Summary

In the introduction, Janet Mock, a transwoman of Hawaiian and black descent, recounts the day of May 13, 2011, when her “coming-out story” was published in Marie Claire magazine (NA). Reading it, Mock felt as though it was a stranger’s story—the journalist’s version of her life, her bravery, her success, her transformation. Before this article, only Mock’s family, friends, and boyfriends knew that she was trans. Now, several years later, Mock reflects on how sharing her story gave her the opportunity to reclaim the often-erased legacy of trans women’s survival and to reach readers by being open and vulnerable about her experience of privilege and oppression. After the introduction, a prologue-like chapter titled New York, 2009, recounts Mock’s early relationship with her handsome boyfriend Aaron. As they come to know each other over a series of dates, she tells...