Trans Rights Readathon
March 21–31, 2025
Are you looking for a book this Sunday morning?
Today especially, please read, share, and celebrate books by and about trans people! The Trans Rights Readathon calls itself “an act of both joy and resistance.” It’s decentralized, so participate any way you like.
An annual event since 2023, it’s already started and will last through the end of March, which is to say, today and tomorrow. If that's not your personal timeframe, feel free to read trans books anytime.
What counts as a trans book?
It has a trans author, trans characters, trans topic, or all of the above.
It’s fair to assume that an author is comfortable with you repeating whatever identity label they wrote in their author bio. However, if the information about their transness is in some hard-to-find place or under another name, they may not want it to be brought up in connection with their books. Don't contact them to ask for their identity label or an explanation; it's probably complex, and they don't owe it to you.
Remember also that fictional characters’ identity and experiences don’t imply anything about the author’s identity or experiences. A reader may consider a book to be trans for a reason apart from who the author is, and we should all continue to reflect that information accurately.
Read
Ways to find trans books:
- Search the readathon’s hashtag on your social media platform of choice (e.g., on Bluesky or Mastodon or Medium).
- Consult the readathon’s database of books.
- Make it easy and just pick up something from tRaum Books. All tRaum ebooks are $1 on Itch today and tomorrow, March 30 & 31!
- Check out the past 37 years of Lambda Literary’s award winners and finalists.
- Some magazines publish curated lists of books by trans authors.
- Try a book review site like Independent Book Review and search the reviews for “transgender” or a similar keyword.
- Your local library or independent bookstore may have a trans or nonbinary book list or shelving section, and your librarian or bookseller would probably be psyched to help you with this.
Write a book review
Even if you only have a tiny comment to make, post it! A single adjective that compliments the book will make the author’s day. Or just quote a single line you liked. Or say one thing that you learned or will remember. Though the author probably won’t respond, they’ll see what you wrote. Besides, ratings and reviews feed algorithms and therefore help more readers find the book you liked, and they encourage others to reflect and share their comments too. Post to Storygraph or Goodreads or a retail site like Kobo.
Fundraise
Trans people face unprecedented legal assaults in the United States right now as well as around the world. I’ll suggest a U.S. national org: Donate to Advocates for Trans Equality.
In Colombia, La Red Comunitaria Trans needs funds. If you’re outside Colombia, the easiest way for you to give to them is probably their GoFundMe or PayPal.
Social media ideas
📖 Post what you’re reading.
💵 If you’re fundraising, share that info too.
🎨 Use the Readathon’s social media graphics.
📢 Tag the Readathon on Instagram and TikTok.
#️⃣ Hashtag #TRR25 and #TransRightsReadathon
Participate in the Storygraph reading challenge!
On Storygraph, the Trans Rights Readathon 2025 will last all year. They’ve given 5 core prompts and 25 optional prompts. As of right now, they're nearing two thousand participants.
