Genre: Memoir/LGBTQ+
Published: March 6, 2018
Pages: 287
A timely and captivating memoir about gender identity set against the backdrop of the transgender equality movement, by a leading activist and the National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.
Sarah McBride is on a mission to fight for transgender rights around the world. But before she was a prominent activist, and before she became the first transgender person to speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, she was a teenager struggling with her identity.
With emotional depth and unparalleled honesty, Sarah shares her personal struggle with gender identity, coming out to her supportive but distraught parents, and finding her way as a woman. She inspires readers with her barrier-breaking political journey that took her, in just four years, from a frightened, closeted college student to one of the nation's most prominent transgender activists walking the halls of the White House, passing laws, and addressing the country in the midst of a heated presidential election. She also details the heartbreaking romance with her first love and future husband Andy, a trans man and activist, who passed away from cancer in 2014 just days after they were married.
Sarah's story of identity, love, and tragic loss serves as a powerful entry point for readers who want to gain a deeper understanding of gender identity and what it means to be openly transgender. From issues like bathroom access to healthcare, identification and schools, Sarah weaves the important political milestones, cultural and political debates, and historical context into a personal journey that will open hearts and change minds.
Tomorrow Will Be Different highlights Sarah’s work as an activist and the key issues at the forefront of the fight for trans equality, providing a call-to-arms and empowering look at the road ahead. The fight for equality and freedom has only just begun.
“We must never be a country that says there’s only one way to love, only one way to look, and only one way to live.” –Sarah McBride
I received a copy of this book through Penguin's First to Read program. This is my honest review.
This is the first memoir by a transgender individual that I have read that focuses on the author's trans-identity and the issues surrounding that. And I have to admit, that early on while I was reading, I couldn't help but thinking that Sarah likely had some advantages growing up because she was born in the wrong body. She's always been passionate about politics and went on the campaign trail with Jack Markell, mentioning that she also often stayed at his house during that period because she became very close with his family. And from a purely optical perspective, I'm just not sure a teenage girl would have been able to achieve that kind of closeness. Just think about the stories that Markell's opponents would have run about him if an unrelated teenage girl working on his campaign was also occasionally staying at his house. But I also think that the bond she was able to form with Mr. Markell as a teenager greatly helped in the fight to advance transgender rights in Delaware because the fight was personal for the governor too. It almost seems to me that she was born the way she was specifically to help advance transgender rights in our nation.
While this book talks a lot about the dangers facing transgender individuals and a lot of the statistics that go with them, it felt to me like Sarah was sort of removed from those topics, like these are things transgender people often face, but not so much Sarah. And she acknowledges that she is fortunate to have a supportive family, friends, and community. All of those things probably contribute to her distance from the dangers and fears faced by many in the transgender community. This just made me wish that as a country we were already supportive of transgender people and their rights so that they could all feel like Sarah seems to, but also so that the few fears Sarah still has as a transgender woman wouldn't exist.
While I didn't find the narrative gripping in an "Oh my gosh, I just can't put this book down" way, it was interesting for me to see this perspective, and also to kind of get what felt like some insider information about the process of passing laws. Unfortunately, I think this is one of those books that the people who really need to read it the most, won't. I give it 4.99998 stars. - Katie
While this book talks a lot about the dangers facing transgender individuals and a lot of the statistics that go with them, it felt to me like Sarah was sort of removed from those topics, like these are things transgender people often face, but not so much Sarah. And she acknowledges that she is fortunate to have a supportive family, friends, and community. All of those things probably contribute to her distance from the dangers and fears faced by many in the transgender community. This just made me wish that as a country we were already supportive of transgender people and their rights so that they could all feel like Sarah seems to, but also so that the few fears Sarah still has as a transgender woman wouldn't exist.
While I didn't find the narrative gripping in an "Oh my gosh, I just can't put this book down" way, it was interesting for me to see this perspective, and also to kind of get what felt like some insider information about the process of passing laws. Unfortunately, I think this is one of those books that the people who really need to read it the most, won't. I give it 4.99998 stars. - Katie
SARAH MCBRIDE is the national press secretary at the Human Rights Campaign, working tirelessly to advocate for LGBTQ equality. She has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker, and she speaks regularly at national LGBTQ and political events. A native of Delaware, Sarah is on the front lines of the progressive movement.
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