Erickson-Schroth, editor. Oxford University Press, 2014. Reprinted with permission.

An earlier version of Sculptor appeared in Manning Up: Transsexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family & Themselves, Zander Keig and Mitch Kellaway, editors. Transgress Press, 2014. Reprinted with permission.

Scorched first appeared in The Very Inside: An Anthology of Writing by Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women, Sharon Lim-Hing, editor. Sister Vision Press, 1994.

So Far and Turn of the Head were performed in the film Against a Trans Narrative, Jules Rosskam, director, 2008.

Born on the Edge of Race and Gender is an extraordinary work by one of the most fearless and dynamic voices of our timea multilayered masterpiece that may well be the most accessible, lively, and honest account yet of life as a transgender man. For those who have encountered Willy Wilkinsons hauntingly complex and personal explorations of race and gender before, whether in print or through spoken word, this book will not disappoint. For those meeting him for the first time, prepare to be dazzled, shaken, and amazed. This is not only a major contribution to the literature on transgender and intersectional advocacy but a powerfuland liberatingwork of art.

This book is also an important corrective to the erasure of transgender people of color from many histories of the trans movement. Wilkinson gives voice to an important narrative that is not often heardthat of transgender and gender-nonconforming people of color who have played major roles in our history and movement, but whose lives and stories have been relegated to the margins.

After years of living in the shadows of the gay rights movement, the transgender movement is coming into its own and gaining unprecedented visibility and momentum. Wilkinson is uniquely well positioned to illuminate this moment, and he does so with compelling originality by using the power of storytelling to highlight many of our movements most pressingand often controversialissues. Other transgender authors have shared their personal stories, and books such as