A Breath Of "Fresh Air"

On NPR there were two radio shows on transgender issues last week, one was on the nationally syndicated show "Fresh Air" and the other on the locally produced show "Where We Live."

Fresh Air was about the book "Trans Bodies, Trans Selves': A Modern Manual By And For Trans People" and featured contributors Jennifer Finnely Boylan, Aidan Key and the book's editor, Laura Erickson-Schroth.

The new book Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is a collection of essays describing the varied experiences of transgender people — and the social, political and medical issues they face. It's written by and for transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

The idea was inspired by the groundbreaking 1970s feminist health manual Our Bodies, Ourselves.

That book "was put together ... by a group of women who ... weren't getting the care that they needed from what was mostly male physicians at the time," the book's editor, Laura Erickson-Schroth, tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "And so they put together this really radical book that included topics like abortion and rape and lesbian identity. And this was something that I thought we could duplicate — something that was written by and for trans people about all aspects of life."

Here is the show...


The other show was "Where We Live" the show was "Transgender Rights: 'The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time'?" and it was about Jane Doe a trans-girl in DCF care.

Those who identify as transgender Americans continue to face social stigmas, discrimination, and legal issues not often faced by other members of the LGBT community.

This hour, we talk with some transgender rights experts and advocates about what Vice President Joe Biden has called "the civil rights issue of our time."

We also check in with WNPR reporter Lucy Nalpathanchil, who gives us the latest on the case of transgender teen Jane Doe.

You can listen to the show on their website, they do not have an "embed" function.