Resources for Learning about Trans and Gender Diverse People

Posted on April 15, 2025 in DEIA Resource Lists

Authors:

Stephen Krueger
Diverse hands waving pride flags and wearing bracelets representing different sexual orientations.

Ignorance is not a moral failing, especially regarding a topic that has been intentionally and systematically erased from the US education system. But ignorance about marginalized groups does mean that people can and do cause harm unintentionally—in general, but particularly in a field like library work where our job is to support people of all identities. It is everyone’s responsibility to amend their own lack of knowledge once they realize the gap. This blog post is one attempt to raise the baseline understanding that library workers hold about trans and gender diverse people. The resources below approach the topic from a variety of angles; readers are encouraged to pick and choose what is most relevant based on their knowledge level and interests. And, of course, the books and journals are all excellent additions to any library collection.

With a few exceptions, these resources are about trans and gender diverse people in the United States, and few spend much time on Indigenous gender diversity. This post is intended to suggest places to begin your learning; it is by no means a comprehensive list of available resources.

The Basics

Pronouns

History

Trans and Gender Diverse Voices

It can be very valuable and enlightening to learn about the experiences of people in their own words, but it is not a great idea to demand that individual trans and gender diverse people in your life share their stories with you (unless we volunteer to do that). Published books, podcasts, and other media provide a way to hear different perspectives in ways that people have chosen to release publicly. One thing to keep in mind is that we are not a monolith, and each person is sharing their own thoughts; those may not reflect the experiences and opinions of other trans and gender diverse people.

  • Gender Reveal: A podcast consisting of interviews with trans and gender diverse guests. Listening to a dozen or more episodes is a great way to hear from people with a variety of identities, experiences, and opinions.
  • To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults (2018): This collection is a particular favorite of mine because it can be difficult for trans and gender diverse people to envision a long-term future for ourselves.
  • Various memoirs, novels, and other media by trans and gender diverse people: There are too many to list here. A couple of my favorites, picked somewhat at random, are Gender Queer (2019), which has gotten a lot of deserved good attention and also a lot of undeserved harmful attention, and Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) (2019), which is a lovely short novel whose author also happens to be a librarian.

Going deeper

Want more?

There are many, many more resources on a variety of trans and gender diverse topics. For books, try the list of past finalists and winners of the Lambda Literary Awards (you can set the filter to show the transgender categories; there is just one until 2010 when you can further filter by genre).

Photo of a cat laying down.

About the author:

Stephen G. Krueger is an academic librarian in the United States. Ey is the author of Supporting Trans People in Libraries (2019) and co-editor of Trans and Gender Diverse Voices in Libraries (2023). Learn more at www.stephengkrueger.com.

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Header image is a detail of This is Harlem by Jacob Lawrence. Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. © 2021 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. For more information, click here.

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