At least two generations of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people have emerged since Becoming a Visible Man was first published in 2004, but the book remains a beloved resource for trans people and their allies. Since the first edition's publication, author Jamison Green's writings and advocacy among business and governmental organizations around the world have led to major changes in the fields of law, medicine, and social policy, and his (mostly invisible) work has had significant effects on trans people globally. This new edition captures the changes of the last two decades, while also imparting a message of self-acceptance and health. With profoundly personal and eminently practical threads, Green clarifies transgender experience for transgender people and their families, friends, and coworkers. Medical and mental health care providers, educators, business leaders, and advocates seeking information about transgender concerns can all gain from Green's integrative approach to the topic. This book candidly addresses emotional relationships that are affected by a transition, and brings refined integrity to the struggle to self-define, whether one undergoes a transition or chooses not to. Emphasizing the lives of transgender men—who are often overlooked—he elucidates the experience of masculinity in a way that is self-assured and inclusive of feminist values. Green's inspirational wisdom has informed and empowered thousands of readers. There is still no other book like Becoming a Visible Man in the transgender canon.
Jamison Green is an author, educator, public speaker, independent legal scholar, and consulting expert in transgender health and employment discrimination litigation. He serves as a policy consultant for business, educational, and governmental institutions, and is a past president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
Read an Excerpt
Preface to the Second Edition At least two generations of transgender, nonbinary-identified, and other gender-nonconforming people have emerged since this book was first published. I see the YouTube videos, the Facebook groups, the conversations on Reddit (and many other forums), the growth of community-based organizations, and the new scholarship flourishing in all regions of the globe, and I love the energy and the commitment so many people are bringing to their self-explorations and efforts to improve the quality of life that trans people and their families experience. At the same time, though, I see that far too many people are asking the same questions that my own cohort of trans people asked thirty, forty, fifty years ago, and far too many people still believe that there is no information to be found about transgender lives. I know how tempting it is, in the US especially, to want to discard the past and forge new ground, but I am also heartened by the recent attention to our collective history from today's students and transgender-identified people who have been surprised and gratified to realize they have not been alone all this time, we have ancestors and pioneers, and there is a context for their lives. I wrote this book to supply answers-or pathways toward them-to many of the questions that trans people and their loved ones were asking, and also to illuminate the lives of trans men. On the whole, trans men continue to be invisibilized and ignored while trans women are both glamorized and vilified-and murdered-all too frequently. I want trans women to receive the accolades they are due, and I want the demonizing and the killing to stop, but I also want trans men to be seen and respected, and nonbinary and agender people to be acknowledged and given credence. There is no gender justice in minimizing anyone; there are no valid excuses for ignoring gender inequality or perpetuating gender-based discrimination or violence. The scapegoating and oppression of trans and nonbinary people as a political diversion or as a tactic for enforcing gender "norms" only serve an irresponsible power structure and reinforce complacency with a cruel status quo that ultimately harms everyone. And now it seems the pathways once delineated are blurred, and the visibility of trans men is as problematic as ever. So this new edition explores these issues further. In this version, I have maintained the structure of the original book, integrating updated information along the way. I have added new material to reflect political and cultural changes, concerns, and issues that have developed since the original text was published. I have also modified terminology to reflect evolving ideas and standards, with explication where applicable, and I use terms that are historical as well as contemporary. I use the term "trans" as an abbreviation for both "transgender" and "transsexual," and I do use "transsexual" when the term reflects the historical, medical, or legal context under discussion. I also intend the term "trans" to be inclusive of nonbinary-identified people who are also transgressing gender boundaries. My concern has always been to amplify and lift up anyone who falls outside the simple binary defined by traditional gender roles, but also to assure every person that their own personal experience of gender, whether or not it conforms to a binary understanding, is valid and deserving of respect. I am convinced that the best way forward for all of us as human beings is to relinquish rigid identity constructs that are competitive with or invalidating of other people. We cannot understand ourselves or live authentic and virtuous lives without recognizing, accepting, and respecting each other's differences. The human condition is so much more rich and dynamic than most of us have yet acknowledged, and the theorists of earlier centuries who based their observations of gender and sex on simple binary presumptions can be forgiven for their ignorance, but not for the harm their ideas are still causing, which is the very situation I hope this book can help to remedy. My original intention to improve society's understanding of transgender people and to increase self-acceptance and empowerment for trans people themselves has not changed, and neither has the need to combat misinformation, stereotypes, and fear. Don't be afraid to be yourself or to let others be themselves, just don't hurt yourself or anyone else in the process. Life is too valuable a gift to waste on anything less than kindness.