If all you know about gender is that everyone is either XX/vagina/girl or XY/penis/boy, you're provably wrong. And you owe it to the 1.4 million transgender people in the US to either learn the facts or keep your opinions to yourselves. Because the spread of misinformation is killing people. Literally.

This book is well-researched and presents the facts about being transgender. It's organized into chapters that address specific topics, such as: Transgender 101 (if you read nothing else, at least read this); the law as it pertains to the transgender community; politics; religion; and the military. Anything you read here has an end note (or more) corroborating the information. This isn't speculation or opinion: it's fact- and science-based.

Well, what if you've seen contradictory information, like that video from a pediatrician that says transgender is a choice because you can't change chromosomes, or the stuff that Paul McHugh of John Hopkins University has written? This book addresses those topics and claims, and shows where they are wrong. It shies away from nothing, and uses facts, studies, and scientific advancements to separate myth and misinformation from truth.

Page 305 of this book says, "The fiercest transgender allies in America are the parents of transgender children." Spot on. Before our transgender child discovered who he was and came out, he was a wreck. He was suicidal. He went in and out of mental hospitals. His arms and legs still bear the scars of self-harm. He couldn't function in society. He was miserable. We took him to the best mental-health professionals we could find. He received excellent treatment. He made progress -- but it was slow and insufficient. Now that he's transitioned, he is flourishing. He received the care crucial for him -- just as the leading US health organizations (the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, et al) recommend.

There -- you've read my anecdote. Now go read the data. Don't believe the myths about being transgender.