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Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality
by Sarah McBride
Book Reviewed by:A captivating memoir that will change the way we look at identity and equality in this country.
Before she became the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention in 2016 at the age of twenty-six, Sarah McBride struggled with the decision to come out—not just to her family but to the students of American University, where she was serving as student body president. She'd known she was a girl from her earliest memories, but it wasn't until the Facebook post announcing her truth went viral that she realized just how much impact her story could have on the country.
Four years later, McBride was one of the nation's most prominent transgender activists, walking the halls of the White House, advocating inclusive legislation, and addressing the country in the midst of a heated presidential election. She had also found her first love and future husband, Andy, a trans man and fellow activist, who complemented her in every way ... until cancer tragically intervened.
Informative, heartbreaking, and profoundly empowering, Tomorrow Will Be Different is McBride's story of love and loss and a powerful entry point into the LGBTQ community's battle for equal rights and what it means to be openly transgender. From issues like bathroom access to health care to gender in America, McBride weaves the important political and cultural milestones into a personal journey that will open hearts and change minds.
As McBride urges: "We must never be a country that says there's only one way to love, only one way to look, and only one way to live."
The fight for equality and freedom has only just begun.
Excerpt
Tomorrow Will Be Different
It's rare to know in real time that what you are about to do will define the course of the rest of your life. But as I sat at my laptop in the small office I had been given as student body president at American University, I knew that my world was about to turn upside down. I was about to reveal my deepest secret and take a step that just a few months before would have seemed impossible and unimaginable.
My hand hovered over the keypad of my laptop, ready yet reluctant to click "post" on a Facebook note that would change my life forever. I could almost hear the responses I feared would come.
What a freak.
Ew.
This is disgusting.
And probably the most biting, because I was afraid it was true: Well, there goes any life and future for that kid.
Throughout my whole life until this point, it had always seemed that my dreams and my identity were mutually exclusive. My life had been defined by a constant tension between the two: the belief—as...
McBride's memoir recounts these important social and political shifts, but it's also a personal narrative and a love story—featuring her and the transgender man she fell in love with, Andy Cray. Despite the tragic loss of her husband and the rollback of LGBTQ rights under the Trump administration, McBride maintains her positivity and hope for the future. Significantly, she is aware of her privilege as a white person from the upper socioeconomic strata of society. Because she is aware of her opportunity to effect change, McBride remains motivated in her activism, and she ends her memoir with an uplifting message to keep fighting for intersectional equality and legal protections for all Americans. It's a message as moving and brave as McBride's story itself...continued
Full Review
(660 words)
(Reviewed by Rose Rankin).
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood
Tomorrow Will Be Different is a book about falling in love, being true to yourself, and creating change. Sarah's journey is as relatable as it is inspiring -- a powerful, compelling story, beautifully told by a fearless activist who has only just begun to make her mark on the world. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign
Mixing tragic heartache with unending hope, Tomorrow Will Be Different promises to be a seminal book at a critical moment for both the LGBTQ community and our country. Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Long Black Veil and She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders
Tomorrow Will Be Different is a life-changing book...Urgent, gentle, and fierce, Sarah McBride makes me believe that the future will not only be different, but glorious—not just for LGBTQ people, but for everyone. Senator Kamala Harris
Sarah McBride's powerful memoir, Tomorrow Will Be Different, is a brave and moving story that will inspire and galvanize readers to join the urgent fight for LGBTQ rights. The energy and vigor Sarah has brought to the fight for equality is ever present in this book and she starkly defines what is at stake, and how we can do better to advocate on behalf of all people.In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by the New York City Police Department, ostensibly for operating without a liquor license. This was a flimsy pretense, however, since the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) refused to grant liquor licenses to any bar that served homosexual customers, and the police department routinely used this discriminatory practice as a reason to arrest LGBT patrons. Shortly before this raid, in fact, numerous bars in Greenwich Village that served the LBGT community had been raided. And since the mafia had stepped into the void left by the SLA's refusal to grant licenses, gay bars frequently acted as fronts for the mob's other activities, which was another driving force for ...
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