Kate Bornstein's queer evolution
Cult following
By THOMAS PAGE MCBEE | May 23, 2012
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/arts/139054-kate-bornsteins-queer-evolution/Feisty transgender icon Kate Bornstein's newest book, A Queer and Pleasant Danger (Beacon Press), is best summed up by its subtitle: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She Is Today. Bornstein, 64, is the beloved "Auntie" to queer and trans folks, and the author of several books, including: Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and The Rest of Us and My Gender Workbook. I spoke to her about her latest endeavor by phone last week.
I GAVE MY MOM MY GENDER WORKBOOK BEFORE I CAME OUT AS TRANS, AND SHE LOVED IT. Really? You've got a cool mom!
I DO, I'VE GOT AN AMAZING MOM. BUT THIS NEW BOOK IS MUCH MORE PERSONAL THAN THAT ONE. IT'S BASICALLY A LETTER TO YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOUR GRANDKIDS, WHO ARE STILL SCIENTOLOGISTS. It was really, really hard to write because I've done so many things that traditionally a parent wouldn't be telling their children about. But here I am at 64 now, and there's my daughter, she's 39, and my grandkids are in their teens and tweens, I think. So I wanted to write— I did write it for them. But of course I knew that, okay, lots of other people are going to see this, so I included in the way I wrote all the people I call my kids, like you.
