I enjoyed this book more than I can express here. I loved the honesty, as uncomfortable as it sometimes was, and wish I had known about this book 20 years ago. Fortunately, its re-release means that I finally did find it!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me access to this ebook for an honest review.
Even though the first 40 pages were very info-dumpy and a bit repetitive, I'm glad I kept reading the book because I think this is the first book ever where I've read own voices, real accounts from transgender and intersexual people. They were not only very informative but also captivating.
Some of the stories are really sad but they're all inspiring and praise-worthy. It was a good mix of research, personal accounts, and talks on what it means to be transgender, lesbian, and more.
Some ideas are certainly outdated but the stories are very powerful. As a demiwoman who is still figuring out themself, it was great to read about the role transgender people have played in the queer movements and to know about their lives. Transphobia is still sadly prevalent but we're definitely moving ahead. Going to be recommending this to everyone!
Actual rating: 4.5 stars

This book is a great addition to a course on gender/sexuality where you want to pair personal accounts with theory or empirical research. For students, hearing from people who are genderqueer can be empowering, and it lets them hear from a group of people who are often spoken for by others instead of listen to. I do love an anthology, and the collection of essays here are diverse and captivating.

Books like this are important for increasing understanding and representation. However, for me personally, it was difficult to get into. As other reviewers have pointed out, the dated nature of some of the discourses makes relating to them difficult, and while the different essays have the potential to improve that relatability, on the whole, it falls short. The writing felt too formal and distant to provide assistance to individuals who are looking for connection with others who have gone through similar things.

Thank you netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review

This book is a mix of different essays on gender, sex, sexuality and queerness.
It was published in 2002, and I'm reading it in 2021. In almost twenty years, some things have changed in our community and some of the discourses are less relevant. It's still interesting to see how things have changed during this time, and what stayed the same (while our lifes got a bit easier, it's still hard to come out, especially for people who suffer from other oppressions).
Some of these essays were really good and interesting, some a little bit less, but it's still an interesting book.

Genderqueer is critical reading for a generation that's often out of touch with the community that came before us. The recollections that fill the book are thought-provoking, poignant essays of people all too often erased or villified.

Das Buch versammelt Stimmen der queeren Community, welche von ihrem Leben und ihren Erfahrungen berichten. Es ist eindrucksvoll, wie vielfältig und divers der Begriff queer ausgelegt wird. Ich habe es sehr gerne gelesen und es kann jedem, der Interesse an diesem Thema hat, empfehlen.

“If only we didn’t inhabit a world where every one of eight billion human beings must fit themselves into one of only two genders.” -Riki Wilchins

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

It’s quite remarkable that this collection exists. All of these unique voices—ones that are too often silenced— coming together to create a powerful, undeniable chorus of queerness. I’m thrilled that this book was made and its truths and stories and opinions can fill my head.

“Having any gender at all is really a sort of accomplishment, a sustained effort.” -Riki Wilchins

I love reading queer history but those who have read it will understand when I say it isn’t always easy. The language around queerness is rapidly evolving and the language around gender is still intensely limiting. From what I could tell, many of the essays in this collection were written in the 90s which is long enough for there to be some outdated language. Not only that, but reading especially the stories of older queer folks, there’s a lot of internalized homophobia there and again a lack of words to explain queer experience. I’d actually hesitate to recommend this read to queer folks who’ve never read queer history before because that outdated language can be shocking and/or difficult to read. The Stonewall Reader definitely prepared me for this collection.

These essays are all over the place and I think the book might have benefitted from organizing them in some way (though, I admit that I wouldn’t know where to start). I was also surprised that the first quarter of the book is actually all Riki Wilchins’ writing, which was fabulous but I just didn’t expect one of the book’s editors to have so much content. Riki has some really interesting thoughts and ideas that definitely challenged me to think in ways that I hadn’t before. So Riki’s writing was actually some of my favorite, and other favorites were “Passing Realities” by Roberta Alyson Lie, “World’s Youngest” by Mollie Biewald, and “Do It on the Dotted Line” by Raven Kaldera. Mollie Biewald was 15 when she wrote an essay for this book and hir vulnerability in sharing this story was really powerful.

“Whenever a line is drawn, it passes through someone’s flesh.” - Raven Kaldera

Some of these essays are quite wonderful and some I didn’t like. I much preferred reading people who were sharing their own stories rather than the stories of their partners. I’m used to reading queer stories that are actually about partners (and not the narrator) but it’s not something I’m entirely comfortable with. “Fading to Pink” by Robin Maltz had some great things to say about femme lesbians, how femininity isn’t an expression of heterosexuality and there shouldn’t be a standard to “look like a lesbian”; but Maltz also talks about struggling with her partner’s choice to transition and that gave me some complicated feelings. Queer folks need safe spaces to express fears, doubts, and conflicts but this didn’t feel like a great place for a cis-gender woman to be angry with her partner’s transitioning. Then again, Riki Wilchins would probably argue that Maltz isn’t cis. It’s admittedly a complicated mess. But I guess that’s gender.

