The Conversation about Gender Variant and Transgender

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The group's reaction to Luna was quite different. They saw the novel as being a more "realistic" portrayal of a transgender teenager's transition, and they connected with Luna's sister, Regan. Our participants also felt that the decision to transition was better explored in this novel on several levels: They pointed out that for Luna the decision was a "big deal" and that she did try to delay it and struggle with it, but at a certain point she "couldn't go back." Luna's family also "transitions" with Luna in a more uneven way than does Grady's family.

Halfway through the novel, there is a scene that signals a turning point in Luna's growing need to transition. The scene occurs at the home of the family who often hires Regan to Links Of London Bracelets babysit. She asks Luna to take over for her while she goes out on a date, promising to return before the parents. Running late, Regan arrives immediately after the parents do. She finds the children asleep and their parents yelling at Luna, who is wearing the mother's red negligee. Because this family served as Regan's only connection to what she views as a "normal" family, some participants were frustrated at what they perceived to be Luna's irrational behavior and disregard for the impact that her actions could have on Regan.

This conversation is important for two reasons. First, it demonstrates that our participants felt comfortable enough to discuss a complicated scene in the hopes of developing a better understanding of a character's behavior. Second, this conversation led to an important discussion of what students, whether they are gender variant or transgender themselves or living with someone who is, need from educators. One participant said, "I connected with Regan as a sibling and believe this [connection] could be an 'in' for our students." We agreed that gender variant students, transgender students, and their allies have a heightened need for social support. One of the ways we offer support is by Links Of London Earrings providing literature that might relate to students' experiences.

Whether or not teachers include any of Sanchez's books in their formal curricula, schools should make his books available for students to read independently. Sanchez realized at the age of 13 that he was gay, and he felt such self-hatred as he sat alone in the school cafeteria that he started skipping lunch and retreated to the school library. "I estimate our school library had several thousand books. How many of those books told me it was okay to have the feelings I experienced? That I wasn't sick for wanting to love and be loved by another boy like me?. In our classrooms and media centers, we must do better for our Alexes, for all of our LGBT students. Making Sanchez's novels available to them is one way of doing better, and it does right by our heterosexual students, too, for such literature may help free them to enjoy lives unfettered by the pain and fear of homophobia,

Participants agreed that the book group meetings offered a space for open dialogue on a subject rarely discussed in education. We were pleased with participants' engagement with these texts; they first became familiar with gender variant and transgender issues and then related these experiences to their lives. However, we wished we had time for more meetings. As one of our participants explained at our last meeting, "Reading-group discussions take time to establish a rhythm and I felt a distinct difference with the level of comfort discussing trans-gender issues from the first day we met."