Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue Paperback – March 13, 2012

The main thing you need to understand about this book is that, just as it says in the introduction, this is a BASIC guide for those who do not know anything about the Transgender community, or what a Transgender individual may have to face in their day to day life.This book educates the reader on terms used, the idea that even labeling a gender itself being rediculous, while expressing the very real negative societal stigma thrown at a transgender person. Most importantly, the author expresses a deep sense of empathy for the crimes committed against transgender individuals that have basically been allowed and reinforced by society and calls for a change to the way we classify Trans people with a term like "Gender Dysphoria" in a national "Diagnostic and Statistics Manual" alongside Pedophillia/Zoophillia.A great read for someone who would like to learn a little bit about perspective. After reading this text with an open heart, and an open mind, I did go out and purchase the other book, "Decolonizing Trans/Gender 101". I recommend reading both texts, this one and then the other, to give yourself a better understanding of a Transgender person's experience with life.This helped inform be, that as a Gay man with Trans friends, who thought he understood what they go through, I NEVER in my wildest dreams, would face the harsh realities my Trans brothers and sisters have to face every day of their lives.

The title of this book says it all. Whether you are transgendered, a student of human sexuality and gender identity, or have a loved one who is transgendered and wish to understand them fully, this book is an extremely easy and informative read on the subject of transgender people and transsexuality. Transgender 101 includes basic definitions regarding the transgender community, the transitioning process, coming out to family friends and the general public, a history of transgender's and transsexuals in past and present societies as well as the history of transgender standards of care, the controversial issue in the mental disorder vs. medical condition, discrimination and hate crimes against the transgender community, and lesser known varieties of transgender individuals; this book has introductions to all the basic topics surrounding transgender people. Transgender 101 is a great first read for anyone interested in gaining knowledge about possibly the most misunderstood community in modern society. Like I said, this book should be used as an introductory read only, for more detail about transgender's additional reading is definitely required, but Nicholas Teich has done an outstandingly terrific job on introducing transgender's to the world in "Transgender 101: A Simple Guide To A Complex Issue".

This is a great book filled with the right information. However, I will say this: in my personal opinion this may not necessarilly be for people who feel gender disphoria(transgender). I was supposed to read this as homework from my gender therapist, that way I would be more informed. I am just begining my transition, and I will say that this book does have a lot of information and all of it is accurate. But if you are trans, 80% of the information in this book you will probably know about already. Im not saying its a bad book or trying to discourage you from reading it even if you know everything there is to know. There are real stories in the book everywhere, which helps to compare to your own situation. Basically, this book covers all of the basics and it would be a good idea to read it yourself, then to give to a family member or friend that may not be so supportive. Still a great read.

Very well organized personal and medical history of sexual deviations from our notions of what is "normal" human sexual behavior. I recommend this book for anyone who does some serious thinking of why our GLBT population seems to be gaining public attention. Readers with entrenched beliefs about morality which do not play well with modern medical discoveries and technology probably won't think of reading this volume or reading it to add it to their list of flawed research. However, readers with open minds will likely gain much added insight and understanding.The author might have presented more data about the difficulties GLBT persons experience, but handled the delicate presentation of serious issues with much skill in descriptive writing and sequence of material.

This book is an easy, quick read - I finished it in an afternoon. It is a great introduction to the topic and I think it would be best suited for someone who knows almost nothing about it (so basically, the title is spot on).It didn't have any information that was new to me, so if you have any familiarity at all with trans people this would not be the book for you. I would probably recommend it to someone who had no knowledge but wanted to learn.

I bought this book, along with a few others available on Kindle to do with transgender and transsexualism, in order to educate my parents and give them some comfort in knowledge.Out of the four I bought (seemingly the most popular) l, Transgender 101 summed up every point near perfectly.Unlike so many other bits of trans literature, this book does not waffle on anecdotal accounts of sadness and feelings hurt. While it does delve deeply into just how trans* feelings can be deeply traumatizing, it does so from a clear vantage point.Basically, this book actually feels like a book, and not someone's personal diary, kept under a bed for years and suddenly published on kindle.5 stars. Will repeatedly recommend.