“Words work well for things we can repeat; that we hold in common. What is totally unique or private is lost to language… Genderqueerness is, by definition, unique, private, and profoundly different. That’s what makes it queer.” -Riki Wilchins

In the queer community right now, I see a lot of push to separate gender from sexuality but Riki argues to do the exact opposite. I just want to mention that for any readers who are uncomfortable conflating the two. Gender and sexuality get all jumbled and mixed up together in these stories so if you’re not used to thinking that way then this book will stretch your brain.

If this book sounds interesting to you, please do read it! But as always, take care of yourself, go at your own pace, and be mindful that some of this content is going to be triggering.

CW: transphobia, gender dysphoria, homophobia, anti-gay slurs

As a Non-binary person I also identify as GenderQueer. But from a generational perspective, this is new ground for older people who grew up without these terms to help us explain and express our identity. For this reason alone, I think this book is an essential read for anyone wishing to explore their own gender identity or seeking to understand the identity of others.

This book delves into aspects of life for GenderQueer people as part of the broader LGBTQIA+ community, For my generation we were often left outside and not included, so it is it wonderful to read how this is changing and how the past two decades have revolutionized how we see both gender identity and our role in the broader LGBTQIA+ community.

I recommend this book for our witchcraft students who are also learning the role of tapping into all aspects of gender within themselves as part of their self awareness. I also recommend this book for them because many of our community are gender variant and it is a wonderful way to discover aspects of our story through the eyes of people from our community.

GenderQueer is a collection of essays by people who don't fit in the gender binary -- some of them identify as genderqueer, others reject labels altogether. What's important is their journey towards understanding their gender.

There were quite a number of stories I personally identified with, and some that I couldn't at all but still felt as though their story resonated somehow. Because that's the whole point of a collection like this: everyone's story is going to be different because no one person is a monolith for the genderqueer community.

Although this edition was published in 2020, many of the stories date back to 1995 and it definitely felt that way at times -- quite dated in some of the terms used. So keep that in mind if you pick this book up.

I still find it a valuable resource and if you're genderqueer, or questioning your gender, this might be a good book to pick up to help you on your own journey.

This collection with the new preface is essential--perhaps mandatory reading for anyone interested in gender studies. I especially love this opportunity to share genderqueer history with my LGBTQIAP+ students. It's the perfect opportunity to find new and rediscover queeroes.

This book is wonderful! I found the information held within valuable in helping people who have questions about themselves. Definitely adding this to my collection.

This is a republication of a groundbreaking anthology, originally published in 2002. I cannot understate just how valuable this collection is. This book shows so many experiences of people transgress or transcend gender, whether it is because they are trans, genderqueer, intersex, preforming gender in a variety of ways, or queering gender through sexuality. And I think it is all tied together most excellently by Riki Wilchin's final essay which is strikingly relevant, even as some of the vocabulary has changed. That essay was among my favorites, as well as Sylvia Rivera's near the beginning.

I do think that it is worth noting if you are considering going into this essay collection that there is a lot of sexual content. Sexuality is very tangible in many of these pieces. There is also discussion of abuse and assault in some of these. This is not all fun and comfortable - this is reality. While some fun was definitely had with some of these essay, the bulk of this is unpacking trauma (trauma dealt clearly and directly to people and the trauma of being forced to live in a framework that erases you). These authors were incredibly vulnerable and strong in sharing what was in these pages. An knowing these perspectives adds, not just to our understanding of gender, but how gender liberation has to address what true justice and freedom can look like (and how different it can be for each person).

Over all, I think that if you go into this collection, you should be aware of its age and the intensity of some of its contents. If you are very new to LGBTQ issues, I don't think this is the best starting point. However, if you aren't brand new, this is goes into some really essential concepts concerning queer liberation and absolutely needs to be read.

I was given an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

I have enjoyed reading and digesting this, I do not believe this is a book you can just sit and read in one sitting, it's very dense and I even found myself making notes. I think a lot of teens would find this really useful, I wish I had sight of this as a teenager.

I look forward to coming back to this on numerous occasions.

Rather than being dated, the age of this book helps give genderqueer and nonbinary identities a history, giving us a sense of our past. And I really appreciated that.

I would love to give this book to a certain kind of queer teen - those who wouldn't be deterred by the density of the essays - and most of my genderqueer acquaintances. As a nonbinary person, I loved this collection and dearly hope to see more books like it in the future!

This is very dense and thus it took a long time to read. I couldn't just sit and read it, I had to digest it. That being said it is absolutely worth the effort and I hope to see more books like this in the coming years.