So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color

In this scintillating oral history, novelist De Robertis (The Palace of Eros) weaves together the voices of 20 trans and gender nonconforming people of color in their 50s, 60s, and 70s in order to explore what it was like for their generation to come of age, as well as to record and memorialize the struggle for the right to free gender expression that these individuals pioneered. The book is structured by life stage, beginning with childhood exploration of identity and family responses; followed by building communities in adulthood, when many of the subjects leaned into activism; and finally, aging as a queer person and mentoring the next generation. De Robertis creates an evocative palette of experience that sheds unique light on the role trans people of color have played in everything from the evolution of the drag scene to activism during the AIDS crisis, but also surfaces more ephemeral cultural moments of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s—for example, using the excuse of “being a goth” to wear makeup; navigating the rigid divide between Black and white lesbian communities, which were sometimes housed in the same clubs; and moving to California because, as one Latino trans woman recalls, the increasing number of white migrants to her hometown of Tucson were less accepting of her gender expression. It’s an utterly riveting view of LGBTQ+ life in America. (May)