The best way I can describe [being transgender] for myself [...] is a constant feeling of homesickness. An unwavering ache in the pit of my stomach that only goes away when I can be seen and affirmed in the gender I've always felt myself to be. And unlike homesickness with location, which eventually diminishes as you get used to the new home, this homesickness only grows with time and separation.

This was such an interesting book. I'm going to come across as such a nerd, but... the legislative details were fascinating! To give you the context, we still don't have marriage equality in my county and don't even ask what transgender people have to go through to have their identity seen as valid. But the discussions are very much present, most of the population supports marriage equality, but not enough to make it political priority and so politicians just ignore the issue altogether (and when they are not ignoring it, they are equating us to pedophiles and zoophiles and god knows what else). So it was nice to see some of the parallels here and other places where our paths differ. Toward the end, I was a little sorry that it didn't contain more of the primary material, because I would be interested in more of specific information about some of the laws (but that's not what this book is, so it's perfectly fine...).

Each of us has a deep and profound desire to be seen, to be acknowledged, and to be respected in our totality. There is a unique kind of pain in being unseen. It's a pain that cuts deep by diminishing and disempowering, and whether done intentionally or unintentionally, it's an experience that leaves real scars.

Then there are of course the personal parts and I think we all agree that those places were powerful. Really, it made me sob. For several reasons but one of the main ones being how young she was when it all happened to them. When she was my age, she became a widow... it's hard to wrap my head around the fact. Life is sometimes so unfair.

Having certain privileges does not mean that your life is easy or that you do not face challenges. It just means that you don't experience specific kinds of obstacles or barriers faced by someone with a different identity or background. And our empathy should require us to acknowledge the plight of others in both its similarities to ours and in its differences.

I also realised that it's hard for me to read books written by politicians. There is no nuance when she talks about some of her colleagues. It kind of reads like a campaign in places... now, I'm not saying this is inherently wrong, but being an academic, it bothers me. Sometimes the tone of the book was just rubbing me the wrong way.
That said, it's still pretty great. The audio is good too, the Joe Biden introduction was strange and the narration was even worse, but the rest of the book is narrated by Sarah herself and I quite liked it. You can tell she isn't a professional narrator and she has a no-nonsense approach, both of which I quite liked for its honesty.

As I said to that state representative in Delaware who had admonished us for moving the trans equality bill too quickly, each time we ask anyone - whether they are transgender, Black, an immigrant, Muslim, Native American, gay, or a woman - to sit by and let an extended conversation take place about whether they deserve to be respected and affirmed in who they are, we are asking people to watch their own life pass by without dignity or fairness. That is too much to ask of anyone.

I would recommend you this book if you are interested in US politics, especially considering trans rights and lgbtq+ rights in general. And if you liked [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660273739l/11870085._SX50_.jpg|16827462] (or some similar book) as a teen, before realising how unrealistic it all was. It is a heart-wrenching book targeted (I would say) more toward the cis audience than trans one, because it takes time to explain some of the really basic terms. It wasn't quite "for me", but it was still mostly great and enjoyable. I'm glad I finally got to it!

BRed at Radical Reading: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22320760-buddy-read-october-november-auto-biography-memoir