Summary

Mothers – The author describes how many young trans-questioning individuals learn about themselves, and about the experience of being trans, from what are called “drag parents,” drag queens (queer men who dress as women) or drag kings (queer women who dress as men) who mentor them in ways that range from makeup tips to guidance on how to get hormones. These drag parents, the author writes, often take the place of biological parents, who in many cases can be abusive, rejecting, or well-meaning but uninformed.

The author then writes about the particular experiences of a couple of young transwomen, focusing primarily on Foxxjazzell, who learned about life as a transwoman from a “drag mother” who said (among other informative things) that it was possible for a woman to still be, and feel like, a woman even if she still had a penis between...