The Library at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center invites the community to participate in the May 2018 Community Book Discussion featuring Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency by Willy Wilkinson. The Community Book Discussion is an intergenerational discussion facilitated by Mary Foltz, Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University

In this historic moment of transgender visibility in the U.S., writer, activist, and public health consultant Willy Wilkinson's Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency uses the power of storytelling to contextualize one of the most misunderstood social issues of our time. This poetic, journalistic memoir shines an intersectional beacon on the ambiguity and complexity of mixed heritage, transgender, and disability experience, and offers an intimate window into how current legislative and policy battles impact the lives of transgender people. Whether navigating the men's locker room like a "stealth trans Houdini," accessing lifesaving health care, or appreciating his son's recognition of him as a "transformer," Wilkinson compellingly illustrates the unique, difficult, and sometimes comical experiences of transgender life.

Reviews of Born on the Edge of Race and Gender:

"Born on the Edge of Race and Gender is an extraordinary work by one of the most fearless and dynamic voices of our time-a multilayered masterpiece that may well be the most accessible, lively, and honest account yet of life as a transgender man . . . Prepare to be dazzled, shaken, and amazed . . . Far more than just a memoir, this book is also a treasure trove of intersectional research, wisdom, and practical knowledge, distilled by one of the nation's foremost experts on public health and other issues affecting transgender people, and one of the most experienced, hands-on, cultural competency trainers in our movement." -SHANNON PRICE MINTER, ESQ., Legal Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights

"Willy Wilkinson's Born on the Edge of Race and Gender offers practical, deeply insightful, and powerfully moving personal perspectives on diversity and cultural competency, drawn from his own life experiences as an Asian American trans man with decades of experience as an activist, consultant, and policy advocate working on HIV/AIDS, disability, and LGBT issues. This is a highly readable, teachable, and informative text that should appeal to queer and Asian communities, and to educators, policy makers, social workers, health care providers, and social justice activists who work with those communities." -SUSAN STRYKER, PhD, author of Transgender History, Director, Institute for LGBT Studies, University of Arizona

"Awe-inspiring, daring, personable! Wilkinson brings every part of himself openly and freely to us in Born on the Edge of Race and Gender, a timely, essential read for anyone doing cultural competency work. A first-of-its-kind in many ways, this intersectional book shows how gender and race issues interplay and highlights the issues of trans men of color, for whom the dialogue has been virtually silent." -KYLAR W. BROADUS, ESQ., Cofounder and Executive Director, Trans People of Color Coalition

Community Book Discussions at The Library at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center are made possible thanks to sponsorship from Lehigh University's Humanities Center, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, Pride Center, and Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative

The first ten people to sign up can email [email protected] to receive a free copy of the book