Lou Sullivan byl průkopnickým aktivistou a autorem, který se zasloužil o moderní uznání rozdílu mezi sexuální orientací a genderovou identitou. Byl klíčovou postavou v grassroots hnutí trans mužů, pomáhal jednotlivcům získávat peer podporu, poradenství a lékařské služby mimo tradiční genderové kliniky. Sullivan založil FTM International, jednu z prvních organizací specificky pro trans muže, a hrál zásadní roli v růstu komunity trans mužů v 80. letech. Jeho práce se snažila změnit postoje k trans homosexuálům a lékařské postupy tak, aby odstranila sexuální orientaci z kritérií genderové dysforie.
Drawn from Sullivan's meticulously kept journals, this landmark book records the life of arguably the first publicly gay trans man to medically transition. Sensual, lascivious, challenging, quotidian and poetic, the diaries complicate and disrupt normative trans narratives.
"Lou Sullivan kept candid diaries from the age of ten. Through these vivid extracts, we see Lou navigate his gay and trans identities in a world with few role models, and hear his eperiences in his own words: from 'playing boys' in his childhood in Wisconsin, to cruising San Francisco's gay bars for handsome 'youngmen'; from first hearing about gender non-conforming communities, to becoming a vital part of them as activist, author and archivist. Successfully campaigning to remove heterosexuality from the medical requirements for gender affirming surgery, Lou was pivotal in our modern understanding of gender and sexuality as distinct identities. This selection shows Lou's joyous love of life, men and sex."--Page 4 of printed paper wrapper.