Beyond the obvious physical protrusions, there were a lot of memories and emotions I hadn’t dealt with, things I had never shared through this lens before. I thought it would be a quick essay about my relationship to my chest that I could whip up in a couple of weeks and send out to donors before the fund-raiser even ended.Īs I began to write, I realized just how much I needed to get off my chest-pun one thousand percent intended. It was meant to be a lighthearted gift to say thank you to people who donated to support my top surgery. This book began as a zine I wrote titled Free My Nipples: The Story of My Chest.

“A compassionate, tender-hearted, and accessible book for anyone who might need a hand to hold as they walk through their own transition or the transition of a loved one” (Austin Chant, author of Peter Darling), Sorted demonstrates the power and beauty in being yourself, even when you’re not sure who “yourself” is. From his first shot of testosterone to his eventual top surgery, Jackson lets you in on every part of his journey-taking the time to explain trans terminology and little-known facts about gender and identity along the way. With warmth and wit, Jackson also recounts how he navigated the many obstacles and quirks of his transition-like figuring out how to have a chest binder delivered to his NYU dorm room and having an emotional breakdown at a Harry Potter fan convention.

Illuminated by journal entries spanning childhood to adolescence to today, he candidly recalls the challenges and loneliness he endured as he came to terms with both his gender and his bisexual identity. In this “soulful and heartfelt coming-of-age story” (Jamia Wilson, director and publisher of the Feminist Press), Jackson chronicles the ups and downs of growing up gender-confused. He barely remembers meeting anyone who was openly gay, let alone being taught that transgender people existed outside of punchlines. Growing up in Texas in the 1990s, he had no transgender role models. Jackson didn’t share this thought with anyone because he didn’t think he could share it with anyone. When Jackson Bird was twenty-five, he came out as transgender to his friends, family, and anyone in the world with an internet connection.Īssigned female at birth and raised as a girl, he often wondered if he should have been born a boy. An unflinching and endearing memoir from LGBTQ+ advocate Jackson Bird about how he finally sorted things out and came out as a transgender man.

